The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be held on Friday, Dec. 15, with the ceremony airing live on CBS starting at 9 p.m. ET. Soap Opera Digest chatted with the nominees to get the scoop on how they found out, what episodes they submitted, and more as we count down to daytime’s biggest night!
Outstanding Supporting Actor
Dan Feuerriegel (EJ, DAYS OF OUR LIVES)
XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
What episodes did you submit? “I submitted two scenes, just two scenes. The first was EJ having a chat with Marlena and basically blaming himself for the death of Susan, the death of Abigail and the potential death of Belle. He was super-remorseful, super-down on himself, and realizing that he’s so selfish and has a one-track mind and that it cost the lives of really good people. The next scene was EJ and Rafe sitting at the car crash site [where Susan died]. Rafe’s talking to him about having to make a statement and EJ’s blowing him off, in a way. There’s nothing really there; he’s just numb. When I shot those scenes, I afterward was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’m going to store that away for a potential [submission].’ Lucky enough, the peers who voted thought it was good enough to get a nomination.”
How did you find out you were nominated? “[DAYS’s publicist] texted me and said, ‘Hey, can you give me a call?’ I called her and she told me. It was really exciting. Throughout the day, as people became more and more aware of it, I got congratulations, texts, ‘well dones’ and calls. It was really nice, especially [getting messages] from people back home in Australia who I’ve known for virtually my whole life. Just them going, ‘Oh wow. This is really cool.’ ”
Any messages that stood out? “One of the girls who was a year ahead of me in acting school back in Australia commented something along the lines of, ‘Wow. I remember when you were just a skinny little kid who auditioned for us back in 2000.’ It was kind of funny that they were in the room watching [the announcement], all the students who were years above us. I got messages from people from school that I hadn’t spoken with in a long time congratulating me. It was really nice.”
Did you do anything to celebrate? “I don’t think I did, because I had to work the next day. I came home. I’d worked all day. It had been a pretty hectic week. I spoke to my family, then I had to get back to learning lines. So I didn’t celebrate. Maybe I’ll let my hair down at the Emmys.”
What does the nomination mean to you? “It’s humbling to know that my peers thought I did good work, because generally your peers are the most opinionated. It’s nice to have them go, ‘Okay. That was really cool.’ That means a lot. It’s also a fun, humbling ego thing, because this is the kind of the stuff I watched when I was younger. As an actor, you watch the award ceremonies and imagine, ‘Oh, man. It would be so cool to have something like that.’ You don’t know how it’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, or if it’s going to happen. Then when it does you’re like, ‘Oh my God. This can happen. This is real.’ It’s like a nice little punch on the chin and a, ‘Well done, dude.’ ”
Might someone from your family back home want to attend? “There’s definitely that possibility. I have to check with my family. It’s a matter of how much it costs to come over from Australia.”
What do you think about your fellow nominees? “I don’t really know any of them, except for Nick [Chavez, Spencer, GH]. We went to a convention together. It was right after he’d won [the Outstanding Younger Performer Daytime Emmy in 2022].”
How do you feel about DAYS’s other acting nominations? “I’m really happy for Billy [Flynn, Chad]. I had a lot of scenes with him when he was going through the grieving process after Abigail’s death. He had a month’s worth of storyline, and he did absolutely fantastic. When those episodes aired, I think I remember tweeting that he was going to get an Emmy. I knew that he was going to get nominated. He did such great work and was absolutely brilliant. I’m very happy for Stacy [Haiduk, Kristen/Susan]. I love her to bits, and think she’s brilliant having to play multiple characters consistently.”
