Interview Y&R: Christel Khalil Wants to Test Lily’s Mettle

Like most characters on a soap opera, Lily Winters has gone through a lot in the span of only a year. From losing the one that she loves, realizing that it wasn’t true, then finding out the guy that she’s with hasn’t been truthful with her, well, that can change a girl.

Christel Khalil, who has played Lily on The Young and the Restless off and on since 2002, realizes that all these things can really have an effect on a girl. Christel says: “She’s dealing with things that most people her age don’t deal with. That will make someone grow up and mature.”

Now that the cat is out of the bag that Chloe’s baby really is Billy’s, not Cane’s, the aftershocks can still be felt. Lily was “shocked and disgusted and hurt. I think Lily always likes to believe the best in people, and to find out that Chloe is just plain evil is pretty sad for her. Lily is just too nice to people most of the time.”

Cane and Lily are free to be with one another, but Christel believes this would have happened whether the truth about Chloe’s baby had come out or not. She explains: “I think their true love would have prevailed either way. When Cane thought that the baby was his, it didn’t matter, because he made it clear that he didn’t care about Chloe in that way, and he wanted to be with Lily. I think that no matter what, Cane and Lily would have found their way back to each other.”

So, what was the deal with Billy? Did Lily have feelings for him, or was he just a replacement for Cane while they were apart? “Lily was developing feelings for Billy. It started out as a rebound, but then she started to like him. She liked him, and she didn’t really care about what anyone said. She was doing something that she really wanted to do and didn’t worry about what other people thought.”

Even though Cane is not the biological father of Delia, he still wants his parental rights. Christel reasons: “For seven months, he thought it was his child, and he grew attached to her. Whether it was his child or not, he didn’t care; he really grew to love her. Lily understands his feelings about Delia, but she doesn’t really agree with him trying to take the baby away from Chloe.”

Behind the scenes, things are far from dramatic. In fact, it’s a veritable lovefest. Christel says: “I love working with Elizabeth (Hendrickson, ‘Chloe’), because she and I are such great friends. It’s so fun to have fighting scenes with her, because we love each other so much. Also, I miss working with my family. I never work with my family anymore; I’m always with Cane’s family. I miss working with Kristoff (St. John, ‘Neil’). And I love working with Bryton (McClure, ‘Devon’), because he and I are really good friends too.”

So, Cane and Lily are back together. Now what? “I’d like for them to have some time together where they can be happy for a while, but then, bring on the drama!” Christel offers. “Drama is always more fun — maybe have something bad happen to test their mettle as a couple.”

Interview: Christel Khalil - The Integrity of Lily Winters

At 21, Christel Khalil has spent most of her acting career as Lily Winters on “The Young and the Restless.” When she left the role in 2005, it surprised a lot of her fans. Wise beyond her years, Christel knew that she needed the break.

“I left because of stress,” Christel tells me. “I was so young; I wasn’t able to handle it. I needed the break -- I needed the chance to relax and do what I wanted. Besides doing a guest spot on ‘Malcolm in the Middle,’ I wasn’t really doing anything.”

In the meantime, Davetta Sherwood took over the role, but the powers that be at “Y&R” really wanted Christel back. “They asked me to come back a few times, but I said no. After about a year, they asked again. I’d had a year off; I felt rested and ready to go back. Plus, I was really missing everyone.”

The character of Lily Winters is like a breath of fresh air in the every-man-for-himself world of soap operas. She has morals and compassion. Even though she loves Cane, she knows that the right thing for him to do is be there for Chloe and the baby they have together (or so Chloe has made everyone think).

“I like that Lily has morals and values. She’s not out to hurt anyone. Even through this whole Chloe thing, she finds a way to relate and have compassion for her situation. Lily and (her father) Neil are just about two of the only characters who are just nice people -- they are really honorable.”

A short while back, Lily miscarried her and Cane’s baby, which changed the way Lily viewed the world. “It matured her a lot,” Christel explains. “It made her strong, and she has a greater respect for life. It was very hard on her. It was strange, the way it all happened. She was starting to like the idea of having a baby -- she related what was going on to her mother; she wanted to be just as strong and as good of a mother as her own mother was.”

Now that there is another baby in Lily’s life -- Cane and Chloe’s -- Lily’s good character has come shining through. “Lily really cares about the baby; it doesn’t matter to her that it is in Chloe’s belly. Lily loves Cane, so she loves his baby as well. The baby comes first. Lily will always do what is best for the baby.”

But underneath that strong facade, Lily is struggling. “What makes this whole situation even harder for her,” Christel says, “is that she is supposed to be OK with the whole situation. Lily is the one who told Cane that he needs to be with Chloe, so she HAS to be OK with how things are turning out.”

Even with another woman’s baby in the picture, can Cane and Lily still have their happy ending? “I definitely think that’s a possibility. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before. She definitely can see the hope, and they can adapt and love each other in a more mature and honest way.”

After all this baby mess is over, what does Christel hope for when it comes to Lily’s future? Christel says: “She’s portrayed as smart and intelligent, but we never see it reflected in her business life. I want to see Lily become a lot like her mom -- strong, maybe a CEO or a business owner. She could open her own modeling agency and be a mentor.”