It would be somewhat of an understatement to describe the2003-2004 SMU school year as “colorful”, as it waspeppered with a perfect football season, a controversial bake sale,and one student locked up for a good cause in a mid-April”mock jail”.
Now, Mustangs can boast two soap stars as well as sophomoreCandice Patton and new graduate Iman Nazemzadeh were recentlyselected to appear on future episodes of CBS’ “TheYoung and the Restless”, which was crowned Outstanding DramaSeries at last month’s 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.
From the cross-country preliminary auditions occurring midwaythrough the spring semester to the pair’s debut as the soapopera’s newest stars, both Patton and Nazemzadeh referred tothe support of those both within and outside of the SMU communityas invaluable to their rise to the top.
In a CBS interview, Nazemzadeh said, “people spent time onthe computer getting people to vote and votingthemselves.”
It was these votes that led to the Mustang duo being selected toappear on the show.
In late March, casting agents for the hit soap traveled thecountry and selected two students from each of the fiveuniversities visited, including the University of Maryland,University of Minnesota, University of North Carolina, SanFrancisco State University, and SMU.
The ten students then made the trip to New York City for theirlive auditions on CBS’ “The Early Show” from May17 to May 21.
At week’s end, viewers across the nation had theopportunity to vote for their favorite male and femaleperformers.
Thanks to the perfect combination of talent, hard work, andspreading the word, both SMU representatives were soon informedthat they had been selected as the winners of the “Soap StarScreen Test”.
Nazemzadeh garnered 37% of the male vote while Patton receivednearly 46% of the female vote.
“Wow…I was in complete and utter shock,”Patton said. “Everyone was flipping out. I was not expectingit at all.”
As it turns out, the casting agents may have had a hunch thatSMU would prevail right from the start.
“The casting director [Marnie Saitta] said that SMU was byfar the most talented school they visited,” saidNazemzadeh.
“I knew that my main competition was going to be fromSMU,” he continued, “just because everyone is sotalented.”
Patton likewise quoted her fellow in-town competitors as thebiggest obstacle to overcome.
“After the SMU auditions were over,” she said,”I had faith in myself.”
Nazemzadeh and Patton, both members of the Meadows School of theArts theatre division, listed each other as friendly faces alongthe lengthy path to the Big Apple.
“Working with Candice was great,” Nazemzadehsaid.
“We helped each other out when we were a littlenervous.”
As for the future, no filming will take place for at least a fewmonths, at which point the two new characters will begin todevelop.
“I’m not sure what my on-screen name will be oranything,” Patton explained. “They’ll work usinto the storyline next summer.”
In addition to his “Soap Star Screen Test” victory,Nazemzadeh just finished filming a pilot episode for NBC’sLAX, where he worked alongside Heather Locklear and BlairUnderwood.
As for Patton, she looks forward to her return to the Hilltopfor her sophomore year at SMU.
Fans interested in the Mustang representation on The Young andthe Restless should look to www.cbsnews.com, as the website willremain up-to-date on the progress of the show.
