It may not have been the best of years – okay, that’s a major understatement – but there are a few good things that came out of it. Namely, a few standout performances on the soap opera front. We’re talking about 4 daytime actors whose characters totally broke out in 2020.
Soap Opera Breakouts
1. Thomas Forrester, (Matthew Atkinson, The Bold and the Beautiful)
It’s not easy going from creepy to sympathetic, but Matthew Atkinson mastered the turnaround as Thomas. He started 2020 coldly manipulating Zoe (Kiara Barnes) into marrying him to upset Douglas (Henry Joseph Samiri) and coax Hope (Annika Noelle) into stepping in to be his bride.
Shunned when his plot was exposed, Thomas got his life together and went back to work at Forrester. All was going well until he hit his head and began hallucinating and romancing a mannequin. Fearful he was descending into madness, Atkinson delivered a gut-wrenching performance as Thomas cried out to Hope for help. Upon landing in the hospital and undergoing emergency brain surgery, suddenly everyone was praying for him to survive.
2. Lily Winters (Christel Khalil, The Young and the Restless)
No longer shackled to Cane (Daniel Goddard), nor having to endure the endless back and forth of their relationship, Christel Khalil has been able to flourish as Lily. Her years of sitting around crying over the man she loves are behind her, and she’s emerged into a strong fierce business woman capable of running a media empire.
Teaming Khalil with Jason Thompson’s Billy on the work front has brought out Lily’s competitive edge, and their chemistry opens the door to so much more. Best of all, Khalil’s embraced her character’s newfound independence and totally ran with it.
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3. Allie Horton (Lindsay Arnold, Days of Our Lives)
From the second she turned up on Eric (Greg Vaughan) and Nicole’s (Arianne Zucker) doorstep as the pregnant Allie, Lindsay Arnold was thrust onto the storyline front burner.
Whether handling confrontational scenes with her TV parents, Alison Sweeney’s Sami and Bryan Dattilo’s Lucas or baring her soul as Allie admitted to being raped to Arianne Zucker’s Nicole, the daytime newcomer thrived. In fact, the heavier the material, the more Arnold excelled. Her most potent work, however, has been opposite Lucas Adams’ Tripp, who she wrongly believes to be her rapist and the father of her son, Henry.
4. Trina Robinson (Sydney Mikayla, General Hospital)
After being cast in Eden McCoy’s shadow as Josslyn’s best friend in 2019, Sydney Mikayla finally got to flex her acting muscles as Trina endured a year of violence and heartache.
The poor teen was kidnapped, then had to cope with her father’s “death” during a shootout to save her. Mikayla handled Trina’s fear and grief with aplomb. In between, she dealt with teen angst, after an impromptu kiss with pal Cameron (William Lipton), and came into her own working at Jerome Gallery, finding a new friend and unusual mentor in Ava (Maura West).
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