Ellen Greene Talks Soaps, Bway, DAISIES and More!

Stage and screen star Ellen Greene is set to join te cast of CBS' The Young and the Restless, beginning January 7. Greene will star as Primrose, who acts as a person from Billy and Victoria Abbott's past.

In an interview with TV Guide Magazine, Green reveals some details on her Young & the Restless appearance: "A long time ago when I was very young I played a nurse on one of the New York soaps - I can't even remember which one - and it just terrified me! The whole experience! I just hated it! [Laughs] So I swore off soaps but then, a few years later - I think it was after Little Shop - I was offered a part that actually appealed to me. It was this sexy, rock 'n' roller chick on All My Children, just two days work but I had a great director I just loved and still remember to this day - so I show up at Y&R all these years later and it's the exact same director, Conal O'Brien!"

When asked about a switch back to the stage Greene commented, "Maybe one of these days I'll start singing again. I recently lost my mom and, when my heart gets heavy, singing is the one thing I can't do. But this is interesting - years and years and years ago I made an album with Joel Dorn who produced "Killing Me Softly" for Roberta Flack and Bette Midler's first album, The Divine Miss M, and it was never released. Now, like, 30 years later, it's finally being released this year. It's called All the Lives of Me, which is a Peter Allen song I always used to close my act with. It's kind of wild and very esoteric - one of those one-of-a-kind albums you put on your shelf and only you own."

On her role on ABC's PUSHING DAISIES she added, "I almost turned down Pushing Daisies because I was also offered a role on Heroes playing Sylar's mother. As it turned out, I was able to shoot both at the same time, but I was all set to choose the drama because I love that sort of thing. A serial killer's mom!"

To read the full interview, visit: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Ellen-Greene-Soaps-1027289.aspx

Ellen Greene  has had a long and varied career as a singer, particularly in cabaret, as an actor and singer in numerous stage productions.  Greene began her career in the role of Jenny in The Three Penny Opera at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in Lincoln Center, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. She is perhaps best known for appearing as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, a role she reprised in the film version opposite Rick Moranis.

Her latest work includes the recurring role of Vivian Charles in the television series Pushing Daisies and the voice of Dolly Gopher in the animated Out of Jimmy's Head. Greene was also the voice of Goldie in the Don Bluth film, Rock-A-Doodle.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos