Gold Star

Kimberly McCullough is this issue's standout performer

From the moment GENERAL HOSPITAL’S Kimberly McCullough (Robin) popped up on our TV screens, she won our hearts. She was just a tiny thing, a very old soul in a 7-year-old’s body. When she stepped away from GH, to quote the truism, her absence made our hearts grow even fonder. Robin is all grown up now. She’s the respected, strong doctor who takes guff from no one, the guarded HIV-positive woman with a hardened heart, and the hurt little girl whose parents abandoned her to save the world.

Dr. McDreamy
Patrick Drake has presented Robin with a great dilemma. He’s everything she hates in a man – arrogant, non-committal, self-absorbed – but also everything she wants – handsome, successful, and willing to go to any length to save a patient’s life. This conflict terrifies her…and it shows. When she feels a tug at her heart-strings, she immediately recoils, protecting herself from what she’s certain will result in disappointment and pain. The wall comes up, locking others out. She buries herself in work and hides behind her sarcastic humor so as not to hear herself crying inside. She thought she had it all under control. Then she med Patrick, and her father, Robert, returned from the dead. Life couldn’t get any more challenging.

Daddy Issues
Robin was just 12 when she believed her father was killed in an explosion. Fifteen years later, nothing he could say could make up for that feeling of being discarded. There was no way she could hide her disdain for him. “If you wanted to see me, you would’ve found a way,” she said, as her eyes teared up, but refused to shed a drop. “You could’ve reached me just to tell me that you were alive. But you didn’t. Your almighty job was the perfect cover-up for the fact that you didn’t care enough to reach out to me.” Her voice wasn’t angry, per se, just determined not to let her inner child get the best of her.

McCullough is a rare breed. Sure, we watched her grow up before our eyes, which, in itself, puts a sentimental smile on our faces. However, it’s the actor that she has evolved into that really blows us away. She has given Robin so many levels and dimensions that she seems real, not a character that was manufactured in a writers’ meeting. She occupies her alter ego with ease, having grown perfectly together. She has made Robin an “every woman” whom we can all identify with in some way.

| Close window to return home |

This article belongs to the author and the magazine it was published in, no copyright infringement is intended.
The Romantic Garden's Site : Karma was created, designed, and is maintained by Heather.
Copyright © The RG Site 1998. All rights reserved.