Vivica A. Fox is heading back to The Young and the Restless on Tuesday, April 7, and she says the return caught her off guard. Fox will reprise the role of Stephanie Simmons, the character she last played in 1994 and 1995, after a surprise call that came just as she had signed with a new agent.
“Stephanie is back,” said, adding that Stephanie has “a lot of secrets that will be revealed.” She said the comeback was not planned. “I’ve just signed with a new agent, Innovative Artists, and was just sitting at home chilling, and my head agent hit me and said, ‘Hey, guess who called looking for you today?’” said the show wanted to know whether she would return as Stephanie, and the idea only got bigger when she learned Shemar Moore was also coming back.
Moore previously played Malcolm Winters, Stephanie’s love interest, and said the pairing helped sell her on the move. She met with executive producer and head writer Josh Griffith on Zoom, and he told her Malcolm would reach out to Stephanie and need some help. “I thought, ‘Get out of here. The genius of that would be incredible,’” she said. “So far, it’s been surprise after surprise after surprise.” said the audience would be “on the edge of their chairs as Stephanie and Malcolm come back,” and said she was glad to be back “to finish her business with Malcolm.”
The return also brought Fox back into a set that still carries the weight of the show’s past. She said some of the actors from 30 years ago are still there, and that the first day felt “like a wonderful homecoming.” Then the pace hit. “I’m not gonna kid you, that first week was like boot camp,” she said. Fox also said she walked into the producers’ offices and saw a huge portrait of Kristoff St. John, with whom she started Generations years ago and later worked on a Lifetime film called A Christmas Cruise.
said she and St. John were about to do a sequel before he died in 2019, and seeing his portrait stopped her cold. “My whole heart just welled up, and I cried a little bit,” she said. “I was like, ‘Gosh, excuse me for being so emotional, but that’s like your first love in a way, and my love for him will never die.’” For The Young and the Restless, the return of Stephanie Simmons brings back a longtime storyline, a familiar partner in Malcolm Winters and a secrets-filled reunion that is built to keep viewers watching.
