21 Best Soap Performances of 2024: ‘DAYS’ Susan Seaforth Hayes, ‘B&B’s Sean Kanan & More, Ranked
The year 2024 gave soap viewers a series of amazing performances. The writers, producers, and directors of Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and Young and the Restless set the stage by providing tons of storylines with tons of twists and moments big and “small.” Many performers rose to the challenge and delivered the dramatic goods!
Among the great performances were DAYS’ Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) and GH’s Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), who played out heartfelt losses of dear loved ones; Y&R’s Sharon Case (Sharon), who took viewers on a rollercoaster ride as she played out her character’s mental illness; and B&B’s Annika Noelle (Hope) and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy), who reminded soap fans why the half-hour soap does boardroom battles more “boldly” than any other program!
No actor is able to deliver a great performance on his or her own so you’ll see that our write-ups often include more than one performer. Read on to see which actors and scenes especially caught our eye over the last 12 months!
21. Jane Elliot and Vernee Watson, GH
We’re on board if GH wants to spin off Daytime Emmy-winners Jane Elliot (Tracy) and Vernee Watson (Aunt Stella) and call it Conversations on a Bench. The two women met a few times this year on a bench that has a plaque honoring the late Gregory Chase (Gregory Harrison) on it. The unlikely pair (we say unlikely because Tracy’s not known for making friends) became pals by sharing stories from their lives together – love, loss, and more.
Irked by other issues going on in her life, Tracy gently chastised Stella once for being late at one of their get-togethers in the park. But it wasn’t about Stella being late (which she really wasn’t) or being peeved Cody (Josh Kelly) and Sasha (Sofia Mattsson) throwing a brunch on their day off. Through her no-nonsense charm, wisdom, and logic, Stella reached into Tracy’s psyche, helping her break down what was really bothering her: She’s afraid of losing Cody as she’s lost others in life including Alan (Stuart Damon), Luke (Anthony Geary), Finn (Michael Easton), and Gregory.
“I don’t know why we keep investing in people when we’re just going to lose them,” Tracy rhetorically lamented. Stella pointed out: “Because of the love, the bond, it’s worth it. Everything you’re feeling now is normal.”
As these two characters enrich each other’s lives through talking and sharing, viewers, too, realize that it’s very human to have similar thoughts and feelings about life.
20. Julie Dove, DAYS
Once Connie was revealed as Li Shin’s (Remington Hoffman) killer, we wondered why we hadn’t seen it all along! Sure, daytime has its share of grandiose, larger-than-life villains, who attempt to control the world, but folks forget that sometimes there are seemingly harmless, though slightly eccentric, individuals among us who are capable of doing great harm.
Dove brings a matter-of-factness to her killer character. She had to do what she did because it was simply the right thing to do. If that meant committing murder, attempted murder, or poisoning and kidnapping then so be it! Connie’s crimes caught up with her, but it’d be fun to see what she’d come up with if and when she is let loose on Salem in the future!
19. Billy Flynn, DAYS
No show does the Lazarus bit better than Days of our Lives. Time and time again, characters come back from the dead. In fact, 20 years ago, several characters all thought to have gone to that great soap in the sky miraculously returned. Nonetheless, the show’s actors always deliver emotionally when their characters are charged with playing the loss of a loved one.
For example, Flynn’s Chad mourned his late wife Abigail after finding her lifeless body in their bed. This year, a bombshell was dropped on him when Clyde Weston (James Read) dropped a bombshell on the grieving widower – that Abigail may still be among us. Realizing that only Clyde had the answers, Chad visited him at the Salem Police Department and sat across from the criminal. He recounted to Clyde how he found Abigail, bleeding out in their bed. “When I close my eyes, I can see her. Her face is pale. She’s so cold. And I can feel her slipping away,” Chad told Clyde, barely containing his enormous grief.
Flynn made the choice to have Chad reach out and grab onto Clyde’s neck as he both demanded and begged for the truth. “If she’s alive, how is that possible, Clyde? Please tell me. How is that possible?” Chad asked. Even Clyde was touched by Chad’s emotional and vulnerable stance. “I kind of liked it better when you were playing a strong guy,” Clyde groused. “This is just sad. Takes all the fun out of it.”
18. Michelle Stafford, Y&R
Viewers can say many things about Phyllis, but few can deny she’s a good mother. When her son Daniel (Michael Graziadei) lost Heather (Vail Bloom) via a senseless murder, Phyllis grew determined to not only clear her son who was a suspect in Heather’s killing, but she also wanted to lay the blame where she felt it belonged – at the feet of Sharon Newman (Sharon Case)! Three-time Daytime Emmy-winner Stafford plays Phyllis as a woman who pushes past any naysayers with unbridled gusto. If a person brings up that Phyllis herself is a killer (RIP Jeremy Stark!), Phyllis points out that her actions were in self-defense. She refuses to be shut down or be called a hypocrite by anyone, which makes her an unstoppable force of nature!
17. Michael Easton, GH
We knew that Gregory, barring a misdiagnosis like the one Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) had on Empire, was going to succumb after learning he had ALS. In the end, it was his heart that gave out, but his heart was full as he got to see his son Chase (Josh Swickard) marry the woman loves, Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton).
Michael Easton’s Finn discovered his dad’s body and played out on screen all the pain and sorrow that a child of any age feels upon losing a parent. Finn also knew on some level that his father was beyond pain. Easton conveyed a myriad of emotions in a few short episodes. The actor was additionally challenged by playing Finn falling back into his addiction, which led to his premature exit from the canvas. It’s heartening to know that Finn and his daughter Violet (Jophielle Love) are reunited in Seattle and that he’s doing better. (Perhaps the good doctor could find a position on staff at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital?)
16. Kate Mansi, Nancy Lee Grahn, and Kristen Vaganos, GH
Everyone tried to tell Molly and TJ (Tajh Bellow), and surrogate mother Kristina that it was a bad idea for the latter to carry a baby for the former. There were, after all, plenty of stories about surrogates changing their minds. Fast-forward to Kristina changing her mind about giving up her baby, which pitted Alexis between her daughters – a place no mother wants to be. The show’s writers threw us a curveball by having Kristina fall through a pane of poorly constructed glass and lose her baby. The scenes of Kristina and Molly arguing at their baby’s gravesite were raw and painful to watch for a multitude of reasons.
At times, Kristina seemed, at best, indifferent to her sister’s feelings. Of course, Kristina was carrying the baby, but she often acted as if Molly had no emotional connection to the child at all. And how could Kristina have planned to take the baby away from his biological father? Conversely, Molly felt that Alexis was giving Kristina preferential treatment. The divide between the two sisters is evidenced by the fact that Molly chose to name her daughter “Irene” while Kristina refers to the baby as “Adela.” They could no more agree on who the baby’s mother was than they could her name.
The drama for the Davis women continued when Alexis’s firstborn, Sam (Kelly Monaco), Kristina and Molly’s sister, died suddenly after undergoing a successful transplant surgery. (Why, Cyrus? Why!) Grahn’s performance as a grieving mother was also painful to watch for all the right reasons.
Alexis went to get her daughter’s corpse a blanket as if warming her up would somehow reverse her death. “Just get her a blanket! Please!” Alexis demanded to Dr. Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr), proving that “denial” wasn’t just a river in Egypt.
Next, Alexis climbed into Sam’s bed, hoping that additional body warmth would bring her daughter back to the land of the living. “I didn’t get to have you for long,” Alexis said, slowly realizing that Sam was no longer with us, “but I remember looking at your beautiful brown soulful eyes, and thinking, ‘What could I have possibly done to have made such a miracle?’”
Speaking of grieving mothers, Vaganos, a soap opera newcomer, turned in multiple tour de forces in the surrogate storyline. Not only did she lose a baby, and later, her sister, but she also lost her husband. The tragic breakup scenes with Molly and TJ were yet another loss that the Davis family suffered this year.
15. Annika Noelle and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, B&B
Hope (Annika Noelle) and Steffy (three-time Daytime Emmy-winner Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) will never be friends. They’ve competed over the same man too many times for that to happen. Their long-running feud kicked into high gear not so much over Hope’s crush on her husband Finn (Tanner Novlan), but rather Hope and Carter’s (Lawrence Saint-Victor) scheme to take over Forrester.
Wood embodies her character’s namesake (Stephanie, played by Susan Flannery) each and every time she goes up against Hope. The two women faced off in Eric’s (John McCook) office (well, actually, Carter and Hope’s office now). Both feel they’re in the right. Hope feels Steffy makes business decisions based on emotion. In turn, Steffy believes she’s totally justified in her actions.
“You just turned your adversary into your worst nightmare,” Steffy warned Hope as she exited the office following a faceoff, purposely striking her with her shoulder as she made a dramatic exit.
14. Gary James Fuller, GH
The key to being a successful child actor is being believable in your role and yet still reminding viewers that you’re a kid. Fuller, who plays Maxie’s (Kirsten Storms) son James, does this better than any other young actor on soaps these days. James came up on a stranger in his family’s living room when Lulu (Alexa Havins) appeared at her old house.
She bolted before anyone else witnessed her, and Maxie simply didn’t believe her son when he said that there had been a strange lady in their home. “I wasn’t joking. There was a lady in the house,” James insisted to Maxie after she reminded him not to joke about “stranger danger.”
The more Maxie refused to believe her son, the more he maintained his stance. Granted, Maxie admitted that James doesn’t make up stories but she still had her doubts. Upon reviewing security footage, Maxie realized that James was telling the truth. “I tried to tell you,” a satisfied (but not smug) James pointed out, adding just a tiny bit of “told you so” to his tone as any child might do in his position.
13. Sean Kanan, B&B
Clearly, Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) sees something in Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) that nobody else sees. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have attended the naughty nurse’s cremation. At least that’s what Deacon thought he was doing. When the sheet covering her body hit a snag and fell partially off, revealing that the corpse had all 10 of her toes (Sheila only has nine), Deacon couldn’t believe his eyes! Kanan played all the significance of this reveal and all its implications masterfully!
The body having all of her toes meant that this wasn’t Sheila and that just maybe the real Sheila was alive! Deacon became relentless in tracking down the woman he loves, ignoring naysayers who were only too happy to believe that Sheila was gone for good. Kanan continued to show different facets of his character, playing disbelief and, later, joy as he discovered Sheila, who was barely alive. It’s ironic that the most stable romance on B&B is the one between the former bad boy and the reformed (maybe) villainess.
12. Jeff Kober, GH
Oh, Cyrus, while you’re going around probably killing people, your portrayer, Daytime Emmy-winner Jeff Kober, is slaying us with performances. We doubted that Cyrus had found religion but he could give any lawyer in Port Charles a run for their money with constructing a legal argument.
Case in point: Cyrus gave Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) a dressing down about family loyalty after Lucky warned his uncle to stay away from his family. “You’ve been completely absent from Lulu’s life for more than a decade and now you grace us with your presence and you get to decide who’s family?” Cyrus rhetorically asked the absent father. “Spend more than a month with your own child and then, we’ll discuss family.”
There are villains and there are villains we love to hate. Kober’s Cyrus falls into the latter category.
11. Paul Telfer, DAYS
It looked like it was curtains – or rather staircases – for Sarah (Linsey Godfrey), who figured out that her mother-in-law Fiona (the terrific Serena Scott Thomas) was the person responsible for the vehicular accident that put her in a wheelchair. Fiona, taking a page from a thriller noir film – or perhaps recalling Laura Ingalls getting revenge on Nellie Oleson– was determined to push Sarah down a flight of stairs in her wheelchair.
Fortunately, Xander showed up just in time to save his wife! Sarah’s hero promptly proceeded to blast his mother for not only trying to do away with his bride but also for causing the accident that injured her. “I almost broke Brady’s legs with a baseball bat! I was going to murder him!” Xander reminded his mum, calling her out on pinning the blame on an innocent man. Fiona did her best to talk her way out of her tangled web of lies, but Xander wasn’t interested in hearing what she had to say.
“I might be more inclined to feel something for you, Mum, if I hadn’t just walked in on you trying to murder the love of my life!” angrily stated Xander.
A lesser actor would have played the entire set of scenes in anger. However, Telfer isn’t afraid to tap into the vulnerable side of his character, which makes him one of daytime dramas’ most compelling villain-turned-hero characters. At times, he’ll show us that part of Xander who is still a wounded little boy who loves his mother – or at least, he’d like to if she didn’t make that so impossible.
Fiona said she didn’t want to lose her son, but he informed her it was too late. “You’re going to have to bear it, Mom. Because you have lost me now. For good. Forever.”
10. Eileen Davidson, Y&R
Davidson made daytime history in the 1990s when she played five, count ‘em, five different characters on Days of our Lives. So, it only made sense for Y&R to feel that the Daytime Emmy-winner was up for the challenge of adding three alters to her persona as Ashley Abbott.
The actress took on the parts of rebellious teen “Ash,” a femme fatale known as “Ms. Abbott,” and “Belle,” a woman who is from the south, flirtatious, and fond of tequila. (Perhaps, “Belle” was a nod to the part Davidson’s late TV mother Marla Adams [ex-Dina] played on The Secret Storm.) Either way, Davidson turned in tour de forces as she explored Ashley’s different personalities. Kudos to the show’s production team and directors for shooting in the all-white set that enabled us to see Ashley and her alters in the same scene.
The story wrapped up as Ashley went off to get therapy, returning in the fall for the wedding of her daughter Abby (Melissa Ordway) to Devon (Bryton James). Still, it’ll be a while before Y&R fans forget the wonderful work Davidson delivered as Ashley, who literally showed different sides to her psyche.
9. Rick Hearst, GH
Rick Hearst came back to Port Charles as attorney Ric Lansing firing on all cylinders. Ric’s at his best when he’s in the courtroom working his magic, using a witness’s own words and emotions against them. When Ric was defending Ava Jerome (Maura West) for the murder of Kristina’s (Kate Mansi) baby, he delivered a master class in cross-examination. First, he asked Kristina why she was lying – referring not to what happened in Ava’s hotel suite but why she said she was okay on the stand when clearly, she was visibly upset.
Having planted that seed, Ric later recalled Kristina to the stand and went in for the kill. He brought up the incident where Kristina accosted Ric and Ava at the Port Charles Grille. “Oh, God,” Alexis sighed from the spectator section. She may not like Ric for what he was doing to her daughter, but the lawyer in Alexis knew that Ric was going to eviscerate his witness. He did, masterfully.
Ric then presented affidavits from seven witnesses from the incident in question that verified Kristina’s threats. Once Ric established that Kristina responds emotionally to situations, he succeeded in planting doubt in the minds of the jurors, who later found Ava to be not guilty. Ava walked away a free woman; however, Hearst is “guilty” of delivering compelling and award-worthy performances.
8. Lisa Yamada, B&B
We’ve got to admit that Luna was the last person we suspected of killing Tom (Clint Howard) and Hollis (Hollis W. Chambers). It turned out that R.J.’s (Joshua Hoffman) girlfriend, who had a desire to work in fashion, had more in mind than landing an internship at Forrester Creations. She wanted to lead the glamorous life and was thrilled when her scheme to make everyone believe mogul Bill Spencer (Don Diamont) was her daddy! As the walls closed in, Luna drugged Steffy and kept her hostage when she went on a rant as to why she did what she did. The best news about Yamada’s performances is that we don’t think B&B is done with her yet. She’s popped up on our screens lately. It appears that Luna’s story is far from over.
7. Dan Feuerriegel and Tina Huang, DAYS
Neither Melinda nor EJ had clean hands in the kidnapping of baby Jude on DAYS. Melinda helped her pal Sloan (Jessica Serfaty) steal Nicole’s (Arianne Zucker) newborn son so that Sloan could pass the infant off as her and Eric’s (Greg Vaughan) adopted child. EJ kept hidden that Eric, ironically – not he – was the child’s birth father. He desperately wanted Melinda to keep quiet about Jude’s true paternity so he could hang onto the baby he wanted to believe was his.
Melinda said that taking Jude from Nicole was a crime of opportunity and she knew who the baby’s real father one. EJ blasted Melinda, telling her that her act of friendship was far from noble because, at the end of the day, they took a child from his natural mother. “Where was your heart when you knew Nicole was going through hell because of your lies?” EJ angrily asked.
Melinda proved why she’s an excellent attorney by turning the situation around and pointing out to EJ that he was just as guilty as he had planned to keep Eric from his son. “You did it because you were, I’m sorry, you are, afraid of losing your wife to the man she truly loves. Period. End of sentence!” Melinda countered.
Watching these two characters volley back and forth with their respective points of view was like watching an emotional tennis match. Just when it appeared one player had hit the ball back brilliantly, the other would come down with an overhead emotional smash!
We found ourselves rooting for these two baddies at the same time because the actors both brought humanity to their characters. We may not agree with what they did, but we understand why they did it.
6. Sharon Case, Y&R
When Y&R revisited Sharon’s issues with mental health, her portrayer, Sharon Case, elevated the complex material, turning in numerous powerhouse performances as her character fought to maintain her sanity. The show re-examined the lingering feelings of love, loss, and grief that Sharon felt and continues to feel over the death of her daughter Cassie (Camryn Grimes, now, Mariah).
One reason that Case is so compelling to watch is that even when Sharon Newman is out of control, viewers are witnessing a tour de force by Sharon Case, who is in total command of her craft. Case especially shines when Sharon stands toe-to-toe with rival Phyllis, played by Michelle Stafford.
There’s clearly more to this story than what viewers and even Sharon herself have been led to believe. No matter which direction it goes, we’re counting on Case to keep us entertained. We’re rooting for her to win.
5. Thorsten Kaye and Lawrence Saint-Victor, B&B
B&B is never better than when the boardroom becomes a battleground! In an effort to save Hope For The Future, Carter and Hope pulled a powerplay that forced Ridge to give the wedding officiator a lesson in loyalty and business.
Outraged that Carter tricked Ridge (two-time Daytime Emmy-winner Thorsten Kaye) into signing a document that allowed Carter to take the reins at Forrester Creations, Ridge set out to remind Carter of a few things. First, he tried to reason with his friend, attorney, and COO of his company. Ridge suggested that he and Carter tear up the fraudulent documents and they go back to the way things were. Saint-Victor played Carter as simmering with rage, as Ridge wanted Carter to give up Hope, the woman he loves.
Carter drew a line in the sand, refusing to let Ridge use Hope as a scapegoat. He took his passion for Hope a step further by accusing Ridge that blaming the Logans stems from his mother, Stephanie. (Perhaps not the best strategy but Carter’s a lawyer; he argued a valid point.)
Carter accused Ridge of letting his emotions rule his business decisions. Ridge gave a smile, knowing he had a trump card to play about what’s written on the side of the building. “It says Forrester Creations on it – as in Eric Forrester, Ridge Forrester, Steffy Forrester,” Ridge said. “This little thing that you’re trying to do right here, the only thing it did was make me angry…I never should have trusted you with anything in the first place?”
Ridge and Carter both played hurt and betrayed. Each man felt as if they were doing the right thing. “You’re fired, Carter,” Ridge said. “You’re not welcome here anymore. Get out of my life.”
Interestingly, the scene wasn’t written that either man would get physically rough with one another, but that tension was there. It could have easily happened. The battle for control of Forrester Creations is far from over, but Ridge and Carter’s showdown in the executive office stands out as one of the most pivotal moments in this saga.
4. Genie Francis and Jane Elliot, GH
On paper, these two shouldn’t like each other very much. After all, back in the day, Tracy was determined to prove that Laura’s dad Rick (Chris Robinson) was the father of Tracy’s sister-in-law Monica’s (Leslie Charleson) baby, A.J. Years later, Tracy got together with Luke (Anthony Geary), Laura’s ex, while Laura was catatonic. The two women are bonded, however, in their love for Laura’s daughter Lulu, who perhaps not so affectionately referred to Tracy as her “step-monster” when she was wed to Luke.
We saw Laura make the decision to follow Tracy into the hallway at General Hospital after she visited a comatose Lulu. Both women cautiously assessed how the other might be feeling. Tracy didn’t want to infringe on Laura’s time with her daughter. A vulnerable Laura wanted to reach out to Tracy, who’s not always known for her ability to connect emotionally. In a quiet, “small” scene, which soaps are famous for, Laura thanked Tracy for being there for her daughter when she couldn’t be.
In a gesture that may or may not have been scripted, Tracy lovingly reached out to wipe Laura’s tears away. This was a heartfelt, wonderful moment in which two Daytime Award-winning actresses showed why they are the best in the business.
3. Cynthia Watros and Maura West, GH
Breakups on soaps are painful for characters, but viewers love to see the drama and pathos unfold. Once upon a time, Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) walked into a bar in Nixon Falls and met a man named Mike, who was really Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). They fell in love and made a future together even after Sonny got his memory back.
The relationship thrived in Nixon Falls, but it couldn’t survive in Port Charles. The couple split. For Nina, the loss was doubled. She not only lost the man she loved but, along the way, she was betrayed by on-again/off-again BFF Ava Jerome, who reformed an allegiance with Sonny for the sake of their daughter, Avery.
“We both understand how the world works. He doesn’t have to explain things to me,” West’s Ava informed Nina, who then signed her divorce papers. “Sonny’s all yours,” a resigned Nina said, handing the papers to her rival. West had Ava play both sympathy for Nina and relief that she was in a better position with Sonny as she exited.
In a clever choice, the director shot up from below Nina’s glass desk top as we watched her take her rings off, emphasizing, perhaps, how Nina felt trapped.
2. Peter Bergman and Melody Thomas Scott, Y&R
If Jack and Nikki’s child had survived all those years ago, the two characters might still be together. But her destiny, of course, was with Victor (Eric Braeden) while Jack’s ended up being with Diane (Susan Walters). Still, there’s no denying that Jack and Nikki share a friendship.
It goes even deeper than that, however. Jack was horrified to find out that Nikki had fallen off the wagon as a result of her ordeal with Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk). Nikki was getting bombed in a hotel suite at the Genoa City Athletic Club. Jack tried to reason with Nikki, using both logic and passion to get her to stop. When that didn’t work, Jack joined his ex in getting liquored up. But as pills – not booze – were his choice of poison, Jack called up an ex-dealer and ordered some drugs so he could join Nikki on her little trip. Was he actually going to endanger his own health? Bergman had us on the edge of our seats wondering what Jack was going to do next!
Nikki suggested to Jack that the old “reverse psychology” ruse wasn’t going to work, but then, Jack took things a step further and downed some pills with some booze, endangering his own life in an effort to show Nikki how destructive she was being.
That prompted Nikki to put Jack’s safety ahead of her own desires. His sacrifice worked but the move came at a cost: Jack lost Diane’s trust as he was willing to put Nikki’s welfare before his own.
Jack and Nikki aren’t a couple anymore but Bergman and Thomas Scott reminded us that their on-screen dynamic is one of Y&R’s deepest bonds.
1. Susan Seaforth Hayes, DAYS
It’s been said that soap opera fans regard characters on daytime dramas like family members. That’s certainly true when it comes to how viewers feel about fan-friendly, fan favorites Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes, beloved as Doug and Julie Williams on DAYS.
The show wrote Doug’s passing into the storyline following Hayes’s death in January 2024. In a case of art imitating life, Julie eulogized Doug in November as Seaforth Hayes had honored her husband earlier this year. “The Look of Love – Doug Williams had it and made the world shine with it, especially when he looked at us,” Julie began her eulogy, referring to the couple’s love song (“The Look of Love”), harkening back to when soaps played romantic songs on the air almost weekly.
With great love, Julie continued to reveal details about Doug’s life, his accomplishments, challenges, how he treated every stranger as a potential friend, and so much more – especially the couple’s epic love story. Some of these details in Doug’s life were taken from Bill’s.
However, it would be a disservice to Seaforth Hayes’s acting ability to say that she was merely recreating the profound loss she endured in real life when she played Julie’s tribute to Doug. The Daytime Emmy nominee and Lifetime Award recipient delivered a heartfelt homily that not only honored Doug Williams, the love of Julie’s life, but also helped bring closure to the legion of fans who loved and admired his portrayer, Bill Hayes.
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