Soap Opera Weekly, 10/29/02
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David Andrew Macdonald (Edmund, Guiding Light)
Outstanding Performer For The Week of Sept. 30

As the death of his brother forced Edmund to acknowledge his conscience and mull the life choices he's made, David Andrew Macdonald brilliantly illuminated his character's predatory true nature.
The week began with Edmund castigating Reva for standing between Cassie and the cash she (and he) needs. His lower jaw jutting, contempt dripped from Macdonald's icy tongue. But his indignity quickly changed when he found Richard's living will--Macdonald's jaw literally dropped.
To communicate the impact of his find, Edmund disguised his voice--Macdonald cleverly dropped his phony British accent and spoke his native American patois--which was a brilliant move, laudable for its effectiveness and in-jokiness. Edmund realized that his desire for revenge was trumped by Richard's wishes.
When he confronted Cassie about the royal papers, he was reasonable, his voice practically a whisper. After Cassie dismissed him, the idea of unveiling the will hung in the air; Edmund's lips struggled to form the words, his eyes darted. Cassie offered him a chance to reform--here was his chance! "Who would I be?" Cassie replied, "A true prince," and Edmund was speechless. He could barely blink, sputtering as he tried to muster enough anger to cover his realization that he is no prince.

At the courthouse, Macdonald squinted at Reva: How unfathomable that she would be willing to sacrifice her own happiness in favor of her sibling's. Edmund dismissed her as a "paragon of virtue"--something he never was, and could never be.
Later, with Carmen, Edmund stared at Richard's will as if it were radioactive and called it his "conscience." No wonder he seemed not to recognize it! Macdonald showed us Edmund was as aghast at the idea of his own vulnerability as he was to the existence of the will. And he couldn't allow his conscience to stand in his way.
After relating the fable of the scorpion and the frog, Edmund repeated its moral, "It's my nature," in his familiar clipped tone--and coldly torched the will. At first, Edmund wasn't sure who he was. By week's end, we all knew.