Ridge has dumped Taylor for Brooke on numerous occasions, but this most recent breakup was the first one played by Rebecca Budig, who assumed the role of the Bold and the Beautiful psychiatrist a little over a year ago.
Budig both incorporated Taylor’s long history with Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) and Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and put her own unique spin on Taylor taking a backseat to that darn destiny Ridge and Brooke always end up re-embracing. For her understated and vulnerable performance, TV Insider is honoring Budig with Daytime Performer of the Week honors.
Ironically, Taylor and Ridge’s breakup scenes took place in the guest house on the Forrester estate where they once lived as man and wife. Taking Brooke’s near-death experience in Naples, Italy, as a sign they were destined to be together, Ridge informed Taylor that he couldn’t marry her.
He said it hurt because he loved her. “But you love Brooke…more,” Taylor said almost as if she were replaying a bad dream. “Is that what you’re saying, Ridge? Brooke’s the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with — not me.”
Budig played these scenes as a woman losing the man she loved (again) and also as a psychiatrist. On one hand, her heart was breaking. On the other, she saw Ridge as a friend or even a former patient, hoping to keep him from walking down a path that hasn’t always brought him happiness.
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Taylor asked Ridge not to let what happened in Italy tear them apart, not just for herself, but for Ridge, too. As objective as she can be, Taylor doesn’t believe that Brooke is the right woman for Ridge.
A lesser actress might have resorted to name-calling, shouting, fist-pounding on her leading man’s chest, and other histrionics, but Budig had Taylor employ passionate reason to try to point out to Ridge why they were so good together. “No, I won’t let you do that, Ridge,” Taylor emphatically stated.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” Taylor continued. “You think you can let me down easy. I’ll shed a few tears before sending you back to Brooke, but that’s not what’s going down this time. I’m not letting you fall for Brooke again. Her ridiculous hold on you comes to an end — today.”
Of course, the more time that passed, the more Taylor had to grasp the reality that, as a woman, she was once again losing the man she loved. But it wasn’t an instant process. “I’m not going to stand here and watch her ruin your life again. I’m not just some life raft between your shipwrecks with Brooke,” Taylor proclaimed.
While her initial response was to analyze the situation, Budig had Taylor grow more emotionally attached to her stance. “You and Brooke don’t ever last,” Taylor reminded Ridge.
Ridge said he didn’t expect Taylor to understand his decision. Actually, she does because Taylor has been through this time and time again. In fact, Taylor, perhaps, understands the situation even better than Ridge.
Budig had Taylor let out a breath of acceptance as she came to the conclusion that there was no fighting the tidal wave of destiny that came crashing into her life once again. Rather than slap Ridge, as a different character might have done, Taylor embraced her ex, wishing him well. She chose to focus on the love that remains, not the love that Ridge was taking away from her.
“I’ll be fine,” Taylor said, her eyes welling up with tears. “As painful as this is, I’m thankful, actually, for the time that we’ve had together.”
But make no mistake – the breakup was heart-wrenching for Taylor. “I think in the back of my mind I always knew this was coming,” said a resigned Taylor, hastening to add with just a smidge of bitterness in her tone, “Guess Brooke is your destiny after all.”
Later, Taylor had to break the news to her and Ridge’s son, Thomas (Matthew Atkinson), that the remarriage between his parents was off. Budig embraced her character’s role not as a woman or a therapist but as a mother. Her goal was to calm her son and not make him hate his father for the breakup.
Taylor put her own feelings aside as she tried to shield Thomas from knowing whether it was her or his father that broke things off. Budig walked the perfect line of masking Taylor’s pain while trying to support her son. “I will get through this, Thomas,” Taylor assured her son. “I swear. I am a very strong and capable woman.”
Taylor promised Thomas she’d be fine — in fact, better than fine. We look forward to seeing what journey the talented Budig takes Taylor on next. After all, living well, they say, is the best revenge!
The Bold and the Beautiful, Weekdays, CBS