Victoria Rowell Says Drucilla's Been Written Back Into "Y&R" Script

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Victoria Rowell has such a full plate these days, a plate that would leave most people overwhelmed. For the 60-year-old actress though, she welcomes all of the responsibility she has.

“It’s really been spectacular for a person like me who is ambitious and is a workaholic unapologetically,” she told me over the phone.

It’s also spectacular considering that Rowell has been in the business since the ’80s and is still making major moves.

She’s doing a lot of writing and producing these days, including for her series, Jacqueline and Jilly, which is about a young woman falling into opoid addiction. She was recently a star in Lifetime movie Pride and Prejudice: Atlanta with Jackée Harry and Reginald VelJohnson, an adaptation, of course, of the Jane Austen novel. She has a lifestyle series coming in 2020 on UMC because she’s a pretty talented self-taught designer. She’s also always doing philanthropic work, raising money for kids in foster care, as Rowell was once a child in foster care.

Her main focus these days though, is being the star of The Rich and Ruthless on UMC. She is also a writer, producer and director on the Emmy-nominated digital series, which recently premiered its third season and airs Thursday nights on UMC (and can be binge-watched on Amazon Prime and other streaming services). She says fans can expect a lot “calamity and claws” this time around.

“There’s more drama in Season 3,” she said. “There’s comedy, but there’s more drama this season.”

Orchestrating drama behind the scenes is something Rowell thoroughly enjoys. When asked what she loves most about getting the chance to work behind the camera as opposed to solely being in front of it as an actress, she said it’s the creative license.

“l tell the stories that I want to tell that I believe fans want to know,” she said. “Fans have always asked me, what’s it like to kiss Shemar Moore? What was it like working with Kristoff [St. John]? Where does all that wardrobe come from? People are really curious about the behind the scenes of a daytime show that shoots 64 pages a day. Anything that films 64 pages a day, it cannot go smoothly. So I just love the opportunity to really lean in to all of my experience in entertainment, but especially daytime, and tell a story I believe fans want to see.”

“I get to present a story with artistic license,” she added. “I get to hire people who are so qualified that you don’t get to see working as much as they should or at all. It’s been absolutely vindicating for me to push a concept, hire the people I know are qualified and have success with it. Bob Johnson and RLJE Entertainment have given me an opportunity to really become the producer that I believed I could be.”

The opportunity to create opportunities and to reinvent her career came after she found herself pushed out at The Young and the Restless in 2007. Her iconic character, Drucilla, was said to have fallen off a cliff, and was presumed to be dead. She has always contended that this ending for Drucilla happened because she spoke out about the lack of diversity in daytime and overall racism that actors of color experience. She filed a lawsuit against the series and Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2015, which was later settled in 2017. The overall experience taught her a lot, and according to the star, helped her have the success she’s obtained presently.

“You have to believe in what you’re doing, and you have to love what you’re doing, even if it means speaking on disparity,” she said. “Speaking out on any issue can be a very lonely place, but I was told by the National Urban League president, Marc Morial, who was in support of my work, that when you march you may look behind you and find that you’re the only one marching. But I will say that change requires vision, lack of fear and staying with the times. The browning of America is here to stay.”

“Experiences are meant to happen and I was meant to have my experience at the Young and the Restless and have my other experiences in prime time and feature films to get where I’m at now,” she added. “I understand that, because it all mattered.”

To this day though, Rowell doesn’t rule out a return to the Young and the Restless in the future, especially since there is a whole fan-led campaign to get Drucilla back on the show.

“That’s been on the table. Dave Weaver at Sony is the one holding the decision card,” she said. “Sony owns the majority share of the show. They make that decision. It’s undeniable that the fans have been requesting a return, especially after Kristoff’s passing. They want to see her claw her way back up the cliff. But I was told that Dru is back in the script and I see myself on the cover of Soap magazine, so I don’t know what their plan is.”

Rowell did return temporarily to pay tribute to Kristoff St. John, who played her on-screen love interest, Neil.

“The tribute to Kristoff was beautiful. I was honored to be a part of it,” she said. “I loved Kristoff. He will remain a part of my life experience. I considered him a friend and confidant.”

When asked what her favorite memory of him is, it was, interesting enough, pushing CBS to think outside the box.

“There’s so many, but I would say we were able to convince, in the very beginning back in 1991, CBS to shoot our honeymoon episode in Antigua,” she said. “That really was huge that we got an international location shoot, which isn’t typically reserved for Black actors in daytime. It was a great time with lasting memories made.”

Rowell said she’s still reeling over the passing of her dear friend, as are millions of soap fans. She said their relationship went deeper than just being co-stars. He was someone very special.

“It was tough. This isn’t an easy death to get over,” she said. “Kristoff was in people’s living rooms almost daily for 26 plus years. He was a friend beyond entertainment. He helped me with my foster care fundraising work, raising funds for scholarships for foster kids to study classical and fine arts. He was a good guy.”