It’s been quite some time since DAYS’ Matthew Ashford was given material meaty enough to sink his teeth into…but once it indeed came his way, rest assured that Ashford rose to the occasion and deftly earned Soap Hub’s Performer of the Week honors.
Matthew Ashford — Performer of the Week
In his earliest scenes, Ashford played a man wound so tight that a hand placed on his shoulder nearly resulted in him hitting the ceiling. Once Jack Deveraux realized that Xander Cook (Paul Telfer) was merely attempting to get his attention, he put on the charm and presented as if nothing was the matter…until it was.
At first, Ashford was engaged and hanging on Xander’s every word, and then he allowed his eyes to wander and then glaze over; he made it clear that Jack was somewhere else, thinking about someone and something else. When Xander intruded on his lassitude, Ashford/Jack declared, really rather nonchalantly, “I think Jennifer’s the one who hit Gwen.”
Now, believing that one’s wife struck one’s daughter with her car and left her for dead — and outside the police station no less — would cause any man to blanche, but Jack had further worries, like Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart) and his effort to blackmail Gwen’s (Emily O’Brien) pops in order to hush up what Jennifer did.
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In quick succession, Ashford steered Jack from incredulous surprise — what was Leo doing darkening the home in which he resided? — to steely determination not to tip his hand, to outright vexation — “It was an accident,” Jack bellowed when Leo implied otherwise — and downright menacing.
After Jack made short work of the blackmailing creep — “Get the Hell out of here! NOW! OUT!” –Ashford turned his attention to what would be his best scene of the week — saying goodbye to Jack’s beloved Jennifer Rose (Cady McClain).
When Jennifer informed her husband that she didn’t want him to accompany her to the rehab facility she’d booked, Matthew Ashford looked as if he’d been punched in the gut — but Jack understood, and he acquiesced. Still, he followed Jennifer’s route from the house to her brother’s waiting car via the living room window, Ashford’s eye’s telegraphing a tsunami of love and regrets for past actions and hope for the near future.
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