Victor Newman - Casting and Creation

Casting and Creation

In 1997, William J. Bell, who created Victor, said that the character was originally a short-term non-contract role. Bell noted: " would last between eight to twelve weeks, at which time he was to be shot by his beautiful wife. In short, Victor Newman was in concept a despicable, contemptible, unfaithful wife abuser." Bell said that when he saw Braeden's first performance, "the voice, the power, the inner strength—I knew immediately I didn't want to lose this man. He was exactly what the show needed. Not the hateful man we saw onscreen, but the man he could and would become over time. The first thing was to get Eric under contract, but he didn't want to go under contract." According to Bell, Braeden was uneasy about television and initially didn't want a full-time job on a soap opera. Bell said "Eric became more comfortable with the medium, and more trusting with the producers, and agreed to sign a contract. If memory serves, it was for six months. I immediately changed my story in the hope of salvaging this character. The rest is history."