Exclusive: John-Paul Lavoisier On Settling Back In To DAYS As Philip

John-Paul Lavoisier is in the throes of his third run as Days of Our Lives’s Philip Kiriakis, the scheming son of Kate and the late Victor, who’s a man on a mission to snag his share of his father’s fortune. The actor, who originally played the part from 2015 to 2016 and popped back up again in 2023 before returning in 2024, chatted with Soap Opera Digest about Philip’s calculated game plan and making the crafty character his own.

 

Soap Opera Digest: What was your reaction when DAYS asked you to come back as Philip?

John-Paul Lavoisier: My initial reaction is always flattered and excited that I’m wanted and being thought about for something. It’s a big world. For somebody to call me and consider me is nice, because there’s 8 billion of us out there, I’m not the only one. So there’s that element. But then the artistic side of me gets immediately overwhelmed because I know it’s going to be a lot of work and a new gear to shift into. Daytime tends to be a lot of material with a very short amount of time to do it. So I get nervous. Can I still do it? Can I get up at 5 a.m., be in the building with 30 pages of dialogue in my head at 7 a.m., and trust myself to do a good job? But then you get back into the swing of it and all of a sudden you’re like, “Oh yeah. I’ve done this, and I can do this.”

Digest: Is your return open-ended?

Lavoisier: I don’t know how long I’m back for. When I got the call last February, I did know that there was going to be a lot more meat on the bone. I knew that there was going to be quite a bit of substance to [the material]. There was definitely going to be a lot more waves this time. I’m there as needed and wanted. It’s actually exciting because with each script there’s the excitement of, “What’s happening and is there going to be still something happening?” So it’s like living on the wire, and it’s kind of fun.

Digest: Philip’s returned with a sneaky scheme, using a forged letter from Vivian to challenge Xander’s inheritance. Does he feel justified in what he’s doing and entitled to a piece of the pie?

Lavoisier: Yeah. He’s Victor’s son. He believes it’s what Victor would’ve wanted. It just didn’t happen in print. It’s something that should have happened, but didn’t technically happen because of the ink not being dry on paper. So Philip has to go in the side door, so to speak.

Digest: And Vivian has helped push him through that door.

Lavoisier: Vivian coaxed him while he was in the mental institution. She was like, “Oh, wait a second. Let’s do this.” Philip was kind of used and taken advantage of because of his mental state and being where he was. But Vivian explained [her concept for the plan], and she was a good saleswoman of the idea. She roped him in, and he went along. Regardless of his mental illness, it still made sense to him. “This is my dad, and I am my dad’s son way more than Xander. [Being left out of Victor’s will was] an oversight.”

Digest: Philip was played by Jay Kenneth Johnson for many years. How have you handled taking the role over?

Lavoisier: I purposefully have not watched previous Philips. Every now and then I’ll accidentally come across a still shot, and I’m always like, “Oh, I don’t want to know too much.” My own self-inflicted criteria is I don’t want to know. I don’t want to compare myself, and I don’t want to run the risk of other people comparing me to him when we’re in the scenes. So the less I know, the better. I don’t want anything in my way… I don’t want any unnecessary clutter that could disrupt my performance. I think by knowing previous Philips’ stuff, I run that risk.

Digest: Do you feel that you’ve made the character your own?

Lavoisier: I suppose I have. We do a rehearsal and then we tape. I always try to duplicate whatever I do in a rehearsal, so I can show the producers and everybody in the booth what is going to be taped. I do my song and dance and everything I’ve prepared, and then they can adjust it. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I haven’t heard that anybody disagrees with what I’m doing too much. I’m assuming that I have made Philip my own the right way, because I haven’t received any major adjustments.

Digest: Philip has evolved into a shady and devious character. Do you like playing that?

Lavoisier: It’s a fine line. It’s a tough balance. I find that playing shady, devious and cunning can be a little bit more interesting to play and to watch. That’s not an excuse to say that if you’re just a good guy, you shouldn’t still be interesting. I just find that it’s more fun to play that conniving little twerp sometimes. I always do my best and commit. But sometimes if I’m playing too good of a guy, just the straight romantic [hero] or the friend… If it’s too simple, I sometimes fear that I’m being boring and I’m not being as creative and as interesting as I should be as an employee hired to play a part. I owe it to the audience and to the employer to be interesting and to bring something to the table.

Sibling Rivalry: Lavoisier’s Philip is in pursuit of the fortune Victor bequeathed to surprise half brother Xander (Paul Telfer).