INTERVIEW: Y&R's Stacy Haiduk on her first Emmy nom, a unique therapy trick, and her special nightly routine

The Young and the Restless' Stacy Haiduk (Patty Williams) opens up about her first Daytime Emmy nomination, her personalized therapy trick, and the special thing she does every single night for ultimate happiness.

The Young and the Restless' Stacy Haiduk (Patty Williams) is crazy excited to have received her first Daytime Emmy nomination, which is pretty appropriate, considering the material that landed her the nod centers around her character's time in a mental institution. Find out why the Emmy judges will likely go insane for the actress' reel as well as what she does to keep herself in a continued state of bliss -- Emmy nomination or not!

soapcentral.com: Congratulations on your Emmy nomination!

Stacy Haiduk: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I appreciate that. It's very exciting.

soapcentral.com: How do you feel about getting the nomination? Were you jumping up and down for joy?

Haiduk: You know what, I really was! I was actually working out while I was jumping up and down for joy [laughs]. But yes, I was. I was thrilled. It was beyond what I thought, because I didn't hear anything until I think it was about 11:30ish. Matt [from our publicity department] called me, and I wasn't there, so he had to call me again because I was working out and didn't hear anything. I thought I needed to work out to get past the point if I didn't get the nomination, because I knew I'd be a little sad. But I did, so yay!

soapcentral.com: I love that you use workout as therapy. I think that's a really smart idea, so that just in case, you're keeping your adrenaline and endorphins up.

Haiduk: You're absolutely right. I do it all the time. And I even tell my daughter that it's therapy. It's not even a workout; it's therapy. And it really is for me. Yoga, running, anything I can do to get my mind into my body and not thinking constantly is always a great thing.

soapcentral.com: After you finished your workout, what did you do afterward? Did you start making phone calls to family and friends?

Haiduk: I called my husband, and my daughter was with me, because she was working out with me. So when we got the news, she said, "Let's call daddy!" So we called my husband, and he was so thrilled. He was out walking the dog, and he was really excited, and I'm sure the dog was probably like, "What is going on?!" But yeah, it was really cool. I always wondered what it would feel like, and I got to experience it. And it was a good experience. I liked it very, very, very much.

soapcentral.com: What scenes did you end up submitting?

Haiduk: I ended up submitting one from the beginning with Doug Davidson, who plays Paul, at the police station. I think I used all three scenes from that, because the show had a bit of an arc, which I have a lot of scenes that I'm freaking out a lot, so I wanted to give this a little bit of a storyline so people could understand this character a little bit more. And then I did another scene with Paul in the mental institution where I kept saying how I'm never going to get out of here, and I have a freak-out. So there are a couple of freak-outs in my reel. And then ended with the Sharon [Sharon Case] and Dylan [Steve Burton] scene, where she starts toying with Sharon a bit, because Sharon is not coming through with the goods.

soapcentral.com: Those were some good choices, which I imagine must have been difficult to narrow down because you had a lot of great material last year.

Haiduk: It was hard for me. I was really blessed, but choosing something for yourself is really difficult, I have to say. You watch yourself, and you're like, "Well, what do they want to see?" So I kept asking everybody, "What do I do? What do I do?" And finally, I just had to make, in the end, just make the decision. I was afraid and didn't want to overdo it, because you can put all the minutes you want on it, you have about 20 minutes, but I wanted to keep it short and to the point and making them wanting more!

soapcentral.com: And you had really great scene partners, too. Everybody that you just mentioned for sure helped your scenes stand out.

Haiduk: Oh, yeah! I couldn't be happier. I always love who I work with.

soapcentral.com: Is there anyone in particular you're happy to see also receive a nomination?

Haiduk: Well, I'm so thrilled for Kelly Sullivan [ex-Sage Warner]. I think she's an amazing actress. And Peter Bergman [Jack Abbott], thrilled. But you know what? It's a great group of people, and I'm really thrilled to just be a part of the whole nomination situation. It's really quite awesome.

soapcentral.com: Is it anything like you thought it would feel like, the nomination process?

Haiduk: No! [Laughs] I honestly didn't know what to expect, and then having to go through the first round, I remember the first time I was on the show, I think back in 2009, I remember going through this process, and at that time, I think you could only use one show, and I didn't understand it, and I didn't know what to do, so I just picked one that I was in, thinking, "Okay, this will be fine." But it didn't go any further than that. But now, I was, "Okay, you get to pick out of two shows for the pre-nom," and again, that was really difficult because I had to ask for shows back from the beginning of the year. And I wasn't in the whole year, but I had enough good scenes, I knew, and I had to go back and watch them all over again, which was fun, because I don't normally watch myself, but it was a difficult process for me, I'll tell you that.

soapcentral.com: How does it feel to watch your material? Are you pretty comfortable with that?

Haiduk: No, it's not something I like doing it. The first thing I do is I go, "Oh my god, I look like hell!" Or, "I look like crap in this." And then I go, "Oh, my God, what was I thinking?!" So I'll go through that process, so I tend not to want to watch myself. But for this, it was kind of fun, because I really got to see the character come to life, and it has been sort of a joy to see what comes up in one take. That's what is so incredible about this whole process. It's not like in nighttime, where you get to do seven, eight, nine takes. This is like, you go in, and as long as you get the lines close enough, it's good. And I like it; I really like that whole process of doing soap work like that. Never in my life have I had it. And I always tell actors, "You have to do a soap. You just have to." Just to go through how hard it is and what the actors go through. Sometimes it's like 30 pages in a day, and it's like, "Aaaaggghhh!"

soapcentral.com: And yet, big pat on the back to you all, because even with just one take, you guys still manage to make viewers cry, to feel love and joy, and a whole range of emotions. With just one take.

Haiduk: Awww, yes! And you don't ever get to fine-tune it. You have to trust your partner, your acting partner who is right opposite you, and go with it. It's a lot of fun, and it does help you to trust your instincts in the acting world, which I have been very blessed on that account, especially with as many good actors as I get to work with.

soapcentral.com: So did you and your family do anything to celebrate the night you'd been nominated?

Haiduk: Probably just driving my daughter around. [Laughs] I feel like I have to drive her everywhere. But you know, no, we always do a lovely dinner every night. We cook something special, so no, we didn't do anything [in particular]. But I'm sure we cooked something nice.

soapcentral.com: But honestly, if you have a nice family dinner together every night, what more kind of celebration could you ask for? That's the life.

Haiduk: I agree! And a good bottle of wine! Always a pleasure.

soapcentral.com: Do you have any idea what you might wear to the ceremony? I know you always put a lot of thought into your outfits!

Haiduk: I have been thinking about it, and I love going to vintage stores to find my dress. So I found one that I really like. It's just, will I get tired of it by the time I'm ready to go the awards ceremony?! So I keep going, "Okay, I've got to get shoes and a purse and jewelry." But yeah, I love the whole process. And my family goes with me when we go out shopping, so it's such a treat. And we go out to lunch, so really, the whole process is a delight!

What do you think about Haiduk landing her first Daytime Emmy nomination? Do you think she will win in her category? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.