Q & A with Jaime Lyn Bauer
(Laura Horton on Days of Our Lives)

Days of Our Lives fans received an extra treat at the show's fan event in May. Jaime Lyn Bauer, who joined the show in 1993 as Dr. Laura Horton, dropped by to tell supporters that her character would be back on the show's canvas to help celebrate the wedding of her pal and fellow physician Marlena Evans to John Black. Prior to Days, Bauer played the beloved and tortured heroine Lauralee (Lorie) Brooks on The Young and the Restless from 1973 to 82. Bauer was so identifiable in the role that when she opted to exit Genoa City, then-head writer William J. Bell chose to rework the show's core families. Bauer sat down with TV Guide Online to discuss Laura's brief return, her writing career, leaving Y&R and shower scenes.— Michael J. Maloney

Is it still fun to see everyone at the show again?

It's fabulous. Before this, I'd only been on the show once this year. My contract ended in October (1998). I did five shows after that for Christmas. Then I had only one show in, I believe, March. We couldn't start [taping] right away because I had to hug and kiss the guys on the crew, and people from the booth came out to say hello. You really get a lot of hugs and kisses.

So, Laura's been living in Salem all this time?

Yes. I was curious to see how they were going handle it. Laura came in carrying a bag of groceries.

She's been at the market!

Mike let her out to get the groceries. I don't think they talk about her. She's just walking around Salem, but I still feel as if I'm a part of Days. I got a Christmas present from the show and I got the script for my last appearance before anyone [from the office] called to see if I was available. So they think of me still being with the show. And I never had a good-bye party [after my contract ended], which they give to everyone when they leave.

These sound like good signs.

Well, I think they are. And yet, of course, I'm looking for another job because I don't have a contract. I'm so busy, however, between writing and putting a web site together. I'm writing a sitcom with another writer and we're taking meetings. I pitched one of my screenplays that I'd written with another writer to Mutual Films and the sitcom to Morgan Freeman's company.

In March 1990, there was a Museum of Television and Radio tribute to Y&R and B&B co-creator William J. Bell held in Los Angeles. Many of his actors, including you, were on stage with him. He turned to you and said that your decision to leave your role as Lorie Brooks in the early '80s was instrumental in revamping the show — moving away from the Brookses and the Fosters and toward the Abbotts and the Williamses. Did you know that was going to be the result?

I didn't. I was so grateful to Bill. I went to him and told him that I really wanted to leave. I had two babies at home and I was working every day. The conscious brain can only handle so much information. I said to him, "Please don't do anything to try and get me to stay." It was so easy for me to put someone else first, but I was exhausted and I needed to take a break. He didn't say anything at the time. Within a couple of months after my leaving, he had fired everyone who had anything to do with the original families. Except Jeanne Cooper, who plays Kay Chancellor.

He reinvented the show under two new families, which was brilliant. He knew that I had played one of his favorite characters. I think he must have been thinking about it already. It must have taken a lot for him not to say anything to me [in regards to asking me to stay]. I am forever grateful from the depths of my heart because of that.

Would you have felt pressure to stay if you had known the sweeping changes that would occur?

I think that if I had known, I would not have left. I would have felt too responsible for all the other people who would have lost their jobs.

Think about all those people who got jobs.

That's true, but I would have been concerned about the ones that I knew. I was too tired. It bothered me. There was an incident where I was sitting with a girlfriend and we were chatting at a table. We each had a glass of water and there was a pitcher of water. One minute, my glass was empty. The next, it was full. I realized that she had to have poured a glass of water for me and I hadn't seen it happen even though she was pretty close to me. The reason is that my conscious brain was so filled with dialogue. I could not remember the simplest things. My brain had automatically cut off things that it regarded as unimportant. It scares you.

I can imagine. Do you still tune into Y&R?

Occasionally. My secretary's mom did. She would tape it as well as Days. Whenever I needed to see a show, I'd get the tape from her and there would be Y&R shows on the same tape. I have to say that the writing on Y&R is very good.

It's been a seamless transition with Kay Alden as the new head writer.

She's amazing. She was a big part of the show when I was on it. She works her rear end off. I don't think that woman sleeps! She's simply amazing. I think that what makes her so good is that she's a mom. She's a real person. She just can't sit in her little cloud in the sky and write. She has to be a wife and mother. She has to talk to different parents at school. She's got two feet planted in the real world and I think that that's an invaluable tool to have has a writer, particularly a relationship driven medium like daytime. The demand on their time is terrific. I've really noticed how good the writing and character development is on Y&R. They're not just pushing storylines.

Y&R's had a lot of actors from the past come back to the show over the last few years — Eileen Davidson, Alex Donnelley, Brett Hadley, Barbara Crampton (Ashley, Diane, Carl, Leanna) — would you ever go back?

If I were asked... I think I would.

Lorie had ties to Victor Newman?

Yes. She crawled out of a bathroom window to get away from him. Not that she didn't love him. She did, in spite of her family telling her that he was a rat at that time. Lorie had found all sorts of incredible things about him. Victor gave Lorie back Prentiss Industries but she fell in love with him anyway. [Laughs] And how many marriages has Victor had since then.

It's great that you remember your storyline so vividly. Not all actors do.