From her very first appearance on Young and Restless on September 23, 2022, Audra Charles made quite the indelible impression on Genoa City, and that’s just the way portrayer Zuleyka Silver likes it. “She’s a lot of fun to play,” the actress enthuses to Soap Opera Digest as she marks her third anniversary with the CBS soap. “I think she’s a really interesting character. She has a lot of trauma and is a little damaged, but that’s why I love her. She’s a survivor, she’s a fighter, and she doesn’t quit. I just think she’s fascinating, really.”

Time Flies… Sort Of

During her time in Genoa City, Audra has shown a softer side through her relationship with Nate, and even bonded with his half brother Damian’s mother, Amy, during her battle with cancer. “It is very stimulating as an actor to peel back the layers,” Silver muses. “I feel like, over these three years that I’ve been playing Audra, I’ve just been trying to discover how I can add different layers to her. Just getting to know her and her past more, and why she acts the way that she does.”

Having hit the three-year mark at Y&R, Silver marvels at how strangely time passes in daytime. “It feels like it hasn’t been three years, but then it does,” she shares. “I’m like, ‘Wow, time really does fly.’ But then I feel like just now we’re starting to see a little bit of evolution with Audra, when she was a bit vulnerable, and then she kind of went back to her essence. I feel like it feels like three years, but then it doesn’t when I look at her growth. It’s been kind of slow.

“But then, you know, the things we learned about her have been unfolded slowly,” the actress continues, “so it feels weird, but then it doesn’t, when I look at her character development versus how long I’ve been on the show. But that’s just the nature, I’m learning, of soaps, right? One day is what, like, seven episodes or something? Sometimes I feel like time has gone by fast outside of the show, but not in it, if that makes sense.”

Playing Favorites

Being able to turn on a dime from calculating schemer to caring girlfriend is just one of the reasons why Silver considers herself lucky to be able to play a character like Audra Charles, declaring that her “unpredictability” is one of her favorite things about the role.

“I feel like I always know how she’s gonna react to something, but then I get a bit surprised at how she handles certain things,” Silver notes. “I think that’s what keeps me on my toes as an actor. I’m like, ‘Oh, what is she gonna do next?’ and ‘What kind of trouble are we getting into today?’ So I think that’s my favorite part about her.”