View source for Matt Clark (The Young and the Restless)

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Matt Clark (''The Young and the Restless'')}}
{{Infobox soap character
| name             = Matt Clark
| series           = The Young and the Restless
| portrayer        = {{Ubl|[[Eddie Cibrian]] (1994–96)|Russell Lawrence (2000)|[[Rick Hearst]] (2000–01)}}
| years            = 1994–96, 2000–01
| first            = June 1994
| last             = November 28, 2001
| creator          = <!-- Only sourced content -->
| introducer       = [[Edward J. Scott]]
| books            =
| spinoffs         =
| crossover        =
| classification   = [[List of previous The Young and the Restless cast members|Past, recurring]]
| image1           = <!-- File:FILENAME.jpg  (No linking required) -->
| imagesize1       = <!-- Defaults to 240px -->
| imagealt1        =
| caption1         =
| image2           = <!-- For alternate performer only -->
| imagesize2       = <!-- Defaults to 240px -->
| imagealt2        =
| caption2         =
| image3           = <!-- For alternate performer only -->
| imagesize3       = <!-- Defaults to 240px -->
| imagealt3        =
| caption3         =
| alias            = Carter Mills
| occupation       = Worked at Crimson Lights (2000–01)
}}
'''Matt Clark''' is a fictional character from the American [[CBS]] soap opera ''[[The Young and the Restless]]''. The role was originated by [[Eddie Cibrian]] in May 1994, who left the show in 1996. After Russell Lawrence briefly playing the character in 2000, [[Rick Hearst]] 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|Nick and Sharon Newman]], beginning when they were teens in high school. He raped both [[Sharon Newman|Sharon Collins]] and [[The Young and the Restless characters (1990s)#Amy Wilson|Amy Wilson]], and framed [[Nicholas Newman]] for multiple crimes.
==Casting and characterization==
[[File:RickHearst cropped.jpg|thumb|150px|upright|left|[[Rick Hearst]] played Matt Clark from 2000 to 2001.]]
[[Eddie Cibrian]] 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.<ref name="Star-News" /> Cibrian said that he believed the writers "were going to turn the story into something bigger" and wanted to keep it going.<ref name="Star-News" /> The character exited in 1996 after nearly three years. Russell Lawrence became the next actor in the role, portraying Matt in 2000.<ref name="Times1" /> However, he was replaced a few months later with [[Rick Hearst]] 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]]'' wrote: "Expect the storyline of the vengeful Matt to be stepped up with Hearst in the role".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Goldstein|first1=Toby|title=Soaps make important additions|journal=[[TimesDaily]]|date=October 27, 2000|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=20001027&id=WnAeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=X8kEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5851,3659601&hl=en|access-date=March 30, 2015|publisher=[[Tribune Media Services]]|location=Florence, Alabama}}</ref>
In April 2001, it was announced that Hearst would exit,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soapcentral.com/yr/news/2001/0409-hearst.php |last=Kroll |first=Dan J. |title=Hearst released as Matt Clark |publisher=SoapCentral |date=April 8, 2001 |access-date=November 24, 2012}}</ref> and the character died onscreen the following month.<ref name="Hearst Back">{{cite web|url=http://soapcentral.com/yr/news/2001/0604-hearst.php |last=Kroll |first=Dan J. |title=Encore! Never say die for Rick Hearst |publisher=SoapCentral |date=June 1, 2001 |access-date=November 24, 2012}}</ref> 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]] after his character's death.<ref name="Hearst Back"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Novakovich|first1=Lilana|title=Born to play detective on As the World Turns|journal=[[North Bay Nugget]]|date=June 23, 2001|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1638&dat=20010623&id=9ik6AAAAIBAJ&sjid=PioMAAAAIBAJ&pg=579,9199700&hl=en|access-date=March 31, 2015|publisher=[[Quebecor Inc.]]}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ciaccia|first1=Maria|title=Rick Hearst - No Regrets|url=http://generalhospital.about.com/od/actorinterviews/a/RickHearst.htm|website=[[About.com]]|publisher=[[IAC (company)|IAC]]|access-date=April 5, 2015}}</ref>
Matt has been characterized by ''[[Soaps In Depth]]'' as the show's previous "bad boy",<ref>{{cite journal|title=Meet Y&R's Newest Legal Eagle!|journal=[[Soaps In Depth]]|date=July 25, 2011|url=http://cbs.soapsindepth.com/2011/07/meet-yrs-newest-legal-eagle.html|access-date=April 5, 2015|publisher=[[Bauer Media Group]]}}</ref> and a "cocky jock-turned rapist" by ''[[Star-News]]''.<ref name="Star-News" /> Cibrian called him "horrific", stating: "I've never encountered anybody like him in my life. Nor would I ever want to."<ref name="Star-News">{{cite journal|title=Cast changes sweep the world of daytime TV|journal=[[Star-News]]|date=May 10, 1995|page=11|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19950510&id=SHpaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gRUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6859,3860325&hl=en|access-date=March 30, 2015|publisher=[[New Media Investment Group]]|location=Wilmington, North Carolina}}</ref> 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 Newman|Sharon Collins]] ([[Sharon Case]]). 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."<ref name="Star-News" />
==Storylines==
As a high school senior in 1994, Matt Clark dates Sharon Collins and develops a bitter rivalry with [[Nicholas Newman]] ([[Joshua Morrow]]) 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 [[The Young and the Restless characters (1990s)#Amy Wilson|Amy Wilson]] ([[Julianne Morris]]), 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]] ([[Eric Braeden]]) tracks down Amy in a mental institution, who has been suffering from [[PTSD]]. Amy reveals that she was the person who shot Matt after he raped her. Nick is acquitted and Matt leaves town in 1996.<ref name="Storyline">{{cite web|title=Revenge: Matt Clark|url=http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/plots-blog/1000489/|website=[[CBS.com]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]|access-date=April 5, 2015|archive-url=http://www.freezepage.com/1428240620VWYFROIBJH?url=http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/plots-blog/1000489/|archive-date=April 5, 2015|date=March 25, 2013}}</ref>
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 [[The Young and the Restless characters (1990s)#Tricia Dennison|Tricia Dennison]] ([[Sabryn Genet]]), 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]] drug, but Nick arrives home and his plans are thwarted. [[Paul Williams (character)|Paul Williams]] ([[Doug Davidson]]) begins searching for Matt Clark, realizing that he may have had plastic surgery.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Soaps|journal=[[The Item]]|date=April 6, 2001|page=9|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1980&dat=20010406&id=XE4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C6oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6414,1393628&hl=en|access-date=April 5, 2015|publisher=Osteen Publishing Co.}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Storyline" /><ref name="Global" />
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.<ref name="Xfinity">{{cite web|last1=Bibel|first1=Sara|title=Deep Soap: Power Plays|url=http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2009/07/27/deep-soap-power-plays/|website=[[Xfinity]]|publisher=[[Comcast Corporation]]|access-date=April 5, 2015|date=July 27, 2009}}</ref> In 1996, soap opera journalist Seli Groves of ''[[The Beaver County Times]]'' 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".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Groves|first1=Seli|title=Speaking of Soaps|journal=[[The Beaver County Times]]|date=September 8, 1996|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19960908&id=P5JUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YTsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5056,1863203&hl=en|access-date=March 31, 2015|publisher=[[Calkins Media]]}}</ref> When Lawrence was cast in the role, Toby Goldstein of ''[[TimesDaily]]'' noted that Matt was "likely to bring misery to Nick and Sharon's lives".<ref name="Times1">{{cite journal|last1=Goldstein|first1=Toby|title=Lots of fresh faces around time|journal=[[TimesDaily]]|date=July 14, 2000|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=20000714&id=fmseAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZskEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4140,1769583&hl=en|access-date=April 5, 2015|publisher=[[Tribune Media Services]]}}</ref> [[Global Television Network|Global TV]]'s Aaron Hagey-MacKay included the character's death on a list of the "Top drunken, brutal, mysterious and volcanic deaths of Y&R".<ref name="Global">{{cite web|last1=Hagey-MacKay|first1=Aaron|title=Top drunken, brutal, mysterious and volcanic deaths of Y&R|url=http://www.globaltv.com/theyoungandtherestless/latest/top-drunken-brutal-mysterious-and-volcanic-deaths-of-yr/|website=[[Global Television Network]]|publisher=[[Shaw Media]]|access-date=April 5, 2015|date=September 16, 2014}}</ref> ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' called Matt an "evil rapist",<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Carter|first1=Alan|title=Who'll win Daytime Emmy Awards?|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2002/05/15/wholl-win-daytime-emmy-awards|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|publisher=[[Time Inc.]]|access-date=April 5, 2015|date=May 15, 2002}}</ref> while Sara Bibel of [[Comcast|Xfinity]] 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".<ref name="Xfinity" />
==References==
{{Reflist}}6
==External links==
*[http://soapcentral.com/yr/whoswho/matt.php Matt Clark] at soapcentral.com
{{The Young and the Restless}}
[[Category:The Young and the Restless characters|Clark, Matt]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1994|Clark, Matt]]
[[Category:American male characters in soap operas|Clark, Matt]]
[[Category:Fictional rapists|Clark, Matt]]