Exclusive: DAYS’s Dan Feuerriegel On EJ’s Baby Daddy Drama

The baby Jude saga took another twist when EJ demanded the child be returned to his birth mother, Nicole (Arianne Zucker), despite knowing the truth about Eric (Greg Vaughan) being the tot’s biological father. Dan Feuerriegel (EJ) weighed in to Digest about the complicated plot, his character’s duplicity and the inevitable demise of “EJole.”

 

Digest: This storyline has had so many peaks. What has it been like playing them and trying to make each one better than the next?

Feuerriegel: It’s been a lot of fun, actually. It’s the first time I’ve had a very, very long arcing storyline. It’s been great to be able to really dig into it, to have a moment be influenced by previous moments. It’s been a really cool storyline, so I haven’t needed to make [each big twist] better than the last. I just have to make it as real and honest as I possibly can, whilst remembering my lines [laughs].

Digest: What stands out to you about the pivotal scenes where Eric handed over Jude to Nicole and EJ?

Feuerriegel: From what I remember in that moment, there was an element of, “Whoops.” Or, “That’s a sh–y thing of me to [make Eric] do, but I’m going to care about myself.” Obviously, I put on an act. I’m an actor pretending to be a guy who’s pretending to do something else. But it’s not an act when EJ sees how happy Nicole is. I had to play the whole thing like, “Oh my God, what? I did not know this! What the hell is going on?” And just kind of go from there.

Digest: Was it hard justifying EJ’s actions, specifically making Eric give up his own child?

Feuerriegel: No. There’s never been anything where I’d be like, “Oh God, that’s terrible.” I know it’s all pretend. And being able to play EJ for the amount of years that I’ve been able to play him, you get an idea of his mentality, which is, he will do whatever he can to win at any cost, regardless of who he runs over. It’s in his DNA. He was brought up that way.

Digest: The show finally cast a real baby for these scenes.

Feuerriegel: Yes, there were two of them, and they had different personalities. One baby was quiet, didn’t really do anything, just kind of chilled out and was happy. The other baby was a little bit more restless. I think you can tell when you watch it which baby is which. Ari [Zucker, Nicole] was the one that was with the baby most of the time, and she knows what she’s doing. She’s a phenomenal improviser. Whatever the baby did, she just interacted with the baby and was able to still do what she needed to do. I felt like I did the same. I probably didn’t have as much to do with the child, where I had to hold on and do all that sort of stuff, but Ari made that look easy.

Digest: Do you feel having a real baby to interact with added to the drama?

Feuerriegel: Absolutely, especially the introduction scene where Eric brings over the child. Because it’s a real baby, all of us automatically went into this mode of, “Oh my God. There’s a tiny little human being!” It 100% added to it.

Digest: Do you worry about EJ’s duplicity in all this eventually leading to the demise of EJ and Nicole?

Feuerriegel: Yeah, it [will be] devastating. I don’t think EJ sits still enough while it’s happening to marinate on the possibility of that, because he’s constantly in guard mode to protect the truth from coming out. He doesn’t sit down and go, “Oh, I hope this doesn’t happen.” He knows it could happen, and that’s why he is just putting all these eggs in this particular basket of covering it all up.

Digest: Have you enjoyed creating EJ and Nicole as a viable and popular couple with Arianne Zucker?

Feuerriegel: Oh, I’ve loved it. I’ve loved playing that, and Ari’s just the best. She’s so good to work with. She’s so easy to work with, and she’s amazing. So it was so easy in that regard.

Digest: Fans seem divided. Some really like EJ and Nicole together, while others want Nicole to reunite with Eric. Does it please you that they are torn?

Feuerriegel: Absolutely. That means I’ve done my job. It means Ari and I have done our job, and that’s what we needed to do.

Digest: Have you read any comments from fans about EJ and Nicole on social media or message boards?

Feuerriegel: I don’t go looking through that stuff too much. But from the few things that I have seen, a lot of people are like, “Oh my God. I really love EJole.” Or, “Oh my God. They’re doing so well.” So I’ve seen a few things here and there, and I really like that. It’s reassuring to know that you are doing your job as well as you can.

Digest: Of course, Sloan was part of the mix. What can you share about the experience of all working together as a quadrangle?

Feuerriegel: It was mainly the three of us – Ari, Greg [Vaughan, Eric] and me. I never really had that much to do with [Jessica Serfaty, ex-Sloan] until the baby element started coming into play. The only thing EJ would see is Nicole being somewhat jealous of [her], and so there were billion red flags from the very, very beginning. Mostly, the triangle has been Eric, EJ, and Nicole.

Digest: Anything else you’d like to add about having been part of this whole complex plot?

Feuerriegel: It’s been a phenomenal storyline, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to be a part of. I’ve loved doing the heavy lifting from time to time. I’ve loved [playing] the vulnerability. I’ve loved seeing a different side to EJ other than just being the villain. And it was a pleasure to work with Ari and Greg. They’re such fantastic people and fantastic actors that it was an honor.