Steffy Forrester
Steffy Forrester is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Introduced by Bradley Bell, she is currently portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood. Steffy and her twin sister Phoebe were born onscreen as the daughters of supercouple Ridge Forrester and Taylor Hayes during the episode airing on September 21, 1999. For the character's first five-year period, she appeared as a minor. In 2005, Steffy was rapidly aged to a teenager, and in 2008 she appeared as an adult when Wood took over the role. Wood portrayed the role continuously until 2013, when she decided to leave her regular capacity with the series. Following a series of guest appearances, Wood returned as a series regular in 2015.
Steffy has suffered several losses throughout her life, which according to Wood is the reason for her deep-seated issues and puzzling storylines. Wood has also described the character as a "rich bitch". While characterized as being provocative and strong-willed, Steffy is emotionally starved on the inside due to her father's neglect. The character is known for her relationships with the Spencer men: Bill Spencer, Jr., Liam Spencer and Wyatt Spencer as well as animosities towards the Logan family, particularly her mother's rival Brooke Logan and Steffy's own arch-rival Hope Logan. For several years, Steffy's storylines revolved around a long-running love triangle with Hope and Liam, before falling in love and entering a significant relationship with medical doctor, John "Finn" Finnegan.
Soaps in Depth called Steffy the soap opera genre's "resident diva", while journalist Michael Logan referred to her as a "maddeningly complicated sexbomb". Wood's performance in the role received positive reviews from audiences and critics. She was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series in 2012 and 2013. In 2018, she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and won the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Casting
From 1999 to 2003, Steffy and Phoebe were portrayed by various sets of identical twin child actors. Cameryn McNabb took over the role in 2003. From January to March 2004, Jordan Mella played Steffy. In April 2004, both roles were recast with Keaton and Kylie Rae Tyndall, and Steffy was rapidly aged. Kylie portrayed the role of Steffy until April 2005, when the role was recast with Alex Hoover, whose twin sister Addison Hoover took over the role of Phoebe. The Hoover twins were downgraded to recurring status in November 2005, and left the program the following year. In June 2006, former Guiding Light actress MacKenzie Mauzy took over the role of Phoebe upon the character's return, while Steffy was written out of the series.Steffy was absent from the soap opera until June 4, 2008, when Canadian actress Jacqueline MacInnes Wood took over the part. With the casting of Wood, Phoebe and Steffy were retconned as fraternal twins. A month after Wood's arrival, Mauzy announced her exit from the show and Phoebe was killed off. Wood stated that she found the filming on the show to be very fast-paced, stating, "On the daily we can shoot up to 90 pages, that's 8 to 12 episodes, in 4 days with sometimes no rehearsal! In films, you shoot 100 pages in 4 months."
In 2010, it was announced that Wood would take a brief break from the program to film the fifth installment in the Final Destination film series, Final Destination 5. Wood recorded several scenes in advance of her planned absence. Wood learned about her Daytime Emmy nomination just before filming a scene in the Adriatic Sea, stating, "I was just about to shoot a scene in the Adriatic sea in Italy. The water was only 54 degrees! Brad Bell came up to me and said, "How does it feel to be Emmy nominated?"
In May 2013, news broke that Wood had opted not to renew her contract with the show to take another break. According to Soaps in Depth, " threw a lot of money at her to get her to stay, but she thought it was the right time to go". A representative for the show stated, " is taking short a break, as she has done in the past, from B&B. She remains as the character of 'Steffy Forrester' and is continuing to tape, currently with episodes airing through July 2013 and then beyond". It was later announced that Wood had decided to remain with the series on a recurring basis with episodes airing on July 4 to 12 and September 30 and October 1.
After making sporadic appearances, Wood was then announced to be returning for several episodes from December 12 to 20, 2013. Last appearing on the credits in February 2014, it was confirmed in October 2014 that she would not be returning on a more permanent basis, stating: "Unfortunately we weren't on the same page contractually/scheduling etc These things happen in this industry and I hope all my fans can understand that. I am a huge supporter of Brad Bell and the entire cast and crew." Wood was also removed from the soap opera's opening credits.
However, on December 4, 2014, Soap Opera Digest broke exclusive news that Wood would be returning to the series. At press time, Wood was scheduled for a "handful" of episodes, which began airing on January 30, 2015. Wood revealed that she agreed to return to the show after Bell had personally sent her a text message. Of her status with the series, the actress said "if the timing is right, I'll always come back". In April 2015, Wood confirmed that she signed a contract deal with the series and would return in the role of Steffy. She made her on-screen return on May 26, 2015. Wood said: "When I left the show , it wasn't a real goodbye", and mentioned that "Brad sent me a text with an idea for a storyline. We both got really excited about it and that was it. I was ready to go."
It was announced that on September 10, 2020, that Tanner Novlan's wife Kayla Ewell, who had previously portrayed Caitlin Ramirez on the show, would return to play an intimacy double or a stand-in for Wood as a result of the onset protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Ewell took on the role as a Steffy intimacy double from September 2020 to March 2021. Due to social distancing on set slowly coming to an end in the filming process, since May 2021, Novlan and Wood have been filming their own closeness and intimate scenes.
Character development
Characterization
Jamey Giddens of the soap opera website Daytime Confidential characterized Steffy as "bitch-nasty", while Wood has described her as strong-willed and a vixen. The program's website said that Steffy is a "stunning fashionista" and a "provocative trendsetter", and added that "when it comes to Steffy Forrester, things are never as they seem. On the surface she's sexy, stylish, clever, and together but below the surface, Ridge and Taylor's only surviving daughter is emotionally starved and slowly learning how to love and be loved". By 2011, Wood described Steffy as a "rich bitch" and stated, "I love playing her and developing her character. She is so different from me. It's rather cathartic, and it allows my alter ego to come out on The Bold and The Beautiful set five days a week." CBS Soaps in Depth characterized Steffy as the soap opera's "resident diva". When asked if Steffy was "a little bit nuts", Wood said: "yes, she's a mess. But a very strong mess."Steffy is named after her paternal grandmother Stephanie Forrester, with Wood affirming: "She's always thinking. There's a reason she was named for her grandmother, Stephanie. There's always a tactic, always a strategy." Steffy and her brother Thomas have always dreamed of their parents Ridge and Taylor reuniting. In 2009, the siblings manipulate their parents to get them back together in marriage. The storyline, inspired by The Parent Trap, sees Steffy and Thomas tamper with SMS text messages between Ridge and his former love, Brooke Logan to make Brooke believe that Ridge had dumped her, so she will not interrupt his reunion with Taylor. However, Brooke crashes the wedding after the marriage becomes official.
Wood said that she is sometimes puzzled when reading Steffy's scripts, but connects her present storyline to the character's past. She said: "I just think back to all the things Steffy has been through. She has a lot of deep seeded [sic] issues. That is where I think it stems from with her father leaving her, losing her sister, her mom sleeping with her sister's boyfriend, etc. There are just so many traumatic things! Explaining her reaction to Steffy killing her cousin Alexandria Forrester in self-defense, Wood stated in August 2015: "When I first heard about it, I was in major shock, of course. Then I started thinking about how everything bad happens to Steffy and that it makes sense that she's a murderer now. It's kind of perfect, really."