Just before Steffy Forrester and Dr. John “Finn” Finnegan said their “I dos” on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” the father of the bride spoke from his heart with words filled with love, laughter, and fond memories. And although the speech given by Ridge Forrester on the Thursday, August 5 episode of the daytime drama series may have been written by a professional writer – Shannon B. Bradley – one could believe it was adlibbed by portrayer Thorsten Kaye as he embodied everything you could imagine a father should say as he “gave away” his little girl on her wedding day.
The expressions, the emotions and the eye contact. Kaye commanded the room as guests were enthralled with Ridge’s story of Steffy as she grew to become the young woman standing before him today. “We’re dealing with Steffy, and no one tells her what to do. You can’t give her away and you can’t hold onto her unless that’s what she wants… cause this extraordinary woman surprises me every day,” says Ridge. “She’s been through so much and she’s here stronger than she ever was but she chooses her path and she chooses to be on that path with you,” he adds, referring to Finn (Tanner Novlan).
As he unfolded a childhood photo of Steffy that he took from his wallet, Ridge shared that ironically enough, on the very day she’s marrying Finn, years ago Steffy had spent more than 20 minutes deciding between vanilla and chocolate ice cream because she didn’t want to hurt the other flavor’s feelings. Clearly, this memory of Steffy never happened on-screen but to see Kaye say those words you wouldn’t be able to believe otherwise.
“This little girl saves baby clothes and baby possums because she believes in her heart that every creature deserves to be loved… well that girl I’m gonna hold onto forever, and [talking to Finn] you’re going to have to deal with that,” Ridge details as Kaye brings out the reality of a father truly embracing that his little girl isn’t so little anymore. In fact, she’s a businesswoman, a mother of two, and now married to the man of her dreams.
With this performance, you know an actor has done their job right when a viewer finds themselves captivated by a scene that they can actually feel coming to life. Every word, every sound, every look, and every pause, Kaye eloquently presented a show-stopping performance that almost made you wish Steffy could have run to her father to give him the biggest hug she could ever muster as it appeared her portrayer Jacqueline MacInnes Wood would have done if given the opportunity and had time not been of the essence from a production standpoint.
"How do you give away the person that makes you breathe?" - Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye)
Kaye’s performance was so well received that it was clear that the actors in the room were blown away by what they had just witnessed. This was seemingly proven true when Eric (John McCook) told Pamela Douglas (Alley Mills) as he wiped away the tears in his eyes, “That’s my boy!”
That’s also the Soap Opera Network performance of the week! Great job, Thorsten!
Watch Kaye’s performance below.