Sabrina's Emmy Pick for Kimberly

screencaps from 'Beyond Reason' clips

Kimberly McCullough is always remarkable in her ability to show her character go through a range of emotions with each situation, and her ability to evolve the character in each episode.

The month of April was quite the change of pace since the character of Robin had to do a little acting herself to convince the town that she was in love with Nikolas. Kimberly did a great job of showing the conflict there; being that Robin is actually in love with Patrick Drake. She had to appear distanced from him and their relationship, to be convincing, but because she is Robin and a terrible liar, she failed at it. That’s a sign of Kimberly’s talent, knowing her character well enough to show that Robin could not be convincing in being over her feelings towards Patrick because her feelings were always that genuine. She never hid her true feelings for Patrick well. She never actually appeared to be in love with anyone else, and Kimberly always showed just how psychologically draining and painful the situation was, by portraying Robin, as a terrible liar with an inability to actually hide her true feelings. That was definitely one of Kimberly’s successes during this storyline. She showed that the conflict was always there for Robin, reminding the audience of the depth of Robin’s feelings and her sacrifice, and giving the viewers something to root for.

Kimberly was most impressive in being able to show her changing emotions, especially in her interactions with Craig, throughout this story. Robin always displayed her strength in the presence of Craig, and Kimberly never showed her portraying too much fear or a lack of control. It wasn’t until Patrick’s life was actively put in danger that Kimberly actually brought out Robin’s fear towards Craig. When Robin lost that control that she was trying to maintain, and the situation escalated with Patrick’s life hanging on the balance, the audience saw the shift in Robin from being controlled and calm to being afraid and panicked. She never showed this much emotion until the situation became even more deadly.

The best episode that represented this would be from April 20, 2007. In this episode, Robin jumped right into to saving Patrick. Here, Kimberly brought out all the emotions that Robin seemed to be holding in since the situation first began. This also showed how Kimberly is wonderful at transforming Robin’s emotions in one episode. We saw the fear initially present in full force when she ran up trying to save Patrick’s life. She was fearful, yet protective at the same time. This transformed to a sense of relief that his life was spared, and that she was finally able to speak truthfully to him. We saw the sadness and guilt that Robin dealt with having to lie to Patrick and break his heart. And like Robin, she ended up maintaining a small semblance of control while confronting Craig with Patrick again in the final segment. She told a story of evolving emotions in one episode. What’s amazing about Kimberly is that she never dwells in any particular emotion. She has a very subtle way of showing the viewers how Robin is feeling, without overwhelming us with it. And she uses her whole body to act, instead of simply reciting lines and leaving the viewers to draw out what she is feeling solely based on what she is saying. While the dialogue was more focused on the plot and explaining the situation instead of Robin’s emotions, we still saw and felt everything she was feeling. Kimberly is an actress that could go a whole episode without dialogue, and the viewers would still be able to know Robin’s every emotion. This is definitely something that makes her standout. She dominates her scenes without being overbearing, and acts off others flawlessly.