Young And Restless Exclusive: Zuleyka Silver On Audra’s ‘Intense Past’ With Holden

Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Now that Holden Novak (Nathan Owens), a man from her past, has surfaced in Genoa City, Audra Charles is playing a dangerous game, lying to her current love, Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic), about her connection to the man who posed as his half brother, Damian Kane (Jermaine Rivers). Soap Opera Digest checked in with her portrayer, Zuleyka Silver, about the dramatic turn of events for her character.

Soap Opera Digest: Well, this is a very exciting time for Audra lovers! Are you enjoying your juicy new storyline?

Zuleyka Silver: Yes! I’m enjoying it very much because I feel like Audra has been too good for too long already. So, I’m happy that the drama is coming back into her life because that’s familiar to her.

Digest: Indeed. I mean, you don’t sign on to play a bad girl to be all lovey-dovey for too long. We need the drama!

Silver: We do, but the good thing about that is that we got to explore more of her vulnerability and all of that, which I think was definitely needed, so. Yeah.

Digest: So, I’m always curious to know, when a character on a soap has to have that look of, “Oh, crap” cross over their face in a scene, like was called for in Audra’s first scenes with Holden, are you playing it blind, or did you know what Audra doesn’t want Nate to find out and what she was concealing in general? Or were you just going with your gut?

Silver: I love that question because when we had that first scene when Holden walked into Nate’s penthouse and I was there, we were exploring whether we were going to recognize each other, but we didn’t want to give it away so fast. So we were directed to just really play it like we don’t know each other. I think a lot of that is just in the eyes or in having these thoughts of like, “This is someone I know, this is my ex,” but without giving so much away, so that it could be a surprise later, like it was in that coffeehouse scene, the one that aired Monday.

Digest: How would you describe like the degree to which Audra is alarmed that Holden has surfaced in town?

Silver: Well, I think it’s really alarming because she’s finally gotten to a place where she feels like she can build something with Nate. I think it took her a long time to open up to someone. I feel like any relationship she’s ever in, she’s a little guarded still, and so I think she’s been putting her walls down with Nate. She’s finally gotten to a place where she feels like she can start trusting him and really opening up, and right when things are evolving between them, that’s when her past shows up. And it seems like that’s a recurring thing for Audra. Whatever choices she made in the past, they’re coming back to haunt her. I think she’s like, “You are not gonna mess this up for me.” I think that’s why it’s so high-stakes for her. She’s finally kind of getting her s*** together, right? And for this guy to come back into her life, I think she’s definitely worried about that because they’ve had an intense past and she doesn’t want, perhaps, Nate to know that side of her, because perhaps she could be fearful that he might not really love her if he really knew who she was. That’s how I’m approaching it as an actor, but there are so many layers, and I think that’s something that the writers are still exploring.

Digest: In terms of you being briefed on the backstory between Audra and Holden, were you given some information by Executive Producer/Head Writer Josh Griffith, or are you just discovering it script by script?

Silver: I’m discovering it script by script. I keep trying to ask questions, but I also think that they’re giving me the information as needed, so I don’t reveal too much, which I kind of like because it’s kind of like you’re dangling this carrot in front of me and I’m just trying to just figure it out. I mean, it’s fun! I know that it was intense and there’s a reason why Audra is so adamant about keeping him away because I think there’s a secret there that she’s really afraid of Nate finding out — and I can’t wait to find out what that is!

Digest: Tell me about your working relationship with your new co-star, Nathan Owens.

Silver: It’s interesting because at the callback [when Owens was auditioning; he originally tried out for the role of Damian], I felt like, “He looks so familiar,” and I think I was even like, “Hey, have I met you? Do I know you?” I couldn’t figure it out! I think I must have just seen him on another show or something, I don’t know, but I brought some of that [feeling of familiarity], I think and I tried to play some of that mystery into my first scenes with him. But he’s great! We hit it off right away. We haven’t worked together that much, but the handful of times that I have filmed with him we just hit it off. He has a great sense of humor. You don’t have a lot of time to get to know each other outside of set, but we’re just trying to get to know each other in between scenes and things like that. I think all of that definitely helps when we are filming, right? But then also, as an actor, you can substitute and you can do your homework and create a history — that’s part of an actor’s job, like, not everything’s always going to be given to you, so we have to go in there and create this life and this history so we don’t come across as strangers [on screen].

Digest: Audra made the decision not to come clean with Nate right away and just tell him that she has a history with Holden. Do you think she made the decision not to be transparent on instinct, or do you think she would have made the same choice if she’d had a few days to think about it?

Silver: I think it’s very Audra for her to make that decision. When I read it, I was like, “Audra, just tell him! Why are you lying?” But it makes sense for Audra. I think she was just hoping that Holden would go back to L.A., go away, and then she would never have to think about this again. But obviously, that’s not the case. I don’t think that’s a choice she would have made if she thought that Holden wasn’t going to back to L.A. But yeah, it’s still a lie. It’s a lie of omission. Audra doesn’t make the best decisions all the time. I feel like sometimes she does come around to the better decision, but I think she’s always making decisions based on, “How can I protect myself?” I think she also thinks about the immediate gratification of, “Okay, if I lie now, at least I’m not gonna have to deal with this now.” I’m personally more [likely to] face things head-on and, “Let me just deal with it and get it over with,” but Audra is like, “I’ll just lie a little bit more, let me just pretend like the problem doesn’t exist and maybe it’ll go away.” But we are going to see her talk to Nate … in her own style. Just know that there are a lot of exciting things and a lot of drama coming up. There’s a lot of crazy stuff coming up!

Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

The Past Is Present: Audra is far from thrilled that Holden (Nathan Owens) is back in her life.