‘Days of Our Lives’ Star Martha Madison on SoCal Wildfires and Drake Hogestyn Farewell (EXCLUSIVE)
The soap star shares how she’s helping fire victims—and why she’s loving her 40s and Belle’s drama!
As wildfires have been raging in Los Angeles and Southern California, Days of Our Lives star Martha Madison sits down with Woman’s World to reflect on the devastation and how she gets through life’s toughest challenges.
The soap opera vet who signed on to play Days of Our Lives’ Belle in 2004 also gets candid about her character’s latest divorce from Shawn, falling back into bed with E.J. and honoring onscreen father Drake Hogestyn and his character, John Black.
Martha Madison on the L.A. wildfires: ‘I want to punch somebody, so bad!’
Like many in Southern California, Days of Our Lives star Martha Madison feels grateful to be safe from the fires, yet crushed to see family and friends evacuated and losing their homes.
“I’m part of the collective shock,” she says. “I think the whole city feels the same way. No matter where you are, it’s hard to believe this happened. It’s just tragic.”
As fires continued to pop up, the danger came closer to home.
“The one up here near me in Castaic was very scary,” Madison says. “We were on pins and needles. And with that last one, I’ve just gotten so sick of the whole thing and just filled with rage. Bad things happening to such great people just seems so unfair. I want to punch somebody, so bad!”
How Martha Madison is helping people affected by the fires get back to work
Instead, Madison has thrown herself into the restaurant recruiting business she launched last year, The Madison Collective.
“Because so many restaurants and hotels were affected, we put the SOS out on LinkedIn, letting them know that anyone displaced by the fires and looking for a job and needing work should reach out to us,” she says. “And we’ve been fielding a lot of those calls.
“I found my footing during COVID, doing a lot of the same sort of crisis management work for people out of work during that time,” adds the entrepreneur who owned her own restaurant before she got into staffing. “It feels a little like a smaller version of that, here in LA. We have a lot of wonderful clients in LA that weren’t terribly affected by the fires, so we’re trying to move some chess pieces around.”
Madison has also found strength in the way the city has come together.
“The fact that all of the donation centers were full and turning volunteers away is such a testament to the kind of people that come live in LA,” she marvels. “They’re the grittiest people I know and that’s what it takes in a moment of crisis—you have to find the helpers and the people with the grit to keep going.”
Martha Madison reveals how she gets through crises—‘I’m a workaholic’
With grit to spare, Madison admits that one of her keys to coping with life’s tougher moments is to get to work.
“I’m a workaholic,” she explains. “I’m on that ADHD scale and can get spun out really easily, so the more focused I can be on a set of tasks, the better. Working is my main tool. I’m also a big fan of running and working out. Getting that energy out every day and staying on a disciplined schedule is how I manage. You should see my Google calendar!”
Balancing her role on Days of Our Lives with her recruiting business keeps her plenty busy—and she and her husband, AJ Gilbert, also have a little ray of sunshine to keep them smiling.
“Charlie, my 11 going on 40-year-old daughter, is just magic,” Madison grins. “I don’t understand her brain at all, but it’s phenomenal. She’s so smart and creative. She’s already writing a book series, has a whole painting room, and she animates and edits comedy videos. She has great timing and now she’s like, ‘Maybe tell me about this acting thing…’ She’s wild!”
‘Days’ star Martha Madison found her ‘independence, power, and creativity’ in her 40s
Before the fires shook Southern California, Madison, 47, reveals she was feeling on top of the world.
“My 30s, punctuated by two very major life events, was the worst decade of my life—with my 40th birthday probably being the worst day of my life,” she shares. “I’ve walked through a lot of the dark, fearful things and I’ve been fine. Now, life is amazing. I’m in the decade of fun, independence, power and creativity!”
She sees the same happening for her Days of Our Lives’s character, Belle—who has stepped into the role of Salem D.A. in the wake of her most recent divorce from Shawn.
“Not unlike me, the work really anchors Belle at this very uncertain time in her life,” Madison says. “It also helps her express her power. She hasn’t been a particularly powerful character, so she’s a middle-aged woman who’s finding her power for the first time.
“It’s not unlike what this last year has been for me, personally,” she adds. “Although my marriage is solid and wonderful, I’m also exploring a lot of those things in a professional sense, so we’re in sync right now.”
‘Days’ star Martha Madison reflects on Belle, Shawn and EJ
While her own marriage is tight, Shawn and Belle are on the outs again—and while this super couple’s tumultuous love story goes back to their teen scene years, Madison is not exactly mourning their latest breakup.
“I love Brandon Beemer, who’s one of my closest friends,” she says of Shawn’s portrayer, “and we both have been saying for a long time, ‘Imagine what we could do if we weren’t always fighting, getting a divorce, or cheating on each other. As actors and as characters, we should be doing much more than that.’ Now we are, and I never know what they’re gonna do with me. Every script is a surprise!”
With Belle spreading her wings and trying new things, she’s fallen back into bed with E.J., of all people.
“Belle’s like, ‘Let’s just follow our desire and our instincts and have some fun! And who cares? Nobody’s gonna get hurt,’” says Madison… but considering EJ’s tendency for dark schemes, that seems rather optimistic!
“What’s fun about the relationship is Belle gets that about him,” she insists. “It’s kind of like Moonlighting. They’re constantly love-hating, love-hating, love-hating, because they both know this isn’t right. There’s a lot of humor and it’s all over the place. That’s fun to watch and play.”
Martha Madidon talks saying goodbye to Drake Hogestyn and John Black
Amid all the Days of Our Lives fun, the soap opera is now leaning into the exit of Madison’s on-screen father, John Black—whose portrayer Drake Hogestyn died from pancreatic cancer in September, just weeks after his final episode aired.
“Losing him feels like more than losing a colleague… yet not quite like losing your own parent,” Madison tells Woman’s World. “When you’re an actor playing family for 20 years, you’ve spent some of your most vulnerable moments together. Drake came to my wedding and was around when my daughter was born. We went through all these huge real-life moments and then on the show, though it’s fake and scripted, you’re mourning together, rescuing each other, and going through it all together.”
With Days of Our Lives production several months ahead, Hogestyn was still fighting his cancer when his onscreen family played John Black’s farewell storyline. While that made it even more challenging to shoot, Madison is thrilled with how the soap opera will honor the character, as well as the actor who spent almost 40 years romancing Deidre Hall’s Marlena.
“It was hard, but the silver lining was that we were all doing this sendoff together, like a real family,” Madison says of her Days of Our Lives costars. “Drake deserved nothing but the best, and to be able to honor him the way we did was really beautiful. I think he would be very proud.”
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