Isabella Braña is a fictional character from the American CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. She was portrayed by Eva Longoria, created by Kay Alden and introduced by former executive producer Edward J. Scott on March 8, 2001. During her run, the character gave birth to Paul Williams' (Doug Davidson) son and later tried to kill his ex-wife, Christine Blair (Lauralee Bell). Described as "crazy", "evil" and a "whack job", Longoria said the character was a challenge to portray. The actress was let go and Longoria last aired on August 15, 2003.
Casting
Eva Longoria began portraying the role during the episode dated March 8, 2001, on a contract status. The role was introduced when regular Christine Blair (Lauralee Bell) was written out of the series due to her pregnancy, and Longoria was brought to fill her position. Longoria had previously appeared on the soap operas The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital. In June 2003, it was announced that along with two other actors, Longoria would be leaving The Young and the Restless in what was called a "shocking plot twist". Isabella last aired on August 15, 2003. Flashbacks of Longoria's scenes as Isabella were shown on November 9, 2011. On July 2, 2012, the character briefly reappeared, however not portrayed by Longoria, but by an unidentified actress whose face was never shown.
Character development
Isabella was a mentally ill woman who had an affair with Christine Blair's (Lauralee Bell) husband Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), resulting in the birth of their son Ricky Williams. The character was penned by Michael Logan of TV Guide as a "nutjob" who made Christine's life a "living hell". Additionally, Isabella has been characterized as "crazy", with the National Post calling her "evil". A year after her departure from the series, Longoria reflected on her past roles, and said: "I feel like I've been very lucky in the roles I've played [...] Isabella, for example, was so complex, so full of anger and love at the same time." Longoria said that she was "a challenge to play".
In 2011, the child Isabella and Paul had, Ricky Williams was re-introduced to the series as an adult, now portrayed by Pete Porte. The role had been dramatically rapidly aged over the duration of 8 years to an adult. Adam Hughes of Yahoo! stated that bringing the character back would work well, he wrote: "Regardless of his initial motivation for heading back to Wisconsin, Ricky will undoubtedly open up many old wounds and many new story line possibilities. Will he angrily confront Paul? Will Isabella manage to return home, as well, to see her big boy?" Doug Davidson stated that Paul harbored possible guilt in regards to Ricky's upbringing, having been raised by his grandparents. Lauralee Bell spoke about the love triangle between Paul, Christine and Isabella and what kind of twists would occur through Ricky returning. She said: "That whole Isabella thing was a very scary time for Chris and Paul and now they wonder if there's something off about Ricky. At first, no one knew Isabella was crazy. He could be a whack job like his mother. Time will tell. But seeing Ricky for the first time as a man is really startling for Chris. And for me, too." Ultimately, Ricky turned out to be psychotic like his mother and was killed by his own father Paul to prevent him from killing Eden Baldwin (Jessica Heap).