Matt Clark is a fictional character from the American
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
soap opera ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...
''. The role was originated by
Eddie Cibrian
Edward Carl Cibrian ( ; born June 16, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Cole Deschanel on the television series '' Sunset Beach'' and Jimmy Doherty on ''Third Watch''.
His other notable television roles include Matt ...
in May 1994, who left the show in 1996. After Russell Lawrence briefly playing the character in 2000,
Rick Hearst
Rick Hearst (born January 4, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for roles in American soap operas.
Early life
Hearst was born Richard Charles Herbst on January 4, 1965, in Howard Beach, New York and raised in Dallas, Texas.
Personal life ...
took over the role that year, departing in 2001 after the character was killed off. Hearst returned for several appearances as an apparition. Matt was known as an antagonistic villain who created problems for
Nick and Sharon Newman, beginning when they were teens in high school. He raped both
Sharon Collins and
Amy Wilson, and framed
Nicholas Newman
Nicholas Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''. Created and introduced by William J. Bell, he was born onscreen in 1988 as the second child of supercouple characters Victor and Nikki ...
for multiple crimes.
Casting and characterization
Eddie Cibrian
Edward Carl Cibrian ( ; born June 16, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Cole Deschanel on the television series '' Sunset Beach'' and Jimmy Doherty on ''Third Watch''.
His other notable television roles include Matt ...
was hired to portray recurring character Matt Clark in May 1994. In October of that year, he signed a three-year contract with the series.
Cibrian said that he believed the writers "were going to turn the story into something bigger" and wanted to keep it going.
The character exited in 1996 after nearly three years. Russell Lawrence became the next actor in the role, portraying Matt in 2000.
However, he was replaced a few months later with
Rick Hearst
Rick Hearst (born January 4, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for roles in American soap operas.
Early life
Hearst was born Richard Charles Herbst on January 4, 1965, in Howard Beach, New York and raised in Dallas, Texas.
Personal life ...
who debuted in October 2000. Hearst was familiar with the soap opera genre, having played
Alan-Michael Spaulding on ''
Guiding Light'' for several years prior. ''
TimesDaily
The ''TimesDaily'' is the daily newspaper for Florence, Alabama. ''The TimesDaily'' covers a four-county region in Alabama including Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, and Lawrence counties, as well as portions of southern Tennessee and northeast ...
'' wrote: "Expect the storyline of the vengeful Matt to be stepped up with Hearst in the role".
In April 2001, it was announced that Hearst would exit, and the character died onscreen the following month.
However, due to Hearst's popularity with viewers, the actor returned for several recurring guest appearances beginning July 2001 as a vision being seen by the insane
Tricia Dennison
A list of notable characters from the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' that significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 1990 and December 1999.
Lillie Belle Barber
Lillie Belle Barber first appeared in 1990 as ...
after his character's death.
Speaking on his exit and appearances afterward, Hearst said: "I look at every opportunity as a gift. When I was let go (...) and was brought back as a freaking apparition for six months, I looked at it as, they called me for work this week."
Matt has been characterized by ''
Soaps In Depth
''Soaps In Depth'' is an American entertainment magazine, formerly published as a series of biweekly print publications and currently as an online-exclusive publication, that is dedicated to coverage of daytime soap operas. Founded in 1997 by B ...
'' as the show's previous "bad boy", and a "cocky jock-turned rapist" by ''
Star-News''.
Cibrian called him "horrific", stating: "I've never encountered anybody like him in my life. Nor would I ever want to."
The character started out as a "regular guy" on the show, but after Cibrian became a regular cast member, he began doing "awful things" and became "the bad guy", beginning with raping
Sharon Collins (
Sharon Case
Sharon Case (born February 9, 1971) is an American actress and former model. At the age of 17, Case began working as a model, relocating briefly to Japan, before pursuing an acting career. She is best known for her roles on daytime television s ...
). Cibrian found the role challenging and said: "Unfortunately there are people in the world like Matt. That’s why they put this in the script, so people could be aware."
Storylines
As a high school senior in 1994, Matt Clark dates Sharon Collins and develops a bitter rivalry with
Nicholas Newman
Nicholas Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''. Created and introduced by William J. Bell, he was born onscreen in 1988 as the second child of supercouple characters Victor and Nikki ...
(
Joshua Morrow
Joshua Jacob Morrow (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. In 1994, he began his career when he was cast in the role of Nicholas Newman on ''The Young and the Restless''. In 1998, he joined the soul-pop group 3Deep; the group disbanded in ...
) who ends up winning Sharon from him. A fight between Matt and Nick results in Nick being badly beaten. Shortly thereafter, Matt rapes Sharon, causing her to sink into a depression. Matt then dates
Amy Wilson (
Julianne Morris
Julianne Morris (born May 8, 1968) is an American actress.
Early life
Morris was born in South Carolina. Her family relocated to Windermere, Florida when she was young and she was raised there. She is the youngest of two children. Morris att ...
), Sharon's best friend. Reacting to Nick and Sharon becoming king and queen of their high school Polynesian dance, Matt exposes Sharon's secret: that she is not a virgin, and had given up a baby for adoption when she was 16. While Nick is briefly angry at Sharon, he forgives her and the pair become engaged. After Sharon confesses to Nick that Matt raped her, just prior to their planned wedding, Nick goes after Matt, but instead finds him lying in a pool of blood on his apartment floor, having been shot. Nick is arrested, while Matt survives and falsely claims that Nick shot him. After a trial, Nick is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Nick's father
Victor Newman
Victor Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''. He has been portrayed by Eric Braeden since 1980. Initially a guest character who was to last for eight to twelve weeks, Victor has evolved ...
(
Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941) is a German-born film and television actor, known for his roles as Victor Newman on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series '' The Rat Patr ...
) tracks down Amy in a mental institution, who has been suffering from
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
. Amy reveals that she was the person who shot Matt after he raped her. Nick is acquitted and Matt leaves town in 1996.
In 2000, Matt Clark resurfaces in town under the alias of Carter Mills, having had plastic surgery to change his appearance, and begins working at Nick and Sharon's coffeehouse. Carter uses
Tricia Dennison
A list of notable characters from the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' that significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 1990 and December 1999.
Lillie Belle Barber
Lillie Belle Barber first appeared in 1990 as ...
(
Sabryn Genet
Sabryn Genet (born May 14, 1971, as Sabryn Genet Ertle in Orange County, California) is an American actress.
She is best known for her role as Tricia Dennison McNeil in ''The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbr ...
), a woman he slept with, to frame Nick for selling drugs. Sharon grows close with Carter while Nick is in jail. Carter nearly succeeds in raping Sharon by using a
date rape
Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between ...
drug, but Nick arrives home and his plans are thwarted.
Paul Williams (
Doug Davidson
Douglas Donald Davidson (born October 24, 1954) is an American Emmy Award winning television actor. He has portrayed Paul Williams on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' since May 1978, making him the series' longest-serving cas ...
) begins searching for Matt Clark, realizing that he may have had plastic surgery. Carter later meets Sharon at a cabin in the woods and tries to rape her there, but is stopped when Victor arrives. Tricia drives off with Carter in her car but deliberately drives off a cliff in an attempt to kill them both. While Tricia survives the crash, Carter had fatal injuries. Carter pulls out his own breathing tube, killing himself, and framing Nick for his murder. Nick is implicated in Carter's murder, but is ultimately found not guilty.
Just before Matt's death, he lied to Nick, telling him that he had raped Sharon. Sharon becomes pregnant, and Nick demands a paternity test, which she refuses (not wanting to harm the child). After a fight with Nick, Sharon runs after him and trips over a chair. The fall causes her to give birth prematurely to a stillborn baby. A paternity test confirmed that Nick was the father, not Matt.
Reception
Both Cibrian and Hearst became popular for their portrayals of Matt.
In 1996, soap opera journalist Seli Groves of ''
The Beaver County Times
''The Beaver County Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Beaver, Pennsylvania, United States, and serving the north-western Pittsburgh suburbs. The ''Times'' is a direct descendant of many of Beaver County's newspapers, starting with the ' ...
'' newspaper opined that it was likely for Matt to return one day, writing that "characters with this sort of seething history are often recalled from soap limbo". A message published in the newspaper by a viewer named Andrea P. described the character of Matt as "a real rat", but with the observation that Cibrian "played it so well". When Lawrence was cast in the role, Toby Goldstein of ''
TimesDaily
The ''TimesDaily'' is the daily newspaper for Florence, Alabama. ''The TimesDaily'' covers a four-county region in Alabama including Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, and Lawrence counties, as well as portions of southern Tennessee and northeast ...
'' noted that Matt was "likely to bring misery to Nick and Sharon's lives".
Global TV
The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CT ...
's Aaron Hagey-MacKay included the character's death on a list of the "Top drunken, brutal, mysterious and volcanic deaths of Y&R".
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' called Matt an "evil rapist",
while Sara Bibel of
Xfinity
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the c ...
argued in 2009 that the character was written out due to being a rapist, stating that the soap opera was "the one show with a zero tolerance for sexual assault".
References
6
External links
Matt Clarkat soapcentral.com
{{The Young and the Restless
Clark, Matt
Clark, Matt
Clark, Matt
Clark, Matt