John-Paul Lavoisier Dishes His Return to DAYS
When he first heard the news of John Aniston’s passing, John-Paul Lavoisier wondered if DAYS OF OUR LIVES would possibly reach out to have him reprise the role of Victor’s son, Philip Kiriakis. And sure enough, they did, with the actor having returned in the Aug. 28 episode of the soap.
“I woke up to missed calls, text messages, and an E-mail on Thursday, March 9,” he confided to Soap Opera Digest. “And I was on set Monday, March 13. I was incredibly shocked and flattered that I was being considered to be an employee of the show again, because the last time I was there they let me go.”
Lavoisier had previously played Philip from December 2015 through December 2016. The last time the character was seen on screen was back in 2021 when he faked his death and was being played by Jay Kenneth Johnson. Soap fans might also remember Lavoisier from his 1999-2012 run as Rex Balsom on ABC sudser ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
Of course, having to report to work at the DAYS set so quickly meant that the actor couldn’t prepare and research Philip’s recent history as much as he would have liked. “The preparation just sort of happened live each day, when I was running lines with my co-stars,” Lavoisier admitted. “I remember filming a scene one day with Nadia [Bjorlin, Chloe] and Paul Telfer (Xander). Right before we started, I thought, ‘Wait a second. I don’t know how much I hate Xander.’ I looked at Paul and said, ‘How much do I hate you on a scale of one to 10?’ He said, ‘We don’t like each other. About a seven.’ I wanted to know how much fuel should be in my fire.”
While he would be more than happy to come back to DAYS full-time, Lavoisier’s current run as Philip will be brief. Though it was originally supposed to be even briefer. “The initial call was, ‘Hey, can you be here for five shows next week?’” he revealed. “Then three more shows trickled in, then two more shows. Before I knew it I was doing 13 shows in three weeks. It was fast, full, and fun. I got very lucky. I was very pleased with the stuff they gave me.”
So stay tuned to DAYS to see all the drama Philip gets mixed up in this time around and keep checking back here at SoapsInDepth.com for future casting updates!
