Alicia Coppola Joins 'The Young and the Restless'

Alicia Coppola: photo by Georgina Cates

Soap Opera Digest is reporting that Another World alum Alicia Coppola (ex-Lorna), has joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Meredith Gates, a doctor, and will make her debut on April 13.

"They explained a little bit about it and who I would be working with and sent me some material,” Coppola tells Digest of her initial discussions about the role. "In those 10 pages that I read, it was a really fully fleshed-out female character. I haven’t really read something like that in a long time, something that was so dynamic and interesting that I automatically saw a backstory. She reminds me of Lorna. She feels things very deeply, and I just think there’s a lot more going on than what’s on the surface. I like that."

When YR was casting for Meredith, she was described as someone who "emotionally hides behind a veneer of professionalism. She works in the infirmary of a prison--tending to prisoners, sympathetic to their causes."

Coppola shot to daytime stardom as Lorna Devon on Another World, and it was a big loss for the show when she didn't renew her contract. Welcome back to the soap world, Alicia!