Guiding Light’s Tom Pelphrey: Capturing the Hearts of Soap Fans
When Tom Pelphrey first appeared onscreen he portrayed a troublemaker who offered to sell drugs to a rich Springfield teen in exchange for an introduction to another teenager, Tammy Winslow. After meeting her, the character of JB began seducing her as viewers began to put the pieces together and realized who this character really was. It was later released that character of JB was actually the long lost son of Reva Lewis, played by the experienced Kim Zimmer, who was also Tammy’s aunt.
In a move that was incredibly daring, CBS went as far as to have Tom Pelphrey’s character take the virginity of Tammy Winslow, his unsuspecting cousin. In a move that could have been suicidal for the popularity of the character, it actually intrigued fans and had them interested in what may occur next. The true ability of Tom Pelphrey acting began shining as his mother learned of his unforgivable actions. The character blamed his mother for everything that had occurred in his trouble life and admitted that he bedded his cousin to get revenge on her.
Tom Pelphrey’s character is a troubled teen who lead a tragic life with an abusive adoptive father, who was presumed dead. In short, it was recently discovered that his adopted father is alive, living in the same town, and is after his mother.
Since Tom Pelphrey joined the cast of Guiding Lights fans have raved of his acting abilities and in the past few weeks has taken everyone to new levels. Pelphrey is able to play a confused character and has incredible skills that allows him to try and cause unbearable pain for someone close to him, bed another woman and even partake in her schemes, deal with his childhood abuse, let his guard down, show emotion, and fall in love all – in one hour.
This actor has such raw emotion that is rarely seen on some daytime soaps anymore. Tom Pelphrey makes the viewers feel as if they are in the same exact same situation with him. For example, the character, now known as Jonathon, has experienced the returned of his abusive father and is hiding it from everyone. The emotion in the scenes between these two is absolutely amazing.
In addition, the week of June 27, 2005 contained a scene where Tom Pelphrey’s character taunts his mother with a knife and then turned it on himself. He started screaming at her, asking her if she would love him if he were to cut his hair and look similar to her other son and begins to cry. This scene was preformed with veteran actress Kim Zimmer. Zimmer is often viewed as being in a league all of her own; however, it is apparent that Tom Pelphrey can play ball. It is hard to put an emotional scene like that into descriptive words; however, that moment had many Guiding Light viewers in tears. In reality the character just wants to belong to a family that will accept and care for him and many viewers can relate to that.
Tom Pelphrey’s character of Jonathon Randall is the “hot topic” among many soap opera viewers. In 2005, Pelphrey was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Younger Actor and although he did not win the award, it is apparent that career of this young actor is just beginning to heat up.
