Melody Thomas Scott recently talked about Peter Bergman‘s casting on The Young and the Restless, revealing how she had a pivotal role to play in the actor replacing the legendary Terry Lester. Here’s what Scott shared about Bergman’s casting.
Melody Thomas Scott on Peter Bergman’s performance as Jack in The Young and the Restless
It’s been decades since Peter Bergman took over the role of Jack Abbott. The actor has been loved by the audiences as well since he joined the cast in 1989, but it seems Melody Thomas Scott had a big role to play in this.
Scott and Bergman appeared as guests on The Social CTV this week, where the former revealed how Bergman got the role of Jack Abbott.
Terry Lester originally played the famous role and was popular among fans. At the time, Bergman played Dr. Cliff Warner on All My Children. Melody admitted to being a huge fan of the show and of Bergman’s performance. In 1989, when Lester decided to exit The Young and the Restless, despite his towering popularity, the soap opera was in a rush to find a replacement. Around that time, All My Children had let Bergman go.
This is where Melody came in and advocated for Bergman to her husband, Edward Scott, who was producing Y&R at the time. She revealed, “I was a huge All My Children fan, and I learned that they had let him go, and I thought they were insane.”
Scott continued, “My husband was producing the show at the time, and I said, ‘This is your next Jack Abbott.’ Because we were desperately trying to find a replacement for Terry Lester, and I just knew even though his character on All My Children was nothing like Jack Abbott, I just knew he could do such a great job, and I was right.”
Many did not expect fans to take warmly to the change, but Bergman soon became a fan-favorite actor. Since then, he has continued to play the role for 35 years on The Young and the Restless.