Mariah Copeland
Mariah Copeland is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by Camryn Grimes. Introduced by executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, the character made her first appearance on January 27, 2014. Grimes had previously played the role of Cassie Newman from 1997 to 2005, when the character was killed off.
Mariah first appears in Genoa City, hired by Victor Newman to gaslight his former daughter-in-law Sharon Newman by posing as the ghost of Sharon's deceased daughter, Cassie, with whom she bears a remarkable resemblance. When the truth about her association with Victor is revealed, Sharon becomes drawn to a troubled Mariah, whom she moves into her home. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Mariah is the notorious ex-girlfriend of Tyler Michaelson; and she is also linked to cult leader Ian Ward. While living with Sharon and Nick Newman, Cassie's adoptive father, Mariah develops an infatuation with Nick. It is soon discovered that Mariah is actually Cassie's twin sister and the daughter Sharon did not know she had. Her birth was kept secret, following Ian's arrangements for Mariah to be stolen at birth, and Ian acted as a father figure to her for years. Mariah subsequently has relationships with Kevin Fisher—a dynamic which allowed Grimes to explore comic relief—and Devon Hamilton. She then develops feelings for her brother's girlfriend, Tessa Porter.
Phelps described Mariah as a "loose cannon," while Grimes has characterized her as a "bad girl with a heart" and more dimensional than what viewers would expect her to be. Reaction to Grimes' return to the soap opera has been positive. Mariah's relationship with another woman proved controversial due to the soap opera's conservative audience, with TV Insider reporting that a gag order prevented Grimes from discussing it with the press. Nonetheless, the storyline also received positive reception and earned Grimes the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2018, her second Daytime Emmy win.
Casting and creation
Camryn Grimes first appeared as the character on January 27, 2014. Grimes had previously portrayed the role of Cassie Newman, Mariah's twin sister, on the series from 1997 to 2005, when the character was killed off in a car accident. Grimes was seven when she originated the role of Cassie and, in 2000, became the youngest recipient of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. Over the years following her death, Grimes made several guest appearances as Cassie's ghost, which she played most recently from July 2013. Although "Ghost Cassie" continued to make numerous appearances to her mother Sharon Newman, it became apparent in February 2014 on-screen that the character appearing was not a spirit, and was in fact a real person. Grimes later revealed that her return as Cassie's ghost was only slated to last four to six episodes.When Grimes learned that she was no longer portraying Cassie's ghost but another character, the actress stated: "I heard rumors that the storyline might be changing, that somehow I would be continuing on the show. I had all these ideas going through my head but I was thinking of the obvious things, like maybe Cassie had a twin sister nobody knew about But what the writers came up with is so much fun and so unexpected," stating that the new character had "potential to go all over the place". In March 2014, Grimes stated that she had little knowledge of the character, stating that it was "very much a reveal for me as it is for the audience" and "I am still learning new things about who the character is." The following month, it was revealed that the character's name was Mariah Copeland, the ex-girlfriend of already established character Tyler Michaelson. In May 2014, Grimes announced that she was now on contract with The Young and the Restless. In a featured interview with Soaps in Depth, Grimes stated: "Looking back after a year, it's kind of crazy to see how things have developed. I'm playing a completely new character and I'm under contract — I would never have guessed that a year ago it would've turned into this!"
Development
Characterization and portrayal
Mariah experienced an "emotionally deprived youth", and according to Grimes, acts a "little bitchy". Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps labelled Mariah as a "have-not", which is a "very powerful" driving force for her behavior. Soap Opera Digest noted the character to be mischievous. Grimes loves the "bite" and stated that she is a "bad girl with a heart". Mariah has a "sassy, sarcastic, dry humor".Grimes has praised the show's writing team for giving her material that makes her return a "seamless transition". Explaining how the differences between Mariah and Cassie impact her portrayal, she said: " as I've gotten older, you grow and your personality grows. I think I've honed in on what my thing is. A lot of me is very sarcastic and very dry, so I incorporate that. Now that I'm older and I have more sense of self, I try to incorporate who I am now, as opposed to who I was when I was playing Cassie. So Mariah is a fuller person."
Introduction
Upon the revelation that Cassie's "ghost" was an actual person hired by Cassie's adoptive grandfather, Victor Newman to gaslight her mother Sharon, several connections which Mariah shared with other characters on the show's canvas came to light. Victor's intentions were to make his son, Nicholas Newman believe Sharon is mentally unstable and "seeing ghosts" so that he would not become romantically involved with her again. Grimes described the character as "ballsy" and found the nature of her relationship with her employee, Victor, to be surprising. Co-head writer Jean Passanante noted that the character's edge became clear in her interactions with Victor, finding it "startling and exciting". TV Guide characterized Mariah as a "scam artist" for her role in Victor's scheme against Sharon. However, Mariah became somewhat sympathetic towards Sharon, with Grimes stating that the audience would see a "more dimensional character than everybody would think". Grimes also stated that she likes how Mariah "is not Cassie", stating: "It would be fun to have her make some friends her own age. Nobody likes Mariah! And I'd like to explore just who she is. What is she good at? Does she have any talents? Is she a closeted photographer?" The actress is also not opposed to a love interest, but wishes they would "stay away from incest with Nick or Noah". Grimes pictures Mariah being paired with a "bad boy".Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps stated that it was the soap's intention to make Cassie's doppelgänger turn out to be Mariah all along. She said: "As soon as Tyler even mentioned there was a Mariah, the writers new it would be Fake Cassie", stating that Mariah would now become a threat to Tyler's relationship with Abby Newman. Phelps described Mariah as a "wild girl" as opposed to Cassie, who was a "good girl". Simultaneously, it was revealed that Mariah was connected to the "nefarious" and "evil" Ian Ward. Phelps noted that both Mariah and Ian were both "plain bad", and that there would be a "much bigger picture to be revealed" in relation to their relationship. Writer Shelly Altman stated that, "It is clear that Ian cared for her differently than the way he relates to other people."