Bold & Beautiful Exclusive: As Steffy Declares War, Kimberlin Brown Pleads Sheila’s Case, Insisting, ‘She’s Misunderstood!’

“Everything she does, she does for love.”

Although Sheila Carter has spent the past three decades terrorizing the citizens of two daytime dramas, that’s not exactly what portrayer Kimberlin Brown originally signed up for. “I was brought on The Young and the Restless to stir up trouble for some of the regulars for a couple months,” the Bold & Beautiful vet tells Soaps.com. “Somehow, three months turned into 30 years!”

The secret to the character’s success? Brown’s ability to let us experience Sheila’s emotions and, despite everything she’s done, even empathize with them. “An acting coach I work with taught me that we can convince ourselves of anything. I didn’t learn to think of something sad in my life to get to a sad place. I learned that I could put myself in that sad place by convincing myself that I’m sad. So in this case, I get to that evil place by convincing myself that I’m evil!”

After 30 years, Brown is able to slip into Sheila’s skin pretty easily and, just as importantly, leave the former nurse at the studio when the day is done. “There are times that I’ll have to hold on to her intensity through a lunch break, because I’ll need it when we get back to the set,” she explains. “But when we’re done shooting, I can switch her off.”

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So how has Sheila remained relevant all these years later? “I love when I hear from viewers who say that they actually feel sorry for her because she’s misunderstood,” says Brown. “A lot of other daytime villains are gone because there was really no sympathy for the horrible things they were doing, whereas in my mind, the story I’ve always tried to tell is that everything she does she does for love.”

It’s as simple and as complicated as that, Brown explains. “She’s never been given that love or even the chance, because whenever she’s gotten close, someone has gotten in the way, and that’s when she does the things that she does.”

Take, for example, her relationship with Eric Forrester. “He was an opportunity for a new start when she first arrived in Los Angeles from Genoa City,” Brown reflects. “She was going to start over, and here this incredibly powerful man fell in love with her for who she was. Stephanie had no interest in him until Sheila was interested in him! Along those same lines, [The Young and the Restless’] Lauren had no interest in [her husband] Scott until Sheila wanted him.”

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And therein lies the rub, says Brown. “It’s always been about a powerful family or a powerful woman denying Sheila her happiness. And I guess there came a point in her life where she wasn’t going to take it anymore! But she simply wanted to be loved, and my audience, people who really get Sheila, understand that. I get so many comments from people saying, ‘Why can’t anybody just let her be loved?’ And that’s exactly how Sheila feels. ‘Why can’t I just be happy?'”

This time around, the person standing in the way of Sheila’s happiness if Steffy. “She’s a big roadblock,” agrees Brown with a laugh. “A lot of the things that Steffy says remind Sheila of Stephanie. ‘You’ll never be a part of his life, you’ll never be a part of this family.’ If you could lay their images and voices on top of one another, you could hear those words coming out of either of their mouths. And of course, that’s very triggering for Sheila.”

Although history would indicate that Sheila can’t win against the all-powerful Forrester family, Brown says that the troublemaker doesn’t see things that way. “Sheila believes she can do anything! She just needs to deal with some of these roadblocks standing between her and what she truly believes she deserves, which in this case is a relationship with her son and grandson.”

As we wait to see just how far Finn’s mom will go to deal with “roadblocks” like daughter-in-law Steffy, join us in looking back at some of Sheila’s greatest “hits.” Then visit the comments section to tell us whether you agree with Brown that what her alter ego truly needs is a chance to love and be loved… or if you believe Sheila’s beyond the point of redemption!