CAST IN THE RIGHT PLACE

After seven years on “The Young and the Restless,” actress Tricia Cast, who plays Nina Webster Chancellor, admits that she never anticipated making a career of the CBS soap.

“I never really expect anything to go longer than a day in this business,” says Cast. “It’s just the sense you have as an actor. It wasn’t until I was on ‘Y&R;’ for five years that it finally started sinking in and I thought, ‘Maybe I’m here for a while.’ I just never take anything for granted (in work) because you could be out the next day.”

Cast says she has learned a lot about the medium of TV from working on “The Young and the Restless.”

“I’ve learned a tremendous amount,” says the actress. “I can help out the camera, light and boom (operators) when they’re having troubles. I’ve developed a sensitivity to everyone else’s problems and what they have to overcome to get a scene done. Plus, my memory has gotten better. I can learn my lines a lot quicker than I used to.”

Not that Cast really memorizes her scripts.

“I don’t like to admit this, because it sounds unprofessional, but I only read my script once or twice the night before I work,” she says. “I make sure there are no big speeches or heavy stuff. Then I let it go until the next day.

“The real memorization comes just before taping,” she says. “I think that keeps things fresh. I don’t do anything the same way twice. That’s probably bad as far as the directors are concerned, but it’s great for spontaneity.”

And no one could accuse Nina of being anything less than spontaneous.

“You never know what Nina is going to do next,” says Cast. “That’s the kind of character she is. I like her best when she’s wild and reckless.”

Both attributes have been running rampant in the character since she began her shameless and relentless pursuit of the newly divorced Ryan McNeil (played by Scott Reeves), who likes Nina but still carries a slight torch for his ex-wife, Victoria (Heather Tom).

Off camera, Cast and her husband, Jack Allocco (the musical composer for “Y&R;” and “The Bold and the Beautiful”), have been blissfully wed for four years.

“The Young and the Restless” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on CBS.