DAYS Exclusive: Carson Boatman And Dan Feuerriegel On The Johnny/EJ Rift
Past Tense: Johnny (Carson Boatman, l.) can neither forgive nor forget what his father, EJ (Dan Feuerriegel), did to his mother, Sami.
EJ and Johnny are at a critical impasse on Days of Our Lives. Once close, the relationship between this father and son shattered to pieces after Johnny discovered that EJ raped his mother and came to the horrific realization that he was conceived during the attack. While EJ is desperate to find a way to set things right with his son, Johnny remains cold, unwavering and filled with animosity toward his dad.
Father vs. Son
Will the pair ever be able to make amends, let alone find common ground? According to Carson Boatman (Johnny), the answer is a resounding “no” — at least at the moment. “As far as Johnny’s concerned, he has had every conversation he ever needs to have with his dad,” sums up Boatman. “He doesn’t see a reason to be involved with him any longer after discovering this horrible, heinous act that he committed against his mother. And forgiveness is kind of just really not on the docket at this point in time.”
While Johnny firmly believes there’s no coming back from this, EJ is just as determined that he and his son attempt to find a way to get past their discord and resolve things between them, no matter how difficult the task. “Absolutely. What kind of a father wouldn’t be that way?” poses Dan Feuerriegel (EJ). “If EJ was like, ‘All right, sh*t happens’ and just walked away, then he doesn’t really care about his son. So I think EJ is like, ‘No, I’m not [going away].’ We all know that EJ is determined to get his way. He’s going to do everything he possibly can to get his son back. If he does everything he possibly can and it doesn’t work… Well, then that’s that.”
EJ recently made his first attempt to right things with Johnny, to no avail. After listening to his father for a few short minutes and rebuffing his request to move back into the DiMera mansion, Johnny tossed him out on his ear. So what’s the next step for EJ?
Feuerriegel doesn’t believe his character has a definitive plan on how to remedy the horrendous situation. “For the most part, I think EJ is flying by the seat of his pants,” the actor observes. “I’m sure he has got a little bit of a game plan, not necessarily with Johnny, but with the other characters. At this point, there’s really nothing that he can do or say except to go and attack the people that told Johnny [this secret] and maybe prevent something more from getting out…. He’s kind of going on this weird revenge campaign, you know what I mean? He’s taking his medicine and he’s taking his accountability for what happened, but then he’s like, ‘All right, well, if I’m the one that’s going to take [the fall], then I’m going to go around to all the other people who played a role in this, too.’ ”
Case in point: His rant at Kate. Notes Feuerriegel. “When he went and saw Kate, he was like, ‘Why did you tell my son? You didn’t have to tell my son. That was none of your concern. That was none of your business.’ And then he starts to suspect, ‘Oh. You did this because you want to get at me, so you’re attacking my son to get at me.’ Well, if you are going to do that to EJ, then he’s going to do the same back to you. And it just becomes like an eye-for-an-eye situation.”
Conversation
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