Heather Tom Reflects on Turning 50 and Her Future on ‘B&B’

It’s a milestone month for The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Heather Tom (Katie Logan). Not only did the actress turn 50 on November 4, but November 16 marks 35 years since her daytime start as Victoria Newman on The Young and the Restless — a double celebration she’s embracing wholeheartedly.

“It’s kind of crazy,” marvels Tom. “A lot of things are happening, and they’re all very exciting. I was actually excited to turn 50. I did not really want to turn 40, but for some reason, with 50, I was like, ‘Yeah, bring it.’ I feel really comfortable in my skin, and I’m having a really good time.”

Tom was just 15 years old when she first stepped into Genoa City in 1990 as the daughter of Victor and Nikki Newman (Eric Braeden and Melody Thomas Scott), a role she didn’t expect to land. “I had no idea what I was getting into,” she recalls. “I had worked a lot, so it was just another audition. It was for [co-creator and head writer] Bill Bell, and I remember at the end, he said, ‘Oh, thanks for coming in,’ which is like the kiss of death. That basically means, ‘Thanks for wasting your time,’ so I put it out of my head. Then they offered me the role, but they didn’t put me on contract for about three months. Bill said later to me that he knew the moment I walked in the room that I was his Victoria, and it was sweet of him to share that.”

CBS /Courtesy Everett Collection

Being cast as a Newman came with instant high stakes. “I remember my first day,” Tom shares. “Edward Scott was our executive producer, and he came up to me and said, ‘Know your lines and be prepared and be on time and watch these people, because they know what they’re doing.’ He was always very nurturing, but he had that gruffness that really made you pay attention. I was so lucky that my first scenes were with Eric Braeden and then Melody Thomas Scott, because they showed me the ropes, and they also didn’t give me a chance to not be at my best. So, I did watch, and I did learn from them, as well as (the late) Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor). It was a little trial by fire, that’s for sure.”

Eager to learn even more, Tom looked into the wider soap landscape. “When I started on Young and the Restless, I was very curious to know what everyone else was doing in the much larger community back then,” she says. “So, I would watch all the other shows in my dressing room. I became kind of a connoisseur, if you will, after I got the job. I would watch how Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord, One Life to Live) and Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful) just chewed it all up.”

For the teenager, though, the idea of a lengthy soap contact felt overwhelming. “I remember when I signed a three-year deal, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what am I going to do for three years? This is an eternity.’ I remember Lauralee Bell (Christine Blair) was in the makeup room, and it was her ninth year of being on the show. I was like, ‘Nine years?! That’s insane.’ It seemed like such a long time, and then, cut to 35 years later, here I am. It just goes by really fast.”

Her 13-year run in Genoa City was packed with memorable work. “Bill kept me very, very busy,” Tom recalls. “I was constantly in some kind of really crazy storyline. They would deliver the scripts to our dressing room every day, and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen. They were like little Christmas presents. I think that, obviously, when Victoria lost her baby, Eve, which I’m not sure the baby’s still lost. I think they might have brought the baby back [as Claire, played by Hayley Erin]. But anyway, when Victoria lost Eve, that was a very pivotal story for my Victoria, and then when I left the show, it was a big story. The whole Ryan [McNeil, Scott Reeves] storyline was a big story.”

Everett Collection

By 2003, Tom was ready for a new chapter. She relocated to New York City, joined One Life to Live as Kelly Cramer, and after three years, found herself open to another pivot upon returning to Los Angeles. “Brad called me and said, ‘Do you want to come and play Katie?’” she relays. “I was working and doing other stuff at the time, so I said, ‘Sure, but I only want to come for a short amount of time. Let’s do six months and see how it works.’”

She quickly realized it would be more than a short-term gig. “It just felt like I was back home,” she explains. “I was back in the CBS studio, four years later, older and wiser, and it was this lovely, fun oasis where everyone was happy, and everyone had a good time, and everyone wanted to be there. I was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is nice.’ Not to say that I worked with a bunch of divas on the other shows, but it was just so easy. I found out real quick that not only do they like working together, they like hanging out together, too. It’s a fun vibe.”

Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Eighteen years later, Tom’s skills have expanded into directing (including this year’s Thanksgiving show) and writing episodes. “Brad’s given me great stories,” she praises. “He’s given me such wonderful opportunities, and I do not take that for granted at all. He has always been nothing but supportive and encouraging, and he’s trusted me with so much. My only goal, really, is to not let him down, and I think that’s how a lot of the people that work at B&B feel. Their only goal is to live up to his vision of who we are. That is what’s kept me around, and that is what will keep me around for as long as he’ll have me.”

As she looks back on all she’s accomplished in her 35 years — including a record six Daytime Emmy Award wins — Tom feels reflective, energized, and far from finished. “I’m so grateful,” she concludes. “I never could have imagined having the opportunity to do all of the things I do, and it makes me feel like, ‘Well, let’s keep going. Let’s just see what comes next.’”

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