Soap icon Colleen Zenk showed up on The Young and the Restless in fine style as the villainous Aunt Jordan. The actress’s casting remained a surprise, which is difficult to achieve these days. Recently, Zenk spoke with KPIX CBS Bay Area about her big entrance in Genoa City, including her real-life relationship with Nikki Newman’s portrayer, Melody Thomas Scott.
Colleen Zenk: Real-Life Isn’t Reel-Life
Zenk let anchor Gianna Franco know she was worried about joining Y&R in Los Angeles since she’s from New York and filmed her role as Barbara Ryan on As The World Turns there. “But, the fact that they welcomed me with such open arms and love…it really freed me up because of how they received me and made me feel incredibly welcome, and not just the cast. I mean, the entire production, the crew, the staff, the directors, the writers, you know, everybody from the top down…. I just felt like they really wanted me there working in daytime dramas,” Zenk revealed.
Although she’d been part of the soap world, Zenk hadn’t ever talked with Scott, but thankfully, their relationship got off to a better start than their on-screen alter egos. “My relationship with Melody Thomas Scott has just been incredible since I got here,” Zenk said. (See what she told Soap Hub about her role as Jordan here.) “She and I had never had a conversation before until the day I walked on the set…It’s just been fabulous. I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying that.”
Ultimately, the fact that everybody associated with her scenes was able to keep her appearance on the soap under wraps made her return to daytime all the more exciting. “So when I finally did show up on November 17th, it was a shock to everybody,” she said. “What a thrill. What a thrill.”