Viewers have watched Sharon Case grow up as Sharon on Young and Restless since her debut back in 1994. And over the years, the actress has also graduated throughout the Daytime Emmy Award categories, going from Younger Actress to Supporting — taking home that trophy in 1999 — and earning her first nomination in Lead in 2023. Up once again for Lead Actress, Case tells Soap Opera Digest, “It’s awesome. It really is awesome. It’s a real milestone achievement. There’s just really a sense of accomplishment with it, and that feels nice.”

The Hardest Cut

Case had some very strong material to play out as Sharon in 2024, which actually presented a bit of a problem when it came time to select scenes for her Emmy reel submission. “Oh, it was so hard,” the actress shares. “The scenes from the storyline of Heather’s murder, I knew I wanted to use that. I immediately knew the two scenes that are really the best, but they timed out so long, and we can only put [a maximum of] 15 minutes on the reel. So I had to come up with a different plan for my reel. I’m happy with it, but it was a difficult choice.”

Given that Case’s Emmy reel landed her another Lead Actress nomination, she clearly found scenes that worked, even if she was unable to include the ones she initially hoped to. “I just chose what fit,” she says. “I had like, three different scenes, all surrounding the storyline of Heather’s murder, but not the key two scenes of the night of the murder. Just the aftermath of Heather’s murder.”

While she had to pivot due to time constraints, Case completely understands the limitation on reel length. “When you’re the judge — I’ve judged — you don’t really need to watch a whole hour show to decide which actor you think is great,” she points out. “You can tell within the first one or two minutes. Judges, they donate their time — it’s a lot of time.”

Out of the Blue

When the Daytime Emmy nominations were announced back in July, the Y&R star was just as unprepared for the news as she was two years ago when she was first nominated in the Lead Actress category. “The last two years, I’ve been kind of confused about what day is Emmy nomination day,” she confesses. “Because sometimes they announce the Lead Actress early, before all the other nominee announcements. And I’m new to this category, so I didn’t know to expect that.

“Two years ago, when I was nominated, I was on stage working, taping a scene in the afternoon, and somebody said, ‘Oh yeah, you’re nominated for an Emmy,’ ” the actress continues. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I hope so. We’ll find out in two days.’ ‘No, the nominations have been released!’ So that’s what’s happened to me the last two years [that my name was on the list].

The Big Night

As the Daytime Emmys ceremony approaches on October 17, the actress has already selected her dress and jewelry, and arranged for her dates. “I’m gonna take a couple friends,” Case reports. “I’ve been taking my dad the last several times, so I’m gonna take a couple friends who’ve been wanting to go for a long time, and we’re just gonna have fun. We love the party that they have at this particular theater. There’s always a really nice party afterwards. A big room, dance floor… it is actually fun. So I’m looking forward to that, and it’ll just be lots of laughs and photos.”

Case is also anticipating an extra special celebration this year because of how many of her Y&R cast and crew are nominated alongside her. In fact, the Lead Actress category alone includes three of her castmates: Eileen Davidson (Ashley), Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea), and Michelle Stafford (Phyllis).

“I’m excited to go to the Emmys with many people,” Case declares. “It is the more the merrier, for sure. And having that many people nominated, probably a lot of people from the show, who work at the show, we’ll have a big turnout of Y&R people who are in the theater, and that makes it more fun. It’s so much more fun when more people go.”