‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ Lawrence Saint-Victor on Writing the Soaps He Stars In — ‘It’s Pretty Dope’
‘The writing of the stories aids me when I’m acting’ — plus what he really thinks of B&B fans
With The Bold and the Beautiful caught up in Hope and Steffy’s latest battle over Forrester and now Finn, Carter has his hands full at work – or at least, he did before Steffy was literally caged by Luna. True, he’s not the one causing the drama right now… but as Luna continues to spin out, his portrayer, Lawrence Saint-Victor still has his hand in all of it!Having started writing for The Bold and the Beautiful a few years into his run on the soap opera, the actor was thrilled to earn a Daytime Emmy nomination as part of that team this year.
Here, Saint-Victor talks to Woman’s World about how he made the transition to working behind the camera and what it’s like to write for himself and his costars.
Plus, the Guiding Light alum insists he’ll never argue with The Bold and the Beautiful’s dedicated fans… but he has Carter’s back.
Lawrence Saint-Victor talks writing for Brad Bell
When Lawrence Saint-Victor signed on as Carter Walton on The Bold and the Beautiful in 2013, he wasn’t just a Guiding Light alum – he’d also created, written, and co-produced the 2009 web series Wed Locked. As he found his bearings with his new castmates and got to know his new character, he also bonded with the soap’s 10-time Daytime Emmy-winning showrunner, Bradly Bell, over their shared passion.
“We always talked about story, and I would pick his brain,” Saint-Victor recounts. “Then he said, ‘Hey, you might want to write.’ I was like, ‘Okay…’ I had no idea what I was doing, but I wrote a few sample scripts and over the years, figured it out.”
While the actor’s first The Bold and the Beautiful writing credit goes back to 2015, he’s become a regular member of the team over the last few years – which means he get to help bring to life the drama and mayhem Bell dreams up for the show.
“It’s pretty dope,” Saint-Victor says with a grin. “I get to work closely with Brad, and hear his ideas and his vision, and then work with the writers and write. As an actor, you’re usually the last one to get it, but as part of the writing team, you’re part of creating the thing that they’re doing on set every day. It’s so fulfilling.”
The love of writing and playing Carter
While the actor was thrilled to be nominated for a 2024 writing Emmy, he refuses to pick favorites.
“I love the writing, because you’re kind of isolated and in your own space,” Saint-Victor explains. “But I am an actor, so I also enjoy being on set and being artistic and collaborative with my fellow artists. When my character is front burner and I am writing, I’m very busy. I gotta delegate my time, but the writing of the stories also aids me when I’m acting. It all works together.”
As fans of the sitcom Friends may recall, Joey got fired from his soap gig for telling a reporter he wrote most of his lines. Well, Saint-Victor regularly writes his own lines on The Bold and the Beautiful – with permission!
“It’s weird,” he says. “I have an idea of what I think my character would do or say, and it always blows my mind how when they call ‘Action,’ it isn’t how I thought it was going to be. It just changes, so I find myself wanting to change my own dialogue.”
What Lawrence Saint-Victor thinks about fans
One thing that’s given Saint-Victor a leg up in writing The Bold and the Beautiful is that he used to rush home from school to watch the drama with his aunt – and his time as a viewer has also given him respect for those who tune in every day.
“I’ll never debate the fans,” he insists… but he does have his opinions, and we got him to weigh in on one controversial plot point from earlier this year.
Back when Carter got all high and mighty with Zende for sleeping with a drugged Luna, a lot of viewers balked. After all, Carter has been in more than his share of love triangles – not the least of which was that extended affair with his mentor Eric’s now ex-wife, Quinn.
“Fans were like, ‘How dare he?’” Saint-Victor recalls with a laugh. “I think it made total sense. I know Carter’s done his dirt! When he did his thing with Quinn, it was bad. But when he got caught, he owned up to it and didn’t make any excuses. Carter was speaking from experience and just looking for Zende to just take responsibility like he did.”
The ‘Bold and the Beautiful’: Balancing melodrama with camp
As a scribe and an actor, Saint-Victor believes in honoring his show’s history – and The Bold and the Beautiful fan in him loves mining it for new stories.
“I’m always excited about what’s going on, but I geek out on the history,” Saint-Victor tells Woman’s World. “I was so excited when Deacon was on the hunt for Sheila and Lauren came back for a crossover from The Young and the Restless. I loved it!”
Of course, storylines involving Sheila, in particular, can get a bit over the top.
“I think the audience needs that levity,” Saint-Victor says of the soap opera’s campier turns. “You can only go down that road of Eric dying for so long. You’ve got to give viewers some relief.
“And as a writer, it’s fun because you’re like, ‘Oh man, I can do 10 toes!’” he adds, referencing the moment Deacon realized Sheila’s dead body had too many toes. “Then as fun as that is, it also gives us the license to go deep and sad, again. We can go back to the other extreme. It’s amazing to be on a show that can do both… and we’re still The Bold and the Beautiful!”
Saint-Victor recently left Los Angeles to work on a top secret “dope” side project, but as seen in this Instagram post, Carter’s portrayer isn’t done with The Bold and the Beautiful – he even brought his latest script with him!
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