EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Victoria Rowell on THE RICH AND THE RUTHLESS & Getting Back To Her Comedy Roots

Victoria Rowell

An actress, advocate, mother, former foster child and now, a best-selling author, Victoria Rowell is currently in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to produce her comedy pilot, THE RICH AND THE RUTHLESS, a soap opera about a soap opera.

A versatile actress of theater, primetime, daytime and feature films, Rowell is known around the world for her various roles. She is a daytime television icon as the feisty Drucilla Winters on CBS' THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. She has been nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy and has won 12 NAACP Image Awards. She also co-starred in the CBS hit primetime television series DIAGNOSIS MURDER, with Dick Van Dyke, for eight seasons - while continuing her daytime TV work.

On the big screen, she has worked with award-winning leading men, including Beau Bridges, Jim Carrey, Dick Van Dyke, Mario Van Peoples, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy and Samuel L. Jackson.

THE RICH AND THE RUTHLESS promises more of the zaniness that readers have fallen in love with in her books, "Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva" and "The Young and the Ruthless."

We Love Soaps spoke with Rowell this week. Read our exclusive interview below:

WE LOVE SOAPS: Can you tell us about your new project, THE RICH & THE RUTHLESS, and what you're doing with Kickstarter?
VICTORIA ROWELL: I've been involved with daytime dramas over many years, predominantly on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS for 14 years as the iconic Drucilla Barber Winters.  But the pilot is an amalgamation of my stage experience in the ballet world, as well as primetime, film and daytime drama.

I was fortunate to gain a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster Atria which further inspired me to continue to write. I had already gotten on the New York Times [Best Sellers List] with "The Woman Who Raised Me," which is still selling. But I really wanted to write a soap opera series.