Replacing a beloved actor is no easy feat…and neither is replacing the actor who replaced you after you previously replaced them. (Got all that?) John-Paul Lavoisier found himself in such an unenviable position (really a soap opera in and of itself) upon his return to DAYS, and he performed his duties most admirably.
John-Paul Lavoisier — Performer of the Week
When co-star Nadia Bjorlin AKA Chloe Lane opened the door to him and reacted in abject shock — his Philip Kiriakis has been presumed dead for nearly a year — Lavoisier deployed a low-key, almost comforting energy in an attempt to put her at ease.
When he declared that what she was seeing was indeed real and that he was alive and had returned to her, Lavoisier did so in a disarming but not alarmingly direct way. It was just a fact being stated. And when he bid her touch him to prove it to herself, there was no tomcat foolishness, no overt playfulness. Just an attempt to settle the matter and move on from there.
Once Chloe had gotten her hand on Philip and passed out and been revived, it was up to Lavoisier to vomit up a whole lot of exposition — namely how he’d faked his death and purposefully framed Brady (Eric Martsolf) for his “murder” due to his psychotic jealousy.
Lavoisier then ran a gauntlet of emotions as he reacted to Chloe’s fury and flurry of insults and incredulousness. There was contriteness in the face of having his multitude of sins thrown up at him. Irritation at the continued onslaught. Palpable injury when Chloe called his sanity into question.
Philip swore that he was better, a better man. A cured man. And thanks to John-Paul Lavoisier’s measured, controlled, relatable performance he had us (or, at least the vast majority of us) wholly convinced.
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