February will be an exciting month for Eric Braeden. Not only will it mark 37 years of playing the great Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless, but HarperCollins will release his autobiography, I’ll Be Damned, reports Soap Opera Digest.
Eric shared that the tell-all book was co-written by Lindsay Harrison, the author that helped pen the late Jeanne Cooper’s (Katherine Chancellor) memoir. Braeden revealed that the journey to relive his long career was sentimental and an often emotional experience.
“It was an emotional ride,” Eric said. “One inevitably lives life on a daily basis and sometimes you don’t take the time to reflect, and when you do look back upon periods of your life and discover deeply buried emotions. Let’s just say it’s a good thing there was someone to edit it,” chuckled Braeden.
The Young and the Restless patriarch revealed that the most upsetting memories to revisit was his childhood memories and remembering the devastation of the war in a small town in Germany.
Eric added that he remembered all the actors and directors he has worked with in his long career. He’s worked with many talented actors from Marlon Brando to Betty White to Mary Tyler Moore. Of all the talented faces he has worked with on screen, he misses Jeanne [Cooper] the most.
“I had such a deep admiration for her. I know how tough it is to maintain a career in this business and I have a great respect for her for that. She and I always laughed together. We have many great times,” Eric explained.
The Young and the Restless legend reveals that he is often shocked by his long soap opera arc. Braeden says he’s deeply appreciative of the dedicated fans and reads many of their comments about his alter ego. Eric realizes that many of the viewers are not happy that Victor has been portrayed in a dark way in the past few years and hopes in the next few months they can “turn that around with the regime change.”
“Even in times like the past few years when Victor is much darker than previous years, he still manages to do some good. Victor is capable of doing good things for no reason at all,” Eric explained. Braeden said his favorite recent storyline was when Victor went to prison.
Bill Bell retired in 1998, and the Young and the Restless has gone through numerous regime changes. He realizes that the fans have a hard time with the writing changes and become frustrated with the lack of movement in storylines. Braeden didn’t want to be specific about which one was the most difficult one for the cast, adding that being a soap opera writer is one of the hardest jobs in Hollywood.
“I respect them all. I think it is the hardest job in this town — to write for a soap opera. They all tried to do their best, and that’s all we can do,” Eric explains. ” After 37 years, I am just thrilled to be working.”
For those viewers who have hoped (or feared) that Eric Braeden would slow down and retire, you are out of luck, Sun Herald reports. The Young and the Restless icon refuses to slow down and plans to keep working as hard as he ever did.
“I am an ornery son of a b**ch, and I will fight to the end. I still work out. I still do Olympic- style lifting. I still box, so no, I don’t give up,” Eric said sternly.
In fact, Eric explained that, in addition to keeping up with his role on The Young and the Restless, he would like to do more movie roles over the next few years.
“It’s so easy to get jaded in this business. If you stay in Hollywood, you don’t realize that what you do matters to so many people. What a beautiful thing to know that you can directly affect people’s lives,” Eric Braeden said.
The Young and the Restless fans are glad to hear that Victor Newman will be around for another few years, at least.
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays only on CBS daytime.
[Featured Image by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]