Mishael Morgan: 5 Things To Know About ‘Y&R’ Daytime Emmy Nominee

Mishael Morgan is an actress best known for her Emmy-nominated performances in The Young and the Restless (Y&R). Morgan joined the cast of Y&R in 2013 and spent six consecutive seasons on the show during which she portrayed the vendetta-driven Hilary Curtis, which fans loved to hate. Morgan played Hillary for 5 years up until 2018 when Morgan decided to leave the show because of an unsuccessful salary negotiation. Her character was killed off, however, Morgan returned to The Young and the Restless in 2019 as a new character, Amanda Sinclair.

Morgan was recently nominated for the 2022 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Amanda Sinclair. In addition to Y&R, Morgan has also landed roles on hit television shows like The Best Years (2009), Republic of Doyle (2012), and Supernatural (2013). She has also appeared in feature films like Beat the World (2011), Casino Jack (2010), Total Recall (2012), and Swearnet (2013).

Despite her success, Mishael Morgan hasn’t had an easy road to stardom and has faced many uphill battles. Learn more about Morgan and her accomplishments as well as her struggles.

Morgan had a near death experience that led her to acting

A Trinidad & Tobago native, Morgan moved to Canada as a child, with ambitions of becoming a lawyer. Morgan was even accepted into the University of Ottawa Law. However, her life changed when she was involved in a bad car accident that left the then-19-year-old barely hanging onto life with a broken neck. This near-death experience had Morgan rethinking her decision to go to law school.

“That accident started making me think about acting more because it was kind of something that I suppressed for many years,” Morgan told Soap Opera Network. “I wanted to do the logical route and be a lawyer and do all of the right things, make all the right decisions But then, after that accident, I just kind of rethought my entire life and I decided to just kind of take a go at it.”

She was in Trey Songz's ‘Wonder Woman’ music video

Following her car accident, Morgan decided to take a serious shot at acting. And after a chance encounter with an agent, David Ritchie, Morgan was given the opportunity to audition for a music video. It was her first real audition and Morgan nailed it. She got the job working as a music video girl for Trey Songz’ 2017 hit single, Wonder Woman. Only ten months after being in the music video, Morgan landed the recurring role of Tracy on the YTV sitcom, Family Biz.

Morgan briefly left ‘Y&R’ in 2021 for a medical reason

Eye surgery forced Mishael Morgan to take a hiatus from The Young and The Restless. Morgan had to step back from her role as Amanda Sinclair because of unexpected eye surgery and actress Karla Mosley from The Bold and the Beautiful temporarily stepped in. On Twitter Morgan expressed how grateful she was to Mosley for stepping into the role on such short notice. Morgan’s 2021 tweet read: “I am so grateful this beautiful and talented woman stepped in for me on such short notice and allowed me time to heal. I can’t wait to be back, but It comforts me to know that Amanda is in such great hands.” Morgan was back on set by April 2021 but her onscreen return to her role as Amanda happened in June of 2021.

Morgan and her family endured a heartbreaking tragedy

On Mar. 28, 2022, Morgan lost five family members in a house fire. Morgan took to Twitter to let people know about the tragic loss and seek support from her followers. 

“On Monday morning my husband’s only brother, perished with his wife & 3 kids in a tragic house fire,” the actress tweeted, along with a link to a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs. Morgan shared her utter horror from the incident, writing: “I am still in absolute disbelief.” 

The soap opera star reached out to her fans for their support as she navigated the tragedy alongside family and friends. The GoFundMe page read: “As a family, we are devastated to lose two generations in a blink of an eye. Our homes are broken as we mourn a loss that we can never replace.”

She’s received three Emmy nominations

Her first Emmy nomination was for her work as Hilary Curtis on Y&R in which she received a 2018 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress. The following year in 2019, she received yet another Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Most recently Morgan was nominated for the prestigious 2022 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Amanda Sinclair on the soap opera. In an interview with SoapHub, Morgan revealed why she decided to finally submit for the Emmy’s Lead category instead of its Supporting category.  

“I was always asked do you want to submit for the Emmys, and then, after I said yes, I was asked Supporting or Lead? I always said Supporting. This is the first year that I sat down and asked myself well, why not lead? They’re writing you a lead story. I had some amazing supporting cast members come in — Ptosha [Storey, Naya Benedict], Leigh-Ann [Rose, Imani Benedict], and Jack [Landron, Sutton Ames] — I felt like we were working together and they all pushed me [to be better].”