Mariah Copeland is a fictional character from the American soap opera, The Young and the Restless, portrayed by Camryn Grimes. Introduced by executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, the character made her first appearance on January 27, 2014. Grimes had previously played the role of Cassie Newman from 1997 to 2005, when the character was killed off.
Mariah first appears in Genoa City, hired by Victor Newman to gaslight his former daughter-in-law Sharon Newman by posing as the ghost of Sharon's deceased daughter, Cassie, with whom she bears a remarkable resemblance. When the truth about her association with Victor is revealed, Sharon becomes drawn to a troubled Mariah, whom she moves into her home. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Mariah is the notorious ex-girlfriend of Tyler Michaelson; she is also linked to cult leader Ian Ward. While living with Sharon and Nick Newman, Cassie's adoptive father, Mariah develops an infatuation with Nick. It is soon discovered that Mariah is actually Cassie's twin sister and the daughter Sharon did not know she had. Her birth was kept secret, following Ian's arrangements for Mariah to be stolen at birth, and acted as a father figure to her for years. Mariah subsequently has relationships with Kevin Fisher—a dynamic which allowed Grimes to explore comic relief—and Devon Hamilton. She then develops feelings for her brother's girlfriend, Tessa Porter.
Phelps described Mariah as a "loose cannon," while Grimes has characterized her as a "bad girl with a heart" and more dimensional than what viewers would expect her to be. Reaction to Grimes' return to the soap opera has been positive. Mariah's relationship with another woman proved controversial due to the soap opera's conservative audience, with TV Insider reporting that a gag order prevented Grimes from discussing it with the press. Nonetheless, the storyline also received positive reception and earned Grimes the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2018, her second Daytime Emmy win.
Casting and creation
Camryn Grimes first appeared as the character on January 27, 2014. Grimes had previously portrayed the role of Cassie Newman, Mariah's twin sister, on the series from 1997 to 2005, when the character was killed off in a car accident. Grimes was seven when she originated the role of Cassie and, in 2000, became the youngest recipient of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. Over the years following her death, Grimes made several guest appearances as Cassie's ghost, which she played most recently from July 2013. Although "Ghost Cassie" continued to make numerous appearances to her mother Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), it became apparent in February 2014 on-screen that the character appearing was not a spirit, and was in fact a real person. Grimes later revealed that her return as Cassie's ghost was only slated to last four to six episodes.
When Grimes learned that she was no longer portraying Cassie's ghost but another character, the actress stated: "I heard rumors that the storyline might be changing, that somehow I would be continuing on the show. I had all these ideas going through my head but I was thinking of the obvious things, like maybe Cassie had a twin sister nobody knew about (...) But what the writers came up with is so much fun and so unexpected," stating that the new character had "potential to go all over the place". In March 2014, Grimes stated that she had little knowledge of the character, stating that it was "very much a reveal for me as it is for the audience" and "I am still learning new things about who the character is." The following month, it was revealed that the character's name was Mariah Copeland, the ex-girlfriend of already established character Tyler Michaelson (Redaric Williams). In May 2014, Grimes announced that she was now on contract with The Young and the Restless. In a featured interview with Soaps in Depth, Grimes stated: "Looking back after a year, it's kind of crazy to see how things have developed. I'm playing a completely new character and I'm under contract — I would never have guessed that a year ago it would've turned into this!"
Development
Characterization and portrayal
Mariah experienced an "emotionally deprived youth", and according to Grimes, acts a "little bitchy". Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps labelled Mariah as a "have-not", which is a "very powerful" driving force for her behavior. Soap Opera Digest noted the character to be mischievous. Grimes loves the "bite" and stated that she is a "bad girl with a heart". Mariah has a "sassy, sarcastic, dry humor".