Lauralee Bell wants you to know something very important about her: “I do know how to smile,” insists the woman who has played Christine on The Young and the Restless for longer than some fans have been alive. “I’m sure there are people in the audience who have never seen the corners of my mouth turn up, because over the past few years, she’s been extremely serious.”
Granted, the erstwhile Cricket hasn’t exactly had reason to put on a happy face, especially of late. Between failing to put longtime nemesis Phyllis behind bars and finding out that estranged hubby Paul has zero interest in working on their marriage, “she’s been something of a bummer,” laughs Bell.
There’s change in the air, however, and it might start with the Christine-centric episode slated to air on Thursday, November 2. “In some ways,” previews Bell, “this will be a reminder for some viewers that once upon a time, Christine was fun! Michael Damien and I were looking at old clips recently, and it really reminded me that Danny and Cricket were once so young and carefree!”
With Danny back in town, viewers have been reminded of that light-heartedness. “There’s just something about Michael,” shares his on-screen ex. “His smile lights up the room, and I’m really hoping that some of Danny’s positive energy will rub off on Christine as they spend more time together. She needs to have fun again!”
Of course, that can’t happen overnight, especially given that her recent trip to Portugal ended with Paul essentially walking away from their relationship. “There’s a lot of history, with both Paul and Danny, that we touch on” in the episode, designed to celebrate Bell having brought Chris to life for four decades. “There are fun flashbacks, but there’s reflection, too. Talk about the choices we make along the way.”
Think about this: Christine is one of the few longterm characters on a soap to never have had children. “That’s really unusual, right?” says Bell. “That’s something I’d love to see explored more. The fact that she made a conscious decision to focus on her career. Is that something she regrets? That’s something that I think so many people can relate to… getting to a point in life where you wonder what would have happened if you went this way instead of that.”
Truth be told, Bell didn’t actually want the show to do a Chris-centric episode. “I’m not the kind of person who needs or really wants the attention,” she admits. That said, she’s excited for people to see what headwriter Josh Griffith came up with. “It’s a little bit different than these types of things usually are. It’s not just Chris saying, ‘Oh, remember when this happened’ and then cutting to a flashback. It’s more of a story. There are other characters involved, and we get to see things from their perspective, too.”
One of those “other people” is Tricia Cast’s Nina. “You can’t talk about Christine’s past without Nina,” enthuses Bell. “I love female friendships on soaps, so I’m glad Nina’s there, and Lauren (Tracey E. Bregman).”
While Bell doesn’t know what’s next for her alter ego, she has thoughts as to what she’d like to see. “It would be interesting to see Christine and Michael Baldwin back at a law firm, working together. They have such a quirky work relationship, and a complicated history, that it might be fun to explore that.”
And Danny? “We’ll have to see where that goes,” she teases, adding that with Phyllis on the canvas as well, anything could happen. “It’s hard to imagine that Phyllis would just sit back and watch from the sidelines, no matter what’s going on!”