List of The Young and the Restless characters introduced in the 2000s
This is a list of notable characters from the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless that significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 2000 and December 2009, in order of first appearance.
Alex Perez
Alex Perez first appeared on November 29, 2000, later becoming the fiancée of Malcolm Winters and lover of his brother, Neil. The role, portrayed by Alexia Robinson, was created to fill the void left by Victoria Rowell. Prior to her debut, the character was only known as "Erin". In 2002, it was announced that Robinson was to exit The Young and the Restless after the expiration of her contract, and departed onscreen on May 9, 2002.History
Alex arrived in Genoa City to work on an important case for Newman Enterprises and the firm's boss Victor Newman was immediately impressed by the way she was doing business. She was working together with Neil Winters and the attraction between them was high even though they were constantly fighting. Olivia Winters helped Alex win the case however, the two were never friends because Olivia was constantly afraid of losing Neil to Alex.
Meanwhile, Neil's brother Malcolm Winters fell for Alex and they started dating. Neil was extremely bothered by this because he was in love with Alex and he was about to reveal the truth when Alex finally decided to accept Malcolm's proposal of marriage. Alex desperately tried to hide any sign of involvement with Neil, while Neil was going through a rough time due to a death of his close friend. In a moment of depression, Neil admitted his feelings for Alex to Malcolm, but Alex reassured Malcolm that she did not care for Neil, and the couple went back to planning their life together.
Malcolm, Alex and Neil ended up a trip to Kenya where Malcolm overheard Alex talking about her feelings for Neil, but did not hear that Alex decided to fully commit to Malcolm. Malcolm ended up in an accident, as Alex and Neil returned to Genoa City. They realized that Malcolm must have overheard their conversation and that's why he left. Alex decided to move back to Minneapolis after she wasn't able to deal with the guilt.
Sean Bridges
Sean Bridges first appeared on March 20, 2001, portrayed by Christopher Douglas. He would later become a prominent boyfriend of both Phyllis Summers and Jill Abbott. In July 2001, it was announced that Douglas had been let go from the role, and that it would be recast. The recast was "due more to the way that character had been written than the performer's work" and that the writers wanted to take the character in a different direction. He was last seen in the role on July 27, 2001. The role was recast with David Lee Russek, who debuted on August 6, 2001. In June 2002, it was announced that Russek was to exit in a "storyline dictated" departure, and was last seen on July 1, 2002.—Douglas on his firing from the soap opera
History
According to Sean, he dropped out of MIT as an 18-year-old junior, and began traveling the country for five years with a backpack as his only possession. He stopped long enough to get involved on the ground floor with a web company and made a killing on his stock options before the company made their down fall. He lived in a 35-room Long Island Victorian mansion, filled with great art, furniture from around the world, and all the "toys." When he realized that he was living to maintain his possessions instead of enjoying his life, he left it all behind and took a job in Genoa City. At some point along the way he had a relationship with Phyllis Summers.
Sean arrived in Genoa City coincidentally to replace Phyllis as Jabot Website Designer, complete with nose ring and laid back wardrobe. He lives in a high rise apartment with no furnishings but a card table, two chairs and a futon, in an attempt to return to a minimalist way of life from his younger years. But he does still keep a Picasso in the closet. Sean seems to have a lot of connections in his past, counting entertainers Lionel Richie and B.B. King among his friends.
The mysterious Sean seemed to have scoped out the options and chose "older woman" Jill Abbott as his companion. While Jill remained wary of this hot younger man and his motives, he managed to sweep her off her feet. Sean was a good influence on the embittered Jill, showing us a bit of the fun-loving innocent woman she once was. Sean moved into the Chancellor Estate and lived with Jill. But Sean pressured her to get married, and Jill balked one too many times. Sean quit Jabot and returned to New York City.
Amanda Browning
Amanda Browning first appeared on August 31, 2001, as the mother of Mackenzie Browning, portrayed by Denice Duff. In June 2002, it was announced that Duff would exit The Young and the Restless after the expiration of her contract, departing onscreen on July 5, 2002.History
Amanda Browning, and her former lover, Brock Reynolds, had a daughter together named Mackenzie. As part of her history, Amanda and Brock fell in love off screen while working together in India. The relationship ended when Amanda left the country with their baby. Amanda married Ralph, who abused Mackenzie. She did not believe her daughter, so Mac ran away.
In 2001, Amanda arrived in Genoa City looking for her daughter after Brittany Hodges set out looking to locate Mac's mother. After realizing the truth about the abuse, Amanda divorces Ralph and returns to town to become closer to her daughter again. She begins volunteering at the homeless shelter where Mac used to stay. Ralph tracks her down in Genoa City. Knowing she is close to Katherine Chancellor, Ralph takes advantage of this and blackmails Amanda into stealing things from the Chancellor house. Ralph's terrorizing of Amanda is stopped by Larry Warton, with whom Amanda has developed a relationship. Amanda chooses to leave town after Jill Abbott shows her the security camera footage of Amanda stealing jewels from the mansion and nearly getting people killed.
Ralph Hunnicutt
Ralph Hunnicutt first appeared on December 7, 2001, as the ex-husband of Amanda Browning, portrayed by Angelo Tiffe, who was last seen in the role on January 6, 2002. In March 2002, it was announced that the role had been recast with Daniel Quinn, who assumed the role on April 18, 2002, as his first daytime role. By June, it was announced that Quinn, along with Denice Duff, would exit in a storyline dictated departure. He was last seen on July 5, 2002.History
Ralph was married to Amanda Browning and played stepfather to her daughter, Mackenzie. Amanda left Ralph when she found out that he was abusing Mac. Amanda did not believe her daughter at first; thus, Mac ran away from home to Genoa City. Amanda came to Genoa City to find Mac, resulting in her leaving Ralph. Angered, Ralph tracked Amanda down, and he began to stalk Mac. He started blackmailing Amanda into stealing things from the Chancellor mansion, where Mackenzie lived with her paternal grandmother, Katherine Chancellor. Mac was shocked to realize that Ralph was in town, and Mac's one-time love, Billy Abbott, jumped to her rescue when Mac came face-to-face with Ralph. Billy hit Ralph in the head, and he thought that he had killed him, but Ralph recovered. He then kidnapped Katherine, but Amanda's new boyfriend, Larry Warton, rescued her. Ralph had plans to get his revenge on Mac, but Larry stopped him in time. Ralph left town, and he was never seen again.
Hank Weber
Hank Weber was a detective who appeared in and around Genoa City, first seen in 2002 and last seen in 2005. The recurring role was portrayed by Sherman Augustus.History
Detective Hank Weber arrived on the scene when Diane Jenkins was involved in a fire at the Abbott poolhouse. The fire was believed to be caused by Phyllis Abbott at the time but was revealed to be in fact caused by Diane. Detective Weber was seen in serious crimes on and off in Genoa City in the years following this incident.
Anita and Frederick Hodges
Anita and Frederick Hodges first appeared on August 14, 2002, as the parents of Brittany Hodges. Anita was portrayed by Mitzi Kapture, and Frederick by John Martin. They were last seen on February 22, 2005.Anita and Frederick Hodges are the parents of Brittany. Their marriage was not going well because Anita needed more attention, and Frederick was more focused on his job as a banker. Anita had an affair with the young J.T. Hellstrom, who once dated Brittany. The affair caused a conflict with J.T. and his girlfriend at-the-time, Colleen Carlton. Meanwhile, Frederick sought comfort in the arms of Jill Abbott, but their relationship did not evolve. Frederick was the first family member to see Brittany stripping in Bobby Marsino's strip club. Neither Frederick nor Anita had much of a story aside from being included in their daughter's story lines. Both parents mostly disapproved of Brittany's relationship with Raul Guittierez, but they were not happy when she was dating Bobby either. Anita and Frederick were last seen in early 2005, when Brittany told them that she was pregnant; neither parent offered her any support. They then moved to New York City.
Wesley Carter
Wesley Carter first appeared on August 26, 2002. He later became the fiancé of Olivia Winters after being involved with her sister, Drucilla. He was portrayed by Ben Watkins.History
When Drucilla Winters returned to Genoa City from Paris with her rebellious teenage daughter Lily, Dru's boyfriend Wesley, a psychiatrist, appeared when Lily called him to take her and Dru back to Paris. After Lily persuaded Wesley to fly out to Genoa City, Dru was surprised by Wesley's arrival. Wesley then met and introduced himself to Dru's ex-husband, Neil Winters, who was dealing with his alcoholism issue. Wesley tried to convince Neil to let Lily and Dru move back to Paris. During this time, Neil's companion, Serena, asked Wesley for help in keeping Neil and Dru apart. Wesley later told Neil about Serena's feelings for him. Wesley began questioning Dru about her feelings for Neil. When Neil insisted he and Dru should live together for Lily to have a sense of family, Wesley wasn't happy about the idea other than Lily having a real family; then, Wes proposed to Dru.
To keep Wesley out of his way of getting back with Dru, Neil asked Dru's sister, Olivia, to keep Wesley busy. Wesley started to realize the extent of Dru's feelings for Neil by the end of the year when she changed her mind about spending the holidays with Wesley in Paris. She later told him she and Lily were moving in with Neil. Even though he and Dru were growing apart, Wesley remained close with Lily and occasionally gave her advice for her problems. Wesley decided to stay in town despite his separation from Dru.
When Olivia and Wesley confided in each other about their relationship situations, they became close and began a romantic relationship. Afterwards, Wesley and Dru officially ended their relationship. Olivia was afraid of moving too fast with Wes, but he later surprised her with a candlelight dinner and explained he wanted a chance to be with her. Months later, Wesley proposed to a hesitant Olivia, who weeks later, finally accepted his proposal. While in town, Wesley helped Christine Blair by hypnotizing her after she presumably had killed Isabella Brana, who was actually alive. After a few months, Olivia and Wesley called off their engagement, and he moved back to Paris.