After spending more than four decades on The Young and The Restless, Kate Linder still holds out hope that one Oscar-winning actress will make an appearance on the beloved soap opera.
“You know what would be really neat? Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I just thought of it,” Linder, 77, exclusively told at Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles’ 2025 Builders Ball on Thursday, March 20.
“It would be Meryl Streep. Can you imagine? Can you imagine [my character] Esther and Meryl Streep? That would be so good. I would love that.”
According to Linder, Streep, 75, wouldn’t even need to take on a fictional role. Instead, she could play herself and make a memorable guest appearance on CBS’ long-running daytime drama.
“I know!” Linder exclaimed before proposing a potential storyline. “Because Esther is the manager of Crimson Lights now, Meryl Streep walks into Crimson Lights Cafe and I go, ‘Excuse me. What can I get you?’ And then I look up and realize it’s her. ‘Meryl Streep, you want coffee?’ Could you imagine? Esther would go crazy! I would love that.”
Later this month, Linder will mark 43 years on the soap opera. (The Young and The Restless has been on the air for 52 seasons.)
To this day, the actress still vividly remembers her very first day on set, including her initial encounter with costar Jeanne Cooper.
“I remember going in there and going up to the hair and makeup room and introducing myself,” she shared at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “I introduced myself and I said, ‘I’m playing your mate today.’ And [Jeanne] said, ‘Oh, it’s about time.’ And I loved her after that.”
Cooper, best known for her role as matriarch Katherine Chancellor on the CBS soap opera, passed away peacefully in her sleep in May 2013 at the age of 84.
Even more than a decade after her costar’s passing, Linder shared that she continues to feel a connection to her while on set.
“I miss her, but I still feel her presence,” she told. “Sometimes I’m in her dressing room. I get her dressing room, and that’s really special for me because I feel her in there.”
Linder was originally hired for a single day when she first arrived on The Young and The Restless.
To still be part of the show all these years later—and to witness CBS launching a brand-new soap opera in 2025—is something she never anticipated.
“I’m thrilled for Beyond the Gates,” she said. “It’s so good for the genre. It’s so good for all of us. You can’t tell me that soaps are dead when they’re bringing on a brand-new show, and it’s great.”
