Summer Newman endured much emotionally last year after dealing with the “passing” death of her mother Phyllis only to be put through another emotional wringer upon finding out that her mom had faked her death. The good news is that the meaty material gave her portrayer, Allison Lanier, compelling material to submit, which earned her a Daytime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category this year.
Lanier must be doing something right as The Young and the Restless continues to hand the actress with great scenes. In her current storyline, Summer feels like she’s the only sane person in her family as she is still guarded over cousin Claire (Hayley Erin) being around her son, Harrison (Redding Munsell).
Traditionally, there’s a luncheon for the Daytime Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress nominees, but this year, Bold and the Beautiful’s Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy), who won last year, opened up the invitation list, adding Outstanding Supporting Actress and Guest Actress nominees. TV Insider chatted with Lanier to get her thoughts on the big night, her reel, her current story, and just how much tea was spilled when the actresses all got together.
How was the luncheon?
Allison Lanier: It was so fun. Honestly, it just felt so nice to be included. I felt really lucky that day. I met such a great group of women. It was a ton of fun, a great opportunity to get to know everybody because I really didn’t know any of the people from the other shows.
Who did you get to meet in person for the first time?
Everybody who was there — except for [my Y&R co-star] Courtney Hope [Sally] — was somebody that I had not officially met. I sat next to Courtney and Jacqui and Jennifer Gareis [Donna, B&B]. I chatted with Tamara [Braun, Ava, Days of our Lives] for a while. Everybody was really sweet.
Feel free to have fun with this answer, but, c’mon, how much tea was spilled.
[Laughs] Well, hmm…whatever tea was spilled at the Waldorf in Beverly Hills stays at the Waldorf in Beverly Hills.
Fair enough. What was on your reel?
It’s a bit nonlinear, but the scenes on it are mostly pertaining to Phyllis’s [Michelle Stafford] “death” and the aftermath of her [revealing she was alive]. There was a confrontation between Summer and Diane [Susan Walters] and fallout of Summer and Kyle’s [Michael Mealor] marriage, a heartbreaking breakup scene between them. There’s also Summer seeing Phyllis for the first time after she thought her mother was dead.
Does Summer, at times, feel like the parent in her relationship with her mom?
That’s definitely come up between them, for sure. At the same time, she has so much respect for her mother and the way she moves through the world with such tenacity and vivaciousness. Summer admires her mom, but she’s also witnessed the downfalls [she’s had] because of some of those qualities.
And how is she like her father, Nicholas, played by Joshua Morrow?
I think in recent years, she’s grown a strong moral compass. She’s very family-oriented and is loyal to her family. Even though she and Harrison and Kyle aren’t together anymore, Summer still feels some loyalty to them because they share a familial bond because she and Kyle were married.
Summer must feel like screaming every time she realizes that she’s pretty much the only one who is guarded around Claire. Earlier this week, Claire had the opportunity to fess up about Jordan (Colleen Zenk) but she didn’t, claiming it was Victor’s (Eric Braeden) news to share. Still…Summer was justified in telling Claire she should have fessed up.
Yes. Yes. Totally. Thank you for that. I agree!
Are you all prepared for Daytime Emmy night?
I’m procrastinating on some things.
We’ve all seen actors get up there say, “I didn’t prepare anything because I didn’t think I’d win!”
That’s part of my procrastination. I don’t have a speech yet but I have received advice from Peter [Bergman, Jack] and from others, too, about being prepared. I’m going to take heed. I’m not going to show up unprepared just on the off-chance.
