Soap Hub Performer Of The Week For GH: Rebecca Herbst

For nearly 26 years, General Hospital fans have watched Rebecca Herbst and Elizabeth Webber grow up before our eyes, from a vulnerable teenager with a chip on her shoulder to a caring nurse, sometimes wife, and always mother. We have shared every moment of Elizabeth’s journey with Herbst playing her character to perfection, always knowing what beats she had to hit and how to convey Elizabeth’s every emotion even without speaking. As GH got ready to turn 60, every aspect of who Elizabeth is came out to play the week of March 27th, earning Herbst Soap Hub’s Performer of the Week for GH honors.

Rebecca Herbst – Performer Of The Week

Elizabeth thought she would only be saying goodbye to her first-born son as the week began and had no idea she would be saying a permanent goodbye to her mentor and best friend. As Elizabeth signed the message she wrote for Cameron (William Lipton) in a card, Herbst showed us a mother who knew she had done good but who also knew she had to let go. There was a look of resigned satisfaction on her face, knowing she’d done good as a mom and as a nurse. She cared for Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) and Ace, she came clean to the police and the hospital, and she retained her job. Now, it was time to celebrate Cameron but as that celebration ended, her world came crashing down.

The audience didn’t even have to hear the words on the other end of the phone when Elizabeth called Epiphany and a state trooper answered the call. The look of shock, sadness, and horror on Elizabeth’s face as she took in the information about Epiphany’s death told us everything we needed to know and Herbst made us feel Elizabeth’s emotions at our very core. Knowing this was the week GH — both the hospital and the show — would be saying goodbye to Sonya Eddy and Epiphany didn’t make the moment any less raw and that is thanks to Herbst’s powerful and subtle performance in that brief minute-long scene.

By the next day, a raw sadness had taken over Elizabeth as she went through the motions of delivering flowers to the chapel and making sure everything was just right for Epiphany’s memorial. It was clear the entire cast was having a hard time saying goodbye to this beloved actress and character, but GH made the right choice by giving the episode to Herbst and Elizabeth when all was said and done. She was the right choice to be the first to learn that Epiphany had died and the right one to eulogize the character.

By the end of the hour, Elizabeth was on the phone again listening to Monica (Leslie Charleson) read Epiphany’s letter of support that never made it to the hospital’s ethics committee. In it, Epiphany expressed her desire for Elizabeth to inherit her job as head nurse. The sheer relief Herbst showed us on Elizabeth’s face as she realized her friend and mentor wasn’t disappointed in her after all knowing what she did with Esme and Nikolas (Adam Huss) at Wyndemere as 2022 came to a close was a relief for us as well. Again, Herbst didn’t have to say a word. Every emotion was conveyed on her face and that was enough to earn her Performer of the Week accolades, but then, there was more.

As if she didn’t bring us to tears enough in the previous episodes, we were crying again by Thursday when Elizabeth threw a more intimate celebration for Cameron in her home with his brothers and other family members. By the time Elizabeth and Cameron said goodbye, we were mesmerized by the realness of the scene as both Herbst and William Lipton share such an incredible on-screen mother-son bond.

Elizabeth was all of us as she bid her firstborn child farewell and told him it was his turn to shine. It was his turn to go off on his own, live his best life, and focus on his future while knowing his family was always there for him ready to welcome him with open arms when he was ready to come home. Every mom who ever sent their child off to college after being right there for every moment of their life understood what Elizabeth was feeling.

Herbst delivered us a tour de force of emotions all week long in a seemingly-effortless performance worthy of that Daytime Emmy that has eluded her for so long.

Honorable Mention: Primetime star Yvette Nicole Brown made a brief appearance at Epiphany’s memorial as the woman the good nurse saved on the side of the road, causing her to lose her own life in the process. Brown, a good friend of Eddy’s for many years, had the task of playing someone who barely knew Epiphany while amongst people who mourned a great loss. She pulled it off with ease proving what a talented consummate professional she is.

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