Exclusive: Lauralee Bell on Her Special Gift to Y&R Fans

Fans who follow Lauralee Bell (Christine) on social media are well aware of the fun backstage videos that she shares featuring her and her castmates having fun backstage at The Young & The Restless . Although the actress has also written and directed some short films, these behind-the-scenes videos aren’t just a way for Bell to keep her skills sharp.

“I’m doing this a hundred percent for the fans,” Bell told Soaps in Depth . “Because I’m a fan. I get it. I’m a fan of Y&R . I’m a fan of TV. The TV was never not on in our house, and sometimes multiple televisions. My father was writing television, my mom was on local television. It’s just my whole life. So I understand how much people give of their lives to a show, especially if they’re a super fan.

“We’ve been on 50 years,” she continued. “They love seeing us behind the scenes. They love knowing that I’m nothing like my character. People will never believe that but I’m about as far from Cricket as I can be. So I just thought if I’m waiting to go on anyway and the cast is willing and the fans appreciate it, then it’s a win all around.”

A self-confessed workaholic, Bell admitted that her brain is always thinking about the next thing, which is how she was inspired by Y&R’s Crimson Lights set to do a video set to the classic rock song “Crimson and Clover.”

“Because I’m trying to figure out, what can I do?” she explained. “It’s like these beats of this song, what can I do? And I was like, I know, I’ll do flash cuts of people to each beat. And so I couldn’t sleep for days because I was like, ‘Oh, I’m doing this.’ And so people, especially Courtney [Hope, Sally], Lizzie [Hendrickson, Chloe], and Melissa Clare Egan (Chelsea), I was like, ‘Okay guys, hold up your coffee. Turn to the right.’ And they’re like, they have no concept. Even Eric [Braeden, Victor] is like, ‘Wait, now what?’ Literally, I grabbed a group and it would take maybe under a minute of getting five or six shots, and it’s just so fun.”

Another favorite was the one celebrating New Year’s when Bell surprised her co-stars with a noisemaker. “I got Joshua Morrow (Nick) so bad,” she laughed. “When you have to bleep the true words out… I mean, I felt bad. And Judith [Chapman, Gloria], it’s great. She almost had a delayed reaction. It was funny.

“But we all act like that around the hair and makeup room anyway,” Bell added, “so it’s just capturing it on my phone.”