DAYS Exclusive: Eric Martsolf On Brady’s Wild Child, Rachel: ‘Enough Is Enough’

What Schemes May Come: Brady (Eric Martsolf) has his hands full with crafty Rachel (Finley Rose Slater).

The troubles with Rachel — the manipulative child who’ll do anything to get her parents back together – has reached a new high (or is that a new low?) on Days of our Lives. After weeks of sending threatening texts to her father’s new girlfriend, Ava, Rachel has upped her game by running away. What better way to get Brady and Kristen’s attention and throw them together for a common cause? Eric Martsolf (Brady) discussed his exasperating TV daughter, the root of her problems and Brady’s concerns regarding his missing little girl with Soap Opera Digest.

Soap Opera Digest: Rachel’s been a pistol for years, but she’s escalated to a new level of late.

Eric Martsolf: She’s coming into her own. Now she’s starting to cultivate these little schemes on her own. And, of course, the level of concern between Brady and Kristen is Code Red. Brady and Kristen see the shining examples of both of them — and not their best moments — coming out. She’s definitely their daughter.

Digest: In my view, it’s really more Kristen’s influence that we’re seeing. Or do you blame Brady for Rachel’s bad behavior, too?

Martsolf: Listen, a lot of people get some big forgiveness cards in this town. Kristen always seems to get the shorter end of the stick. She always seems to be persecuted for her wrongdoing. Brady does seem to slide once in a while. I mean, [not too long ago] he was in the DiMera mansion pointing a gun into Kristen’s belly. So he’s not innocent in all this. And he did bury Vivian Alamain alive.

Digest: That was my favorite Brady story.

Martsolf: Me, too. It was my favorite. I hope it happens again. That’s what needs to be remembered. Brady and Kristen are both culpable.

Digest: When Brady told Ava that Rachel was the one sending her texts, she suggested not seeing each other anymore, but he was against it. Why? Is he hopeful that he might finally be en route to having a successful relationship?

Martsolf: Sure. We all know Brady Black is unlucky in love. That’s going to be written on his epitaph if things don’t change soon. But this was very reminiscent of what happened with Chloe. Brady and Chloe were trying to rekindle their relationship, and Rachel got in the way. Chloe essentially decided that Brady’s relationship with his daughter was more important. Rachel didn’t want them to be together, and Chloe wasn’t going to come between Brady and his daughter. That’s what threw Chloe into Xander’s arms after a little while. So this is a rinse and repeat for Brady, and he really doesn’t want to keep sacrificing potential love just because his daughter doesn’t like it. I don’t think that’s his style of parenting. He’s loyal to his daughter’s needs, but enough is enough. She has to understand that her father has needs, too. That’s why he said, “Please, Ava, let’s continue this.”

Digest: And kowtowing to Rachel only encourages her bad behavior. If every time she does something like this she gets her way, then why stop? It keeps working.

Martsolf: Exactly. That’s a great point. It’s reinforcing the behavior. She’s literally being rewarded for it and realizing that, “Oh, I can do whatever the hell I want.” And that’s a very DiMera way of thinking.

Digest: What’s Brady’s level of worry when Kristen tells him that Rachel has run away?

Martsolf: A kid “running away” is not necessarily an abnormal thing. That’s something kids do. They’ll make it halfway down the neighborhood street, turn around and realize it’s not a good idea. However, this is a different kind of child. I think the show is prepping this girl to be a force to be reckoned with. Brady and Kristen both are aware of how cunning she is, and when she sets her mind on something, much like her parents, she follows through. So as far as Brady is concerned, he knows that Rachel would have the resources and the capability of getting as far away as she wants. The search could be endless at this point. So the concern is crazy. It’s paramount.

Digest: Do you ever give any thought to how you would handle a daughter or a son like Rachel in real life?

Martsolf: A thought? I can tell you point blank, not to this extreme, that this is life imitating art for me. I have boys [twins Chase and Mason, who will turn 19 in April] that are cunning and try to get away with things that they shouldn’t. There’s fibs and there’s tall tales. But thank God to technology like Life36; if they tell me they’re somewhere, I know whether they are or not. Apparently Salem doesn’t have the app Life360 at this point, but you can inevitably find out where someone is. You can track them. You can track people at this point. I just think it’s par for the course with having kids and especially teenagers. They just push boundaries and they want to see how far they can get away with things. Eric definitely has stricter boundaries [with his sons] than Brady does with his daughter.