In the midst of the talk show and blogosphere fodder about former federal worker Shirley Sherrod’s unfair ousting, a quiet revolution happened on a popular soap. The fresh-faced NAACP Theatre Award nominee Julia Pace Mitchell joined the cast of “The Young and the Restless” as Sofia Dupre on Tuesday, July 20. Dupre is Malcolm Winters’ fiancée and a confident executive who works for businessman Tucker McCall.
A voluptuous, dark-skinned woman is often an undervalued asset, so to see one debut on a long-running and popular soap like “YNR” is cause for celebration.
Fans should remember Mitchell from late rapper Biggie Smalls’ biopic Notorious, where she played Jan, the mother of his first child. She’s a formally trained actress who studied classical theatre at Oxford University in England. Mitchell guest starred on TV’s “The Closer” (TNT), “Cold Case” (CBS), “Chappelle’s Show” (Comedy Central), “Law & Order” (NBC), and “Strong Medicine” (Lifetime). She’s garnered multiple NAACP Theatre Award nominations for her work as a playwright on her one-woman show, “The Interview,” and for “The Hills Above the Hood.” Mitchell won Backstage West Awards for Best New Playwright, Best New Director and Best Performance.
Her addition leads you to wonder if the casting director finally got a clue, because Diane Amos, the Pine-Sol Lady, the first woman to break a double barrier, race and weight, did so in their commercials back in 1993. Or maybe he listened to R. Kelly’s single “Miss Chocolate” (feat. Lil Jon and Mario), which is this summer’s anthem for my cocoa-skinned sisters.
Who really knows? One thing’s for sure, it’s about time Genoa City offered a cup of coffee with no cream. –yvette caslin
Julia Pace Mitchell is already a fan favorite. Here’s what they had to say on the soap’s forum:
Thank you for bringing on a plus sized woman into what could be a major character. It is about time.
I agree. I really like her too. Casting did good this time (finally).
I was thinking the exact same thing. She is a beautiful woman who looks more like the women I see on a daily basis. She is going to be a force to reckon with in GC!
Finally, a regular size woman! As an added bonus, it seems as she is powerful. I loved the look on Neil’s face when she “upstaged” him. Could be my favorite character very quickly.
Love Sophia she’s a spitfire that one! Anyone that grates on Neil’s nerves is a great character in my books. Sophia is going to be fun to watch….can you say Dru who?
