Performer of the Week - Michael E. Knight (Tad, All My Children)

Your average person has never encountered an evil twin -- back-from-the-dead or otherwise. But we all know at least a little something about disease, financial woes and soured love affairs. And we have a pretty good idea how we'd react to such domestic dramas. So when soaps leave the realm of the fantastic and focus on real-life crises, an authentic portrayal is essential.

Take Michael E. Knight's composed performance during Dixie's miscarriage on ALL MY CHILDREN. In the midst of highly dramatic scenes, Knight lent the proceedings a stark reality. While some actors choose to shriek and gnash teeth when disaster strikes, Knight portrayed Tad's grief over his and Dixie's dead child just by being eerily numb.

Clearly, the script dictated that Tad's reaction to the miscarriage would appear somewhat detached, but Knight's haunted performance went beyond words on a page. Tad's quiet suffering was evident in the forlorn look in Knight's eyes, the weary sighs between his lines, in his fidgeting, the way he nervously rubbed his neck. Knight took even the simplest line and made it tragic. When Dr. Joe inquired about his daughter-in-law, Tad answered simply, "She's ... it's hard, Dad." Those four little words were filled with so much anguish, as Knight swallowed, struggled to get the words out and dropped his head. That routine exchange conveyed more angst than all the over-the-top histrionics ever could.

In these scenes (well, very day, really), Knight proves that less is truly more.

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