Chatting with Cait Fairbanks of ‘The Young and The Restless’

Cait Fairbanks. Photo Credit: Sonja Flemming, CBS.

Actress Cait Fairbanks chatted about being a part of the CBS daytime drama “The Young and The Restless.”

Earlier this year, “The Young and The Restless” celebrated its 50th anniversary on air. “That is very surreal to me; it is hard to fathom,” she said about its longevity.

“That is very incredible, I feel very honored to be a small part of a big, beautiful team,” she added.

Portraying Tessa Porter

An Emmy-nominated actress and performer, Fairbanks has played the role of Tessa Porter on the show since March of 2017. “I love how much the character has changed. There has been so much diversity in the role itself,” she said.

“I started off as the drifter and the bad girl that was blackmailing everybody, and now, I have a loving partner. I feel like I’ve really gotten to explore a bunch of different sides of acting because of this part, and that is really cool,” she explained.

“I’ve also gotten to sing and play guitar on the show as well,” Fairbanks added.

Working opposite Camryn Grimes

Fairbanks and Grimes’ characters make up the supercouple “Teriah,” which is a combination of Tessa and Mariah.

On working opposite Camryn Grimes (who plays Mariah Copeland) as her on-screen acting partner and love interest, Fairbanks said, “It has been great. Camryn is a veteran so it’s so easy to work with her. We get to play off each other pretty easily. Camryn is really fun and funny, and we both love musical theatre and nerdy movies.”

Fairbanks shared that she would love to do more scenes with Michelle Stafford, who plays Phyllis. “Michelle would be fun,” she said. “Her character, Phyllis, is very powerful, and I love that.”

‘Across The Room’

Fairbanks discussed being a part of the short comedy film “Across The Room,” which was directed by Mellinda Hensley, and written by Matt Clifford. She starred alongside Tyler Johnson, Karisa Tate, Zach Tinker, and Christian LeBlanc. “That was great,” she admitted. “We did that about four years ago, pre-COVID, and it was so much fun.”

Spectrum fan event in Maryland

On March 23, 2024, Fairbanks is looking forward to being a part of the Spectrum Celebrity fan event in Maryland, as part of #DaytimePride24, along with actors Camryn Grimes, Mike Manning, and Colton Little. It will be hosted by Tony Moore of “Dishin’ Days.”

“I am very excited about that one. It is always so nice to meet the fans,” she said. “It is always great to meet the fans, and this will be my first time in Maryland.”

“Also, it is always nice to travel places, meet the fans, and to just explore,” she added.

The digital age

On being an actress in the digital age, at a time when streaming, technology, and social media are prevalent, she said, “I started acting when I was 11 years old and a lot has changed, obviously. A lot has changed since I was a kid. There wasn’t any Netflix, Hulu, or HBO Max. Those things didn’t exist. I physically went into audition rooms and I met casting directors.”

“Now, we use self-tapes and everything has changed so much, and I honestly miss the way things were. I also think there has been an amazing revolution; there are so many more platforms and so many more opportunities to explore different stories, and I think that is incredible,” she elaborated.

“I am excited to see what the next few years has in store for actors, writers, directors, producers, and everybody,” she added.

Cait Fairbanks: The musician

On her music and songwriting inspirations, Fairbanks said, “Honestly, I am inspired by life experiences, the new music I listen to, as well as relationships and friendships. Not everything I write is about me. A lot of it is interpretations of movies that I’ve seen or music that I like that I want to emulate in some way.”

In music, she listed Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carole King as her dream duet choice. “I love Carole,” she admitted.

Stage of her life

Regarding the title of the current chapter of her life, she revealed, “Cocoon.” “I am in the pupa stage right now,” she explained. ‘I’ve been working a little bit, I’ve had a lot of time on my own, I’ve been healing and I’ve been growing.”

Superpower of choice

When asked about her superpower of choice, she said, “I think about this a lot… I would love to predict traffic, and I would love to be invisible; that would be pretty cool so I could sneak around.”

Success

Fairbanks defined the word success as “contentment” in life.

Fans

For her dedicated “Teriah” fans and supporters, Fairbanks said, “I am so grateful that they have stuck with us. I feel very honored by their time and their energy; it moves me. Everyone is so loving and I really appreciate them. The fans are very passionate.”

“There are people that love my character and people that don’t, and no matter what, there seems to be a strong reaction and I really appreciate that. I find that really cool.”

To learn more about Cait Fairbanks, follow her on Instagram.