When Courtney Hope took Sally Spectra from The Bold and the Beautiful's fictional version of Los Angeles to The Young and the Restless' Genoa City, she was a schemer and a dreamer who just lost a man and a job in L.A. but was ready to start anew in the Midwest.
Over the last three-and-a-half years, Sally has manipulated, moved up the corporate ladder, and fallen in love. A one-night stand with her ex Adam Newman led to a pregnancy when she was involved with his brother Nick, but stress and pre-eclampsia led to a tragic stillbirth.
When it came time to submit her work for Daytime Emmy consideration, Hope had a bevy of material to choose from, but she ultimately decided to go to the heart of the matter.
"I went straight for the moment when I found out that my baby wasn't alive when I woke up from the C-section and the first time I talked to Adam," Hope told Soap Central's Dan J Kroll. "There were four scenes, and two of them at the very end were just me talking to the trinkets from my baby's birth. So, her socks and her hat and her feet prints and then at the very end asking the nurse through the call button if I could see my baby to say goodbye to her. So, those are the ones I picked."
When Hope got the news that she chose the right material to earn a nomination, she was home alone with her dogs, who had no idea what was making their mom so happy at that moment. She knew the nominations were coming and was ready to check the Internet when Y&R's publicist called her with the good news.
"When I got off the phone, I was jumping around my house at my house," the actress revealed. "I was like, I got nom, I'm so excited. I was like, 'Mommy, got a nomination,' you know, you're like the dog mom. And of course, they get excited. They're like, 'We don't know why we're excited,' but we're all excited, and they have no clue, but we're all jumping around, and yeah, it was fun."
Hope got to tell her family next, who were as thrilled for her as her fur babies.
"I was really excited to tell my family. They were overjoyed, and I know my mom's been praying. It was cute because they were all there together. Actually, my brother was with my parents, and so I got to just get on speakerphone with all of them and tell them. And it was really cool."
With the big day approaching on June 7, Hope now has to think about what she's going to wear for a night of red carpet and ballroom glam. As of this writing, Hope was still trying to choose a look but wasn't sure in which direction she would go.
"I originally wanted to go for something a little more simple, but then some people sent me some dresses that were absolutely not simple, and I was like, but that's kind of fun, so I don't know," Hope admitted. " I feel like I wanna do something a little bit different, and I have two directions -- like either going pretty glam or a little more classic. I was trying to avoid the color black only because I wear black a lot. I was like, maybe I'll find a color, but I don't know. I've found some ideas around and, we'll see...I love dressing up for those things. It's not often that you get to dress up like that, so it is nice to be able to kind of go all out if you can."
Despite the excitement and anticipation for the upcoming big night, Hope still thinks of the heartbreaking tale that helped get her there.
"I also just want to say again that my heart is really with anyone who has lost a child in whatever capacity because I know that a lot of fans...that was the main conversation that was happening," Hope said. "And it was beautiful to see how many women -- and men, too -- came together and were talking to each other and supporting each other and sharing their stories with one another. It was beautiful to watch, and I feel like I witnessed a lot of healing transpire, so I'm just thankful that I got to be witness to that, and they have shared their stories with me and been vulnerable with me about it. I'm, I'm really humbled."
Could you tell when you watched this story that it would be on an Emmy reel? What type of story should come next for Sally? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
