Matthew Ashford on ‘Somber’ DAYS Return for John’s Funeral (Exclusive)
Matthew Ashford (Jack, above with Melissa Reeves, Jennifer) sums up his latest return to Days of Our Lives for the funeral of John Black, a plot turn prompted by late actor Drake Hogestyn’s grave health issues at the time and inability to continue in the popular role, in a way many might expect.
“It was somber at times,” reflects Ashford, noting that he’d been “concerned” about Hogestyn for a couple of years. “He’d hurt himself and had surgery… and I was just worried. The last time we worked together, he just looked entirely different. He was all tied up, and we were rescuing him, and he really did look tied up and beaten.”
Ashford realized “something was going on with” his co-star. “He was always so robustly healthy that when he wasn’t healthy, it was pretty clear,” explains Ashford, who later reached out to Hogestyn. “I said, ‘Hey, I want to come out and visit, see you and [your wife] Victoria.’ But Drake said he was busy, he had something going on.”
John Black’s Final Act
Eventually, Ashford found out the devastating news that Hogestyn had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He also learned about the show’s decision to kill off John and that there had been an open dialogue about it between the producers, head writers and Hogestyn himself. “Drake was part of the decision to have the storyline happen,” notes Ashford. “I think it was his way of saying, ‘I want John Black to ride off into the sunset and that it would be an honor to me to not recast him.’ So I saw it as them working with Drake, and Drake working with them and giving them his blessing to write this major story beat.
“Still, it was a very difficult thing,” continues Ashford. “Drake stayed as long as he could. Then when he couldn’t, he said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ And of all people to say, ‘I can’t do this,’ Drake would be the least likely. So it’s like hanging up his baseball jersey and saying, ‘This number will not be replaced. His John Black will never be replaced.’ ”
As fate would have it, it was only shortly after the shooting of John’s death was finished that Hogestyn passed away. Says Ashford. “I felt like Drake spoke. He said what he wanted to say, which was, ‘I’ve always put the show first. This is what was good for the show and that made it good for me.’ He was a good soldier and a team player all the way.”
Yet, for cast and crew, filming the scenes was not easy. “I kind of feel like everyone made the most of it they could,” remembers Ashford. “And there were beautiful scenes, just lovely things being done by so many people that were very sincere and honest. I watched Martha [Madison, Belle], and she was just wonderful. And, obviously, so was Dee [Hall, Marlena]. I was watching the show [on the monitor] in the makeup room or from somewhere off stage, just watching what people were doing. When things are really good, you see it. Everybody was going through so much and just realizing this was a big chapter in the book of Days of Our Lives.”
Among the moments that stood out for Ashford was a monologue delivered by Eric Martsolf (Brady). “They gave Eric the chance to speak, and they let him just basically do his imitation of Drake, which was Drake’s version of John Black,” shares Ashford. “That was what Drake was. That was his character. Those were his choices. It made it more real. I don’t think they rehearsed it. They just let Eric do it. They might’ve gotten some reaction shots during [the speech], but they kept [the camera] on Eric and he just did it; he did the whole thing nonstop. I think everyone needed a good laugh or that kind of sense [of release].”
Those Were The DAYS: Peter Reckell (Bo, l.), Hogestyn and Ashford in a scene from 2003.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Soap Opera Digest does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.