Kathryn, she's subtle, layered, tough yet vulnerable. One of a kind.

Amen.

So underrated.

Gotta mention Tricia Cast.

Jess Walton

Jeanne Cooper

Liz Hendrickson

Kevin Scmidt

AMC

Michael E. Knight(Tad), David Canary(Adam), Melissa Claire Egan(Annie), Alicia Minshew(Kendall), Thorsten Kaye(Zach), Vincent Irizarry(David), Ricky Paull Goldin(Jake), Debbi Morgan(Angie), Darnell Williams(Jesse)

ATWT

Ellen Dolan(Margo), Elizabeth Hubbard(Lucinda), Scott Holmes(Tom), Jon Hensley(Holden), Maura West(Carly), Cady McClain(Rosanna), Julie Pinson(Janet)

DAYS

Kristian Alfonso(Hope), Suzanne Rogers(Maggie), Peter Reckell(Bo), John Aniston(Victor), Lauren Koslow(Kate), Alison Sweeney(Sami)

GH

Anthony Geary(Luke), Rebecca Herbst(Elizabeth), Kimberly McCullough(Robin), Laura Wright(Carly), Leslie Charleson(Monica), Jane Elliot(Tracy), Tyler Christopher(Nikolas)

OLTL

Erika Slezak(Viki), Robin Strasser(Dorian), Kassie DePaiva(Blair), Brian Kerwin(Charlie), Hillary B. Smith(Nora), Susan Haskell(Marty), Trevor St. John(Todd)

Florencia Lozano(Téa), Bob Woods(Bo), Jerry VerDorn(Clint), Ilene Kristen(Roxy)

B&B:

Susan Flannery.

Honorable mentions: Lesli Kay, Rick Hearst.

GH:

Anthony Geary.

Honorable mentions: Sebastian Roché, Jane Elliot.

Y&R:

Peter Bergman.

Honorable mentions: Jeanne Cooper, Tricia Cast.

DAYS:

Crystal Chappell.

Honorable mentions: Joseph Mascolo, Louise Sorel.

Was going to quote a lot of posters so instead just posting mine

ATWT:

Kathleen Widdoes....she never disappoints

Don Hasting & Kathryn Hays....are golden together

Marie Masters

Colleen Zenk Pinter.....she is great at being a bitch...and is great at playing the victim...ie..James Stenbeck

Maura West.....I wouldnt have put her in this category a few years ago...but she has really gotten soo good...it must help that she is married to a talented actor in Scott Defrietas

Ellen Dolan....She has her moments but sometimes she falls flat.....

Elizabeth Hubbard....this woman could be working opposite Jake Silbermann and she could still make it work!

B&B: Susan Flannery, Katherine Kelly Lang, Lesli Kay(when she actually gets a SL), Rick Hearst, Lesley Ann Down, Brandon Beemer, Kyle Lowder.

AMC- David Canary/Debbi Morgan

ATWT-Jon Hensley/Maura West HM: Marie Masters, Elizabeth Hubbard, Michael Park

B&B- Susan Flannery HM: Katherine Kelly Lang, Winsor Harmon

DAYS- Suzanne Rogers/James Scott HM: Molly Burnett, Jay Kenneth Johnson

GH- Nancy Lee Grahn/Tony Geary HM: Jane Elliot, Kelly Monaco, John Ingle

OLTL- Robin Strasser/Tuc Watkins HM: Hilary B. Smith, Kassie DePaiva

Y&R- Jess Walton/Eric Braeden HM: Peter Bergman, Sharon Case, Tricia Cast, Beth Maitland

AMC- Debbi Morgan, Darnell Williams, Vincent Irizarry, David Canary, Thorsten Kaye

B&B- Susan Flannery, Winsor Harmon, Hunter Tylo, Lesley-Anne Down, Rick Hearst, Don Diamont,

GH- Leslie Charleson, Nancy Lee Grahn, Tony Geary, Jane Elliot, Kimberly McCullough, Rebecca Herbst, Tyler Christopher, Ron Hale, Constance Towers, John Ingle, Sebastian Roche, Carolyn Hennesy, Ingo Rademacher, Megan Ward, Sarah Brown

OLTL- Robin Strasser/Tuc Watkins, Hilary B. Smith, Trevor St. John, Ericka Slezak

Y&R- Jess Walton/Eric Braeden, Peter Bergman, Tricia Cast, Beth Maitland, Michelle Strafford, Billy Miller

Love Stories Unfold

"In a castle dark, or a fortress strong with chains upon my feet

the story always end..." Gordon Lightfoot

banner via godfatherambs

OLTL - Erika Slezak, Robin Strasser, Tuc Watkins, Bob Woods, Florencia Lozano, Trevor St. John, Kassie DePaiva and Hillary B. Smith. HM Ilene Kristen, Jerry Ver Dorn and Brian Kerwin

B&B Susan Flannery

HM Katherine Kelly Lang.

DAYS: Crystal Chappell, Renee Jones, John Aniston & James Scott

GH TG JE KM KMC JT JJ NLG

My personal criteria for my choices are

1. would they hit it out of the park if they were on Primetime/in movies, too?

2. Do the characters they play feel utterly real and naturalistic?

3. Have their performances lingered on my mind for days afterwards?

The following are the ones who ticked all three boxes at this moment in time.

Susan Flannery (B&B ) is a queen who can do range, frustration and growing self-realization like no other. If she were on HBO or FX or AMC or Lifetime, she would already be holding a spate of Primetime Emmys right about now.

Kathleen Widdoes (ATWT) astounds me every time she is on screen (which is sadly all too rarely). Never once has Emma Snyder felt like a rural caricature. There is so much nuance and understatement in her performance that even with a few filler pieces of dialogue, I feel KW's eyes are telling me the story. Moreover, I have had the luck of seeing her on stage once playing a completely different character and she was equaly as convincing. A first-class actress.

Maura West (ATWT). She was born in the wrong era, is working in the wrong medium. West should be killing it in 1940s "women's pictures," giving Barbara Stanwyck and Lauren Bacall a run for their money.

Beth Maitland (Y&R) for obvious reasons (see two weeks' ago). Every time they need to reinforce our connection to the current plot-turn du jour, they bring Maitland out. John's death, Brad leaving, Colleen's death. Her scenes were the only ones that made any lasting impression.

Eileen Davidson (Y&R). I could watch her reading out the phone book. Didn't think much of her Days run, but on Y&R her line readings are always effective and naturalistic. In fact, she sounds like she is speaking from the heart rather than regurgitating learnt dialogue.

Debbi Morgan (AMC) carries an entire show on her shoulders. TPTB may say that it is Minshew, Kaye or Budig (!) that draw in the viewer, but deep down they know that this is the woman who stabilised AMC's ratings at a time when it was freefalling.

Honorable Mentions:

Suzanne Rogers (Days)

John Aniston (Days)

Elizabeth Hubbard (ATWT)

Trevor St John (OLTL)

John Ingle (GH) -- especially when he does that hand-rubbing, giggling plotting thing. It's theatrical and at the same time totally real.

Sarah Brown (GH) -- much as it pains me to say. Her Claudia Z is a total performance.

Edited October 20, 200916 yr by Cat

Y&R - The actress who is Chloe. Jack.

ATWT - The actress who is Carly. Sometimes Jack.