Lauralee Bell has spent all of her adult life as Christine Blair on The Young and the Restless, but the actress has never once landed an Emmy nomination in the 33 years she's been portraying the character. Some point to the fact that it may be because she's the daughter of Y&R's creators, Bill Bell (who died in 2005) and Lee Phillip Bell -- a thought the actress, who's finally up for Outstanding Supporting Actress this year, doesn't entirely discredit.
"I think the same thing happened to Melody Thomas Scott [Nikki] because she was married to the executive producer," the actress tells TV Insider. "She's fantastic yet she's ignored when it's time for the Emmys. I always figured my personal connections hindered the possibility of a nomination and I was okay with that. In fact, when Emmy time came around each year, I didn't even think about it. It was just not part of my world. I was content to go to the awards and be everyone else's cheerleader."
However, Christine's 2015 miscarriage finally gave Bell the golden ticket, landing her in the Supporting Actress category. And the Chicago native shares that delivering the emotionally charged material the storyline demanded was second nature. "Sometimes when actors have to get to an emotional place, they manipulate their brains to get the tears going -- thinking of something that's really personal and painful that may not have anything to do with what's happening in the script. But Doug [Davidson, Paul] and I were so connected and so in the moment that trying for tears wasn't necessary," she shares. "It all felt so real to me. Nothing forced, nothing false. It wasn't until I made the Emmy pre-noms that I started thinking, 'Well, if it's ever going to happen for me, this is what will do it.' It was such a hard, emotional story."
As for her thoughts on Christine losing the baby, she admits she and Davidson pretty much knew the character would never give birth, and she was okay with that. "Doug and I kind of suspected a baby wasn't in the cards, but we had no idea how it would end. And the show sure didn't need another child on the set," she says. "It was fun to play the excitement of the pregnancy but, on a selfish level, I wasn't looking forward to the reality of it. On a soap, once you're past the 'Oh, we're so happy! We're so lucky!' stage, there's not much you can do. You don't want to become the boring parent. Right now I kind of feel my character is the boring D.A. All business, very uptight. I can see why the fans on social media are, like, 'Cricket never smiles anymore.' [Laughs] And I'm the first to agree!"
For more from Bell, check out TV Insider's full interview here.
What do you think about Bell finally landing an Emmy nomination after 33 years? Do you feel she has a chance of winning the award? Do you agree that Christine has become a bit boring? If so, what kind of story would you like to see shake things up for the Genoa City D.A.? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
