Imagine turning a summer job into something iconic. That's exactly what happened to Tracey Bregman, who marks her 40th anniversary as Y&R's Lauren Fenmore this week.
It was supposed to have been "just a summer a job." A brief, few-month stint as a character with no last name. Somehow, that short-term gig magically transformed into an incredible award-winning 40-year run.
Tracey Bregman marks her milestone 40th anniversary as The Young and the Restless' Lauren Fenmore tomorrow, and the actress admits that she still isn't sure how the stars aligned.
In an appearance on CBS' The Talk today, Bregman shared that a glance she gave to Beth Maitland's Traci somehow set things into motion.
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"There was something in that look that Bill Bell saw, and he said, 'Oh that's Lauren Fenmore... the mean girl," Bregman said with a laugh.
Bregman shared that she has loved playing one of Genoa City's mean girls. "[Lauren] is fearless. She is badass. She can take a beatdown. [That's] so not me," Bregman explained. "It's like I live this dual life and it's fun; everything that I want to do, I can do through Lauren."
In 1985, Bregman won the very first Emmy ever handed out in the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Ingenue (later renamed Outstanding Younger Actress) in a Daytime Drama. The statuette was damaged beyond repair when Bregman's home fell victim to a 2018 wildfire.
Bregman's long-time on-screen husband Christian J LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin) showed up to surprise Bregman with a Daytime Emmy trophy that had been procured for her by " the people who love and respect you and cherish you, your CBS [and] your Young and the Restless family."
An overwhelmed Bregman was then treated to a special cake to mark her anniversary.
Earlier, Bregman revealed that Lauren and Michael might never have happened had she and LeBlanc not approached the show's writers to pitch the idea. "That is the worst idea we've ever heard. No -- absolutely not," Bregman recalled of their reaction. Undeterred, Bregman and LeBlanc would "play sex" in every scene they shared -- even with something as seemingly innocent as passing the salt. Eventually, the writers did "see it," and the rest, as they say, is soap history.
You can watch the entire segment from The Talk below. The special Lauren-centric episode of Y&R will air tomorrow, Wednesday, January 25 on CBS, and will stream on-demand on Paramount+.
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