The Young And The Restless' Melody Thomas Scott Shares 'Scary' Experience With Alfred Hitchcock
Because she's played Nikki Newman for so many decades (four to be exact), "The Young and the Restless" star Melody Thomas Scott has seen her character go through so many good times and so many not so good times over the years. There was even a controversial Nikki Newman story that "The Young and the Restless" fans never got to see. Apparently, Nikki was supposed to also be a mud wrestler in addition to a stripper before she met and fell in love with Victor Newman (Eric Braeden)(via Soaps.com). After having already done her research for the story arc, Scott told Soap Opera Digest on their "Dishing with Digest" podcast, "CBS programs and practices got wind of this idea, and they nixed it. And so, because she couldn't be a mud wrestler, [executive producer Bill Bell] decided to make her a stripper. That was not the original plan."
And while there's no doubt that Scott has had plenty of difficult scenes as Nikki Newman over the years, it's what she had experienced away from the daytime television cameras that might sound more frightening than any soap opera script. Scott says that she once had a "very scary" experience with none other than Alfred Hitchcock (via Soap Opera Digest).
Melody Thomas Scott recalls working with Hitchcock
Speaking to Soap Opera Digest, Melody Thomas Scott opened up about working for legendary Hollywood director Alfred Hitchcock at the tender age of eight. It was for her first movie, "Marnie," in which she played the child version of Tippi Hedren's character. While Hitchcock will forever be remembered as one of the biggest names in the industry, the BBC says that he was also a "brilliant but curmudgeonly man," which Scott perhaps could attest to as well. The soap star said that despite her young age, she "very quickly learned that he was a very scary, heavy breathing, critical guy. [...] He was exactly how you'd think. Never smiled, very clear about exactly what he wanted."
One would think that working with Hitchcock at such a young age wouldn't be a good idea, but as a child actor, Scott didn't have a choice. Her fans know that she detailed this experience and a few other of her early Hollywood memories in her memoir, "Always Young and Restless." In an interview with TV Insider back in 2020, Scott said that when she began her career, there were very few stage parents that had protected their children in the same way that would be expected today. She said, "That was part of the tragedy with me. You hope that your guardian will step in and protect you and when they don't, it's a very difficult pill to swallow."