Sharon Case Chats About Married Life, Motherhood, And Her (Surprise!) Favorite Co-Star

"You're kidding me!" Sharon Case (Sharon, Y&R) laughs incredulously.  Yep, even she's surprised to learn that there hasn't been a Digest feature about her since August 2000.  But she's hardly a stranger to readers since the atress shows up regularly in cover stories, "Roundup" questions, "Take Five" and the "Star Style" pages (not to mention numerous appearances in our annual Beautiful Women issue).

Still, there's lots of catching up to do.  The biggest news?  Last year, Case tied the knot with Sandy Corzine in an intimate ceremony in Mexico.  "I feel like I can see my future clearer now that I'm married," she smiles.  "I have this feeling of security.  I feel content.  It was bizarre because I didn't think I would feel any different so that was a pleasant surprise."

Another surprise was when that maternal instinct kicked in--finally.  "It's funny because I never really wanted to have kids before," Case chuckles.  "When I was young, I didn't daydream about being married with children.  I daydreamed about a career.  Everyone told me my whole life, 'You'll want to be a mother one day.'  But it never happened and I kept wondering, 'What's wrong with me?'  It made me feel a little anxious.  But I didn't want to have children all of a sudden because my biological clock was ticking away.  What did it for me was meeting someone I love and wanting to have a family because of that person.  When it finally happened, I realized everything fell into place the way it's supposed to."

But Case isn't looking to bust a brood.  "I think I just want one child," she says.  "I love to travel and I love my job, so I think more than one would be too much for me.  My sister has a 2-year-old little girl, plus she's having another baby and we are so close that if I have one, I'll probably be more involved with her kids.  We'll be together for playdates and doing our mommy talk and make everyone's ears bleed."

Until the stork comes, Case is content with playing the role she took over in 1994 (she was the second recast).  "It's rare to find a soap job that lasts this long," says the actress, who previously had short stints on GH (ex-Dawn) and ATWT (ex-Debbie).  "Soaps like to write characters for just one or two years as supporting players, then you also deal with constant writers and executive changes, so anything can happen.  I've been very fortunate to be here this long."

Ironically, it was when Sharon got downright domestic with her marriage to Nicholas and becoming pregnant shortly after that made Case happy.  "I never played a mom before, so that really had a lot to do with me staying," she recalls.  "It was really challenging and different, and opened so many new doors to play as an actress.  I remember thinking, 'Okay, I really like it here.  I'll stay as long as they want me.' "

And because of the "great, heavy" storylines through the years, Case has never had the desire--well, at least not a burning one--to bolt for proverbial greener pastures.  "Of course I thought about it; all the actors do," she admits.  "But I prefer to just take time off to do other projects.  That's worked out fine."

Though Case has never voiced an objection to the writers, there was a plot twist that even had her reeling.  "Learning that Cassie was going to die was a big shock," she reveals about the demise of her 14-year-old TV daughter in 2005.  "Everybody was so unhappy.  But Sharon and Nick were such a tight couple that it was going to take something crazy and big like that to break them up.  At first, Joshua [Morrow, Nick] and I didn't want our characters to break up, so we were a little protesty about it.  I liked Nick and Sharon being married.  Even though she was on this island called the Newman ranch, they still managed to have great storylines.  There was always something happening to that marriage.  Babies came and went, and there were affairs.  But we started playing the stuff after Cassie died and we said, 'Oh, this is a good idea.' "

Nick and Sharon split, then got new spouses (he's with Phyllis; she's with Jack) and Case is thrilled.  "Now, Sharon is more involved in the lives of other people, so that's been the biggest plus," she enthuses.  "Even if Nick and Sharon were ever to remarry, she now knows all these other characters in town that she really didn't before.  It has been fun to change gears."

But for Case, there was some collateral damage from the Sharon/Nick divorce.  "I miss working with Melody [Thomas Scott, Nikki]," Case declares.  "She is by far my favorite cast member to work with. I love her personally, I love her as an actress and I love our characters together.  The relationship between Sharon and Nikki has always been my favorite.  Even though Nikki is not Sharon's mother-in-law anymore, we still have an interesting dynamic together.  I wish they would write more about that."

And as far as Case is concerned, her future at Y&R looks great.  "This is a wonderful show with wonderful people," she raves.  "There's no place I'd rather be."