DAYS Star Eric Martsolf Shares How His Late Mother Would Have Felt About His Daytime Emmy Nomination

Eric Martsolf, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Brady Black on Days of our Lives, was already feeling emotional when he learned he was up for the accolade. The actor tells Soap Hub he was dealing with a personal family matter, so the good news affected him even more than if it had been relayed on another day.

Family Ties

“I’m up in Northern Michigan,” Martsolf said in a phone interview with Soap Hub shortly after news of his nomination was announced. “I met my brother up here. We had to ‘de-personalize’ our family’s cottage that we inherited [from our late parents].”

Martsolf says that he’d been going to that cabin since before he was born. “This was a day that was already heavy on my heart as we are preparing to sell it,” he adds, “I walked out of the cottage today and a piece of me went with it.”

The actor and his brother were having lunch, sharing emotional stories about their family when the DAYS star got word he’d been nominated along with Bold and the Beautiful actors John McCook (Eric), Scott Clifton (Liam), and Thorsten Kaye (Ridge), and Young and the Restless‘ Eric Braeden (Victor).

“It was such a wonderful way to end the day with this beautiful smile,” Martsolf says. “I couldn’t help but feel it was as if my mom and dad were placing their hands on my shoulder,” he says. “It was as if they were saying, ‘Everything is okay.’ It was a special day of ups and downs.”

Martsolf notes that you can never plan for such moments. “Sometimes, that’s the way life works,” he says. “Life throws you a curveball and then, you hit a home run.”

Let’s Go to the Tape

The actor’s nominated reel includes scenes of Brady battling Kristen (Stacy Haiduk) yet again over their daughter, Rachel (Finley Rose Slater). “Brady’s ready to crack,” Martsolf says “Stacy is just as strong in this reel. She deserves so much credit.” Check out Soap Hub‘s article on these scenes, which named Martsolf as our Performer of the Week for DAYS.

“I’m at a point in my life where I’m getting to portray things that are close to home,” the father of twin sons says. “The idea of losing your child is tormenting. It’s been easy for me to tap into the love [Brady has] for his daughter. [Finley] is a spitfire! I look into her eyes and see all this vulnerability. As a parent, you just gravitate to it.”

Martsolf already has a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, which he won a decade ago. Does having a “Golden Girl” at home lessen the butterflies he’ll feel walking into the ceremony in June?

“That’s a really good question,” he says. “How do I answer that? [Beat.] I am silly grateful for this nomination. I don’t think [my past win] takes away from this moment. You tend to look at life once you’ve been through ordeals and you value what’s really important.”

Martsolf says his late mother would have loved the thought of her son being nominated alongside her favorite soap opera star — Braeden. “When I would fake being sick to stay home from school, my mother would say, ‘You can stay home — but we’re watching my Y&R!’ Her favorite was Victor Newman,” Martsolf reveals. “The first thought that came into my mind when I learned that [Braeden] was also nominated is that my mom would have loved that. I’m sick in my heart that she’s not here today to see that he and I are going up for the same trophy. That’s the circle of life.”