Playing a bully on-screen put Tracey E. Bregman’s life at risk.

The Young and the Restless‘ Lauren Fenmore is fabulous, chic, and has a penchant for speaking her mind. But back in the day, she was quite the Queen of Mean.

On Tuesday, August 26’s episode of the Soapy podcast, Tracey Bregman opened up about her experience delivering the sharp and venomous dialogue she was often given. Lauren’s character arcs led to a lot of tears shed behind the scenes and even fans committing vehicular violence.

Lauren Fenmore’s Mean Streak

The Soapy episode featuring Bregman and Christian Le Blanc focused on the possibility of redemption for characters who commit horrible acts. Neither Kevin (Greg Rikaart), Michael (Le Blanc), nor Lauren (Bregman) has escaped Y&R storylines that cast them in terrible lights.

In the past, Bregman had to play Lauren as a bully. The target of her nastiness was Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland). Maitland and Bregman are close friends, which made their scenes especially difficult to film.

Bregman spoke on how she felt playing a bully, starting at 14:47.

The storyline Bregman discussed focused on Traci’s insecurities about her weight. Lauren pounced on the opportunity to shame Traci mercilessly. It was hard for Bregman because she knew how Maitland was feeling about the story. She shared, “Beth will tell you I cried more than she did.” There were moments where Bregman could barely get the words out because the comments were so terrible.

Though that’s not to say that she and Maitland didn’t have fun times on-set, acting opposite each other. She referenced a scene where Traci and Lauren were fighting over Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) and the physical fight they got to do. But being the mean girl did come with risks. Bregman described it as a “double-edged sword.”

Y&R Fans Taking Things Too Far

“I would get death threats,” she said. “People would try to run me off the freeway. It was bad. There were some bad parts of it that I never really talked about, actually. I’ve never really talked about it.”

It’s clear she hasn’t because Le Blanc, Rikaart, and Rebecca Budig (Taylor, The Bold and the Beautiful) were all surprised by the reality of her situation back then. Budig even asked whether Bregman told the producers what was going on. But Bregman said she didn’t because it was an “extraordinary” story for her and Maitland to play.

However, Bregman’s admission is a prime example of when fans cross the line. At the end of the day, it’s an actor behind the character. That should never be forgotten.