Daytime TV Performer of the Week: ‘B&B’s Lawrence Saint-Victor Delivers a Tour de Force as Carter’s Lies Cause Him to Spiral

Carter Walton (Lawrence Saint-Victor) did some fast-thinking on The Bold and the Beautiful when he came up with the idea to have his and Steffy’s (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) baby (conceived in a night of intimacy between them when they thought their marriages were over) be explained away as her offering to be both surrogate and egg donor so that Carter and his wife, Daphne Rose (Murielle Hilaire), can have a baby.

While he’s remained focused on the plan to lie to everyone, Carter’s carefully constructed façade suffered some setbacks last week in a few private moments. Lawrence Saint-Victor delivered a tour de force as the Forrester COO felt both his personal and his professional lives falling apart.

For showing new dimensions to his character, TV Insider is bestowing Saint-Victor with our Performer of the Week for Daytime honors.

While Steffy and Finn (Tanner Novlan) were breaking the news to her parents, Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) and Taylor (Rebecca Budig), Carter was across town, letting his imagination run wild. Just by looking at Carter’s face, viewers could see that the man was trying to stop from snapping in half!

B&B effectively utilized the fantasy/nightmare scenario (as a secret comes to light) extremely well as Carter had a horrible dream that Ridge knew he had had sex with his daughter and ordered him out of Forrester Creations! Saint-Lawrence played panic, fear, loss, and shock all at once as Carter walked out of the CEO’s office and watched Ridge slam the door behind him. His deepest fear had come true.

Carter didn’t seem all that relieved when he woke up from his nightmare as it could still very well become a reality. When business at Forrester Creations continued around him, including a visit from RJ (Brayan Nicoletti) to talk about Electra’s (Laneya Grace) new line, Carter couldn’t handle it as he was deeply preoccupied with his entire world collapsing.

“I lost a great friend,” Carter told RJ about Zende (Delon de Metz) leaving the company, “and I don’t want to lose any more.”

The subtext was clear. Carter was gravely concerned about losing his job at Forrester, his wife, Daphne Rose , his friendship with Ridge, and, quite possibly, his unborn child.

CBS

Saint-Victor’s privy to some of the show’s writing as he’s one of the soap’s scribes, but he convincingly played Carter as not having a clue as to what was going on over at Steffy and Finn’s. Understandably, he paced around the office where his unborn child was conceived. Carter became agitated, dizzy, and discombobulated.

Director Cynthia J. Popp effectively used handheld cameras that were able to capture the emotional and physical vertigo that Carter was experiencing. The CEO office looked like it was spinning out of control, which was fitting given what Carter was thinking and feeling.

The panic that Saint-Victor brought to Carter’s face was heighted by the Hitchcockian camera angles and suspenseful music. Next, the attorney looked down at his phone and saw on his screen that Ridge was calling.

“Hey, man, what’s going on?” Carter casually asked his boss, not knowing if he’d learned the news, and if he did know, Carter was praying for the impossible — that Ridge took the development well.

Carter nearly collapsed (as Steffy actually was about to) when Ridge demanded that he get over to the Cliff house — stat!

Carter was interrupted by Daphne before he could follow his boss’ orders and drive to Steffy and Finn’s home. Saint-Lawrence walked the perfect line between Carter showing concern that Ridge and Taylor might not be thrilled about Steffy being a surrogate and not knowing if Steffy had confessed about their night of intimacy, a much more explosive scenario. He offered as little information to his wife as possible, knowing the slightest slip of the tongue could end his marriage.

Daphne Rose offered to go with her husband to see Ridge, but Carter strongly urged her to remain behind. When she refused to take no for an answer, Carter realized that if the truth was coming out, everyone was going to find out on the same day. Saint-Victor allowed a grim realization to wash across Carter’s face as he realized that, after today, his life might never be the same.

Related

Scott Clifton, Tamara Tunie & More Daytime Emmy Winners Take Us Inside Their Wins

When Carter and Daphne arrived at Steffy and Finn’s home, Ridge blasted Carter. Again, Saint-Victor walked the perfect line as Carter couldn’t instantly gauge what Ridge knew and what he didn’t.

Carter exchanged a look at with Steffy, hoping to read her mind; soon, it became clear that Ridge only knew of the surrogacy and egg donation — not Steffy and Carter’s night of passion.

However, Carter clearly is not off the hook as Ridge is demanding answers. Bravo to Saint-Victor for showing that Carter’s plan to save both his and Steffy’s respective marriages, and provide a child to Daphne, is now taking a great emotional toll on him as well!

The Bold and the Beautiful, Weekdays, CBS