Last week, Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren Fenmore Baldwin) celebrated her 35-year milestone with The Young and the Restless, with an on set celebration in her honor.  Bregman, who has taken Lauren from bitchy bad girl, to wife and mother, to shrewd business women, and everything in between over three decades, is a beloved staple of the CBS Daytime drama series, and with her cast.

On-Air On-Soaps chatted with the Tracey to have her reflect back on those years featuring: big hairdos, catfights (yup, those Sheila Carter furniture slingers, hair-pullers, and steak knife accessory ones!), love stories, corporate backstabbing, and her on-screen love stories, especially the one that has stood the test of time between Michael (Christian LeBlanc) and Lauren.  One of the sexiest, effervescent, fun, and entertaining gals we know; what fun it was to take a quick trip down memory lane, and to gain some insight from Bregman herself on 35 years of life in Genoa City. 

Let’s talk historical Lauren! Starting with your big hair in that 35th anniversary clip package that went viral and was posted all over social media!  What are your thoughts when you see your vintage Lauren “dos”?

TRACEY:  I think it’s hilarious!  I always go, “How did I look in the mirror and think that looked good?” (Laughs)  But, you look at it back at that time.  Lisa Hartman (Ciji, Knots Landing) was wearing her hair the same way.  We all had this big hair! Quite frankly, I went to a dance class yesterday and my hair dried naturally and all curly, and I have this big hair today.  So, I am rivaling my 80’s hair!  I am like, “Oh, my God!  What happened?   I look like I stuck my finger in a light socket and it went poof! “(Laughs)

Lauren was such a vixen and troublemaker back in the day!  What do you think of those years now as you reflect back on them in 2018?

TRACEY:  Those were the years of being the femme fatale and the storylines were outrageous.  Somebody sent me the interviews the cast did for the 40th anniversary of Y&R, and I guess I was talking about Mary Williams and Paul’s centerfold! (Laughs) It was all so much fun.

Is there any character on daytime that has had more catfights than Lauren? 

TRACEY:  No, I don’t think so.  I said in my speech that I think I rival all the guys in the amount of fight scenes.

Lauren’s endless catfights with Sheila should be a compilation reel in any television academy hall of fame or archive!  Do you have one that stands out to you among the rest?

TRACEY:  I think it’s ironic, because it’s so crazy, but I would say the chemistry lab fight scene with Kimberlin Brow was right at the top of my list.  I was in bugle beads and heels and just slid across every table top!  And to think, I am the least physical person.  I remember, I had to slap Michael Damian and ten takes later I couldn’t do it.  My kids will tell you … all I would ever to do them is pinch their arm (laughs) that is like the worst thing I could do to anybody.  So for me, to then have to do all these fight scenes just goes against my grain.

So, what did you do when you read in the script, or you were told, “OK Tracey … here comes another catfight?” (Laughs)

TRACEY:  I was like “Oh, God.  It’s just not my favorite thing to do it all!”  However, Kimberlin and I had a trust between us when we had to get physical.  We were able to go farther and farther the more times we did catfights together.

And back in the day, Lauren got away with fat-shaming Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland).  I don’t think that would fly in the world today, and there would be immense blowback on social media for that!

TRACEY:  Oh, my God!   I was almost tarred and feathered back then.  Now, I would be toast.  I was toast for Lauren’s one kiss in the park with Cane (Daniel Goddard) … can you imagine?

With the cast, crew, and members of you family all in attendance at the celebration in honor of your 35th anniversary with Y&R, what were you most touched by during the festivities?

TRACEY:   I was so touched by everything – the people that were there, the people that spoke, the people that posted things across social media and what they said to me.   It was one of those extraordinary things where you kind of get a glimpse as to what people really think and you don’t always get to hear that, or know it.  I got the opportunity to have a whole day of it.  It was just so moving to me, and yes, it was celebrating 35 years on Y&R, and in fact, I opened my speech by saying, “I can’t believe I have been anywhere for 35 years!” It was hard for me to believe, but to hear people’s thoughts about me was such a gift.   It was such an extraordinary day filled with it, and that was really nice.

Did you ever think from your soap beginning as Donna Craig on DAYS that you would end up in a role for 35 years on another daytime drama? 

TRACEY:  I was hired in January 35 years ago on Y&R, and I thought this will be a great January to summer gig, period.  Never thought anything more, ever!

Let’s talk about your Y&R leading men!  You and Christian LeBlanc have created this enduring couple as Lauren and Michael.  Would you say, through your experiences working with Christian, that you have grown as an actor?

TRACEY:  Oh, how can you not grow working with someone like Christian?  The thing that I appreciate so much in our working relationship – and we talk about it a lot is – as actors you are at home and you do your homework. Then, when you come to the set you come to the table with what you have done at home.  What I love about how Christian and I work together is that we take all of that, and we throw it all out on the table and then we put the puzzle together.  It’s this collaboration.  It literally is us throwing up all the puzzles pieces and then putting together the puzzle.  There are times it’s almost impossible to try and act opposite Christian, because he is so good that I just want to watch him.  I want to be like a viewer!  Christian is so giving as a person and as an actor, and so funny.  The thing that he and I both spoke about in our speeches is how we love to dance together, and that we are true partners.  I said that, “He makes Lauren fall in love with Michael Baldwin on every single episode.”

Then of course, there was Danny Romalotti and Lauren!  What was it like working with Michael Damian?

TRACEY:  Michael was so adorable, and we each tried to make our hair bigger than the others! (Laughs)  He was so much fun, great, and really amazing to me during the whole singing storyline, which was different for me.  Michael was always so helpful, and fun, and yet, we were learning 30 pages of dialog a night, and on top of that then he and I were at Capitol Records recording till all hours of the night.  It was a lot of work, and we had so much fun doing it together, which made is so special.

And of course, Lauren and Paul!  Tell me about working with the one and only. Doug Davidson.

TRACEY:  They used to call Doug and me, “The Instigators”. (Laughs)  He was the fair-haired boy who would make me laugh, and then everybody would be screaming at me, because I was laughing at him.  As you know, Doug is hilarious, and absolutely no one would be upset with him, and everybody would be yelling at me! (Laughs) “You need to concentrate” they would yell on set.  I go, “Oh, my God.  I was just standing here minding my business, and he just said the funniest thing I ever heard in my entire life!” (Laughs)  Doug was an extraordinary partner, and such a good actor.  I got really lucky, and as I said in my speech, “I won the co-star lottery!”

Everybody always tells me when working on Y&R that all roads to what is going on at the show lead to Tracey Bregman,  and that you the “411” on everything happening on set and behind the scene.  Is that true? (Laughs)

TRACEY:  It’s true!  (Laughs)  They call me “411”.  This happened because I listen, and I take notes.  I am interested in things my cast members may want to know.   I also keep things to myself until somebody asks, but I will get a phone call from a cast member and I always answer the phone by saying, “What do you need?” (Laughs)

Currently on the air shows, there are problems going on with Lauren’s company where Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) is seemingly embezzling from right from under her. What do you think of that storyline which seems “au currant”?

TRACEY:  I will tell you what I love about what Mal Young (EP and head writer, Y&R) has been writing.  He is writing about very current topics.  I love the partnership with the character of Phyllis; played by the adorable Gina Tognoni.  I love that we are these powerful business women that don’t resort to being bitchy, or underhanded.  We do things in an up-and-up way, but no one is going to get anything over us.  I love that he is writing us that strong, and that smart.

I even liked when Tracey brought former flame Eric Forrester (John McCook) to Genoa City to help her business dealings with Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Jabot.  She was showing that she was no dummy in the world of corporate takeovers.

TRACEY:  They make Lauren laser sharp.  Christian and I sort of early on had this thing with our characters that some men might be intimated by a powerful woman, but when he sees her taking over and being this powerhouse, it is like a turn-on for him. The same goes for Lauren when she sees Michael in court being this strong powerhouse attorney.  It’s a turn-on for her.  You have these two powerful entities, who are together as a couple, which could cause some friction, but it is what ignites us.  It makes us even prouder and hotter for each other.

Daniel Hall has been written out as of now, as your grown up on-screen son, Scott Grainger.  How do you feel that storyline played out? 

TRACEY:   I wish they had written more of the family dynamic.  It’s a very interesting relationship between Lauren and Scott.  She had wanted to spend her whole life with him, but she hid him away to protect him for his whole life. There has to be repercussions from that, and I don’t think we ever saw that. So, I wish there would have been a deeper storyline.  And yes, of course, Scott would need to have a love story, but a lot of us are the way we are because we have a lot of pain, and we have a lot of blocks in our own life, because of our childhood, parenting, etc.  I would love to have seen that explored more.

Would you like to have Kimberlin Brown come over to Y&R, or you go back to B&B for a visit, since Sheila returned last year to the canvas causing trouble for the Forresters?  Everyone wanted to see her mix it up with Lauren and Scott given the history.  Aren’t you also the record-holder for the amount of crossovers to another show on the soaps, and on TV, period?

TRACEY:  Right!  Exactly!  It would be amazing as long as I don’t get duct taped to something. (Laughs)  That was my only beef with the Sheila story.  Lauren went from this ultra strong character that when they brought on this other strong character it was sort of  “Victimize Lauren” time, and I always had a problem with it.  So, if they were to do it I would hope, and I would be open to doing it, but doing it by showing that two strong women could go at it.  I loved the story we did a few years back with Christian and Marco Dapper as Carmine, which was ultimately about; how far would you go protect your family?  I think you have seen Lauren in protection mode; where she was protecting her family. She killed Sarah Smythe, and she killed what she thought was Phyllis, but it was Sheila pretending to be Phyllis. In that story, Lauren was torn between her best friend Phyllis, and the fake Phyllis. She has to make a split second decision to kill the right one.  These moments and stories illustrated that Lauren is a very strong woman.

Was the Carmine affair with Marco Dapper, one of Lauren’s top Y&R trysts of all-time?

TRACEY:  The other affairs she was having were when she was married to Scott Grainger, and she was having affairs with Paul, and she almost did not marry Scott.

Maybe you should also consider being the continuity director at Y&R in addition to acting on the show! (Laughs)

TRACEY:   I am not sure I would remember everything to be honest! (Laughs) People tell me stories from the past on Y&R, and I am like “Oh, right!” Sometimes I am sent old scenes, and I am watching them, and I am going, “I wonder what I do next?” (Laughs)

What would you like to say to your fans, who have supported you through the years, and who have continually invested in Lauren? They always want the best for her, and they love her when she is a little naughty, they love her when she is flirtatious, and they love her when she is a goof wife. 

TRACEY:  I would say to the audience how much I have appreciated them – that they have watched all of these years and made Y&R number one for 29 years in a row – and that they are the reason we are number one.  In addition, how much I appreciate all the support for all these years, and that how amazing that we have all grown up together!

So, what has been your favorite Lauren Fenmore Baldwin moment in Tracey E. Bregman’s 35 years on Y&R? Who has been your favorite all-tine leading man for Lauren? Would you like to see Kimberlin Brown’s Sheila Carter terrorize Lauren one more time? Send your congrats to Tracey on her Y&R milestone below, and more via the comment section below!

Tags: 35 year milestone, Beth Maitland, CBS Daytime, christian leblanc, daniel goddard, Daniel Hall, doug davidson, john mccook, Kimberlin Brown, Lauren Fenmore Baldwin, Mal Young, Michael Fairman, Michale Damian, On-Air On-Soaps Interview, Sheila Carter, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, Tracey E. Bregman

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