Eric Martsolf Talks Daytime Emmy Lead Actor Nomination, ‘Days’ Drama and Soap Opera Fan Event Love (EXCLUSIVE)
Daytime Emmy-winner reveals whether he and Stacy Haiduk are anything like Brady, Kristen or Susan
With the Daytime Emmys next Friday, Woman’s World’s countdown continues with 2025 Outstanding Lead Performance nominee and 2014 Supporting Actor-winner, Eric Martsolf. As his Days of Our Lives character Brady realizes he’s not the granddaddy to Sophia’s baby and still believes Kristen shot EJ, the Passions alum dishes life in Salem and being a sucker for soap operas—and soap opera fans!
Martsolf—who’s been nominated alongside his Days of Our Lives costars Greg Rikaart and Paul Telfer, The Young and the Restless’ Peter Bergman and General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna—also gets candid about how much he has in common with Brady Black and whether leading lady Stacy Haiduk is anything like Kristen or Susan.
Plus, as the music man and soap hunk approaches a quarter century on daytime TV, Martsolf reveals why he almost wasn’t on soaps long enough to croon in the Days of Our Lives makeup room or onstage with The Day Players Band.
Daytime Emmy-winner talks Lead Actor nomination
After winning the Supporting Actor Daytime Emmy in 2014, Eric Martsolf was nominated again in 2019, then graduated to Lead Performance nominations in 2022 and 2024 – and this year, he’s in the running for lead actor yet again.
“Ain’t that a gas?” he says with a grin. “I’m on a very good nomination run, and I think work ethic has a lot to do with it. Although I still don’t feel like I’m working for a living, which was John Aniston’s biggest thing, too. I love my job, so sitting down and dissecting material is fun for me.
“It’s actually also a break from having to deal with twin boys screaming at each other,” he adds with a laugh, referring to his 19-year-old college kids, Mason and Chase. “Dad’s an actor, mom’s a singer/dancer, so it’s a creative household. There’s always ridiculousness. We’re usually all in our underwear, running around singing Barry Manilow at the top of our lungs. We also have three dogs.
“It’s pretty crazy, so to get away from the loudness, I have a chair that I go to with my scripts. No one’s allowed in it. It’s my chair.”
Daytime Emmy-winner talks Daddy drama
Over in Salem, Brady’s own kids are keeping him pretty distracted. With the secrets surrounding Baby Tesoro unfolding, this week he figured out what really went down with Sophia’s baby—and that it might not be his son Tate’s, after all!
Even as he’s been investigating his son’s drama, he’s also determined to protect his young daughter Rachel from her mother Kristen’s latest move—namely, going to prison for shooting EJ!
“Fatherly instincts are kicking in, big time right now,” Martsolf says. “I had one of the most aggressive scenes with Kristen that I think Brady’s probably ever had, in terms of what he said to her. Kristen’s done this for her kid—because it was, of course, Rachel who shot EJ—but all Brady sees is a self-centered woman who put their kid through hell!”
While Brady’s sure to feel like a heel when he learns the truth, it could be just the kind of thing to put these two back on the same team, again.
“That’s what we do on these little shows: We build them up to knock them down… and then bring them back together,” Martsolf says with a laugh. “And Kristen and Brady are a perfect example. All they are is tumultuous around each other… but my God, they love their daughter, so there’s always that connective tissue.”
Could Kristen’s latest lie bring Brady back to her?
Many Days of Our Lives fans—including Martsolf —would argue there’s more than just an adorable kid drawing these two together.
“I think Brady will always be a bit stuck on her,” he says. “There’s been a heat and a fire with Kristen and Brady, ever since that thing started. It was so forbidden. Eileen Davidson (who originated the role) and I were so concerned about how people were going to take Kristen working her old boyfriend’s son… but it worked!”
That chemistry hasn’t gone anywhere since Stacy Haiduk assumed the role in 2018, but when Martsolf’s sexy leading lady morphs into doppelganger Susan, it’s a whole different ball game.
“The teeth!” he cries. “It’s just hard to get close to someone with that amount of gingivitis. Stacy Haiduk’s a thespian, through and through, and when she commits to Susan, it’s hilarious. People get a giant kick out of her, and her ability to transform back into the seductive blue-eyed viper is very fun.”
Are ‘Days’ Eric Martsolf and Stacy Haiduk anything like their characters?
After a beat, Martsolf starts to chuckle to himself and then leans in conspiratorially.
“You know, Stacy is not that far off from Susan, in my silly opinion,” he says. “She is just as zany and wild and loud and frolicky—but way more hygienic! Stacy is the queen of potions, peppermint and sage. She’s like a walking, beautiful herb garden from England. Susan, I don’t think, wears deodorant, so they’re very different in that respect.”
As for himself and Brady, he insists he doesn’t see a lot of commonalities between them.
“At his heart, Brady’s a good man,” he considers. “He’s always trying to do the right thing.
“But when I took him on, they gave me this backstory that was so nuts,” he reminds. “‘You’re an alcoholic and cocaine addict. You got jealous of Chloe’s career, and that led you down the path of drugs. Then you went somewhere in Italy, did manual labor, and got your [expletive] together, and now you’re going back to make amends in Salem.’ Wow, there was a lot thrown on me. And no, Brady’s not me!”
Eric Martsolf admits he ‘selfishly get such a kick out’ soap fan events
Martsolf suspects that’s part of why The Day Players Band, which also features Wally Kurth, Brandon Barash and Carson Boatman, has been such a hit with Days of Our Lives fans.
“I thought we’d have some fun, and maybe a couple people would come see us,” he says. “But it turns out, it’s very fun for fans to see the four of us in such a different light. Brady rarely smiles or has anything to smile about, so people are amazed to see me for who I am. I love to smile and laugh and have a good time, and they’re like, ‘We didn’t know you were this happy!’”
The Daytime Emmy-winner and nominee isn’t just happy—he’s also always ready to croon.
“I sit in the Days makeup room at six in the morning and sing Bee Gees’ songs,” he says. “I apologize to people for that every day, but it’s something I got to do. Singing is an outlet for me…
“But also, I just love soap events,” he admits. “I’ve done more than the average Joe. I selfishly get such a kick out of them. It’s so validating to be around the fans that love the show so much, and I love to get to say, ‘Thanks. I get to feed my kids because you watch this.’”
Eric Martsolf on 23 years as a soap hunk—‘I’ve always run out of reasons to leave’
When he joined Passions as Ethan Crane in 2002, Eric Marstolf’s manager at the time told him that he’d work the soap for six months, then “jump off this train.” Thankfully, when the time came, Martsolf had no interest in ending his ride.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to go anywhere. I love this!’ and now, I’ve been going straight for 23 years, with only a six-month break,” marvels the Daytime Emmy-winner, who joined Days of Our Lives shortly after Passions was cancelled in 2008. “Over the years, I’ve always run out of reasons to leave… because there’s so many reasons to stay.”
The latest season? The potential to win Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama at the Daytime Emmys, when Marstolf’s going against soap opera stars Peter Bergman, Greg Rikaart, Paul Telfer and Dominic Zamprogna!
While the celebrations won’t be televised this year, next Friday soap fans can stream it on watch.theemmys.tv and through The Emmys app starting at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT—or attend in person, with tickets on sale for $75 plus fees through Ticketmaster.
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