Soap Hub Performer Of The Week For B&B: Naomi Matsuda

If Finn repairs his broken marriage to Steffy on Bold and the Beautiful, he’s going to owe a big debt to his mother Li, played by Naomi Matsuda. The good doctor dropped by the cliff house to give her son a strong talking to about the deadly woman who gave birth to him. Matsuda dug deep into the material. For her efforts, she’s been named Soap Hub’s Performer of the Week for B&B.

Naomi Matsuda – Performer of the Week

Li visited her son Finn (Tanner Novlan) who’s been living alone since Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) took the kids (Kelly and Hayes) out of town to get away from Sheila (Kimberlin Brown). While some mothers are known for meddling in their children’s love lives, Li had powerful, simple advice for her son — make sure Sheila remains out of their lives.

The scripts called for Matsuda to fully embrace Li’s resolve. She chastised her son for giving Sheila hope that they might have a relationship but Matsuda didn’t have Li harp on this misstep her son made; instead, she advised her son to realize that Shelia will never walk away from him and she needs to be shut down. Otherwise, Steffy will never feel safe enough to come home.

“You already had one opportunity to let Sheila die,” Li coolly reminded her son, referring to the time she flatlined in the hospital and Finn brought her back to life. “You saved her life.” While most parents would say that proudly about their doctor child, Li made it clear that Finn would have been a hero if he’d let Sheila go to that great soap opera in the sky.

“I don’t care if she gave birth to you,” Li said to Finn. “Sheila is not your mother. I am. I’m the one who rocked you to sleep and read your bedtime stories…I’m the one who held you with love and comforted you when you had your first broken heart…” A lot of people on B&B have reasons to loathe Sheila but nobody is more justified than Li is. After all, Sheila not only shot both Finn and Steffy but she also tried to kill Li herself!

“Oh, Sheila! Sheila! Sheila! I am so sick of hearing about that woman!” Li said as the week continued. It’s not surprising that we’re seeing more of Li as Steffy is out of town. It’s only natural that Li would visit her son and provide him with advice and also be a sounding board.

However, Li is far more than a “talk-to” character. She has her own history with Sheila as evidenced by the pain we hear in Li’s voice. Not only did Sheila almost kill her son but Sheila did destroy her marriage courtesy of her affair with her husband Jack (Ted King). “This is your father’s doing,” Li lamented. “He let Sheila turn our lives upside down by betraying me.”

Finn expressed his fear that Sheila might never let him go. This prompted Li to remind her son to solve this situation the way he might a difficult science problem in school. Finn took the opportunity to inform Li — his mother — just how important she is to him.

Finn said he realized it must have hurt her deeply when he called Sheila “Mom.” Matsuda brought great strength to Li as she reminded him how deadly Sheila could be to all of them. However, this moment allowed Matsuda to show Li’s more vulnerable side as Li hugged her son in response to his confession. Li showed further vulnerability when she told Finn that Jack had the audacity to say that if it weren’t for his fling with Sheila Finn wouldn’t exist!

Of course, he’s not wrong but that’s not what a betrayed wife and mother wants to hear. Jack kept all that a secret from the family for years and Matsuda makes sure that Li carries that pain in her performances.

Sheila has succeeded in weakening Finn and Steffy’s marriage as evidenced by Steffy (for now) walking away. However, Li and Finn’s relationship has never been stronger. Brava to Naomi Matsuda for delivering such dramatic performances.

The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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