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Twice Blessed: John-Paul Lavoisier (Philip) with Lauren Koslow (Kate, l.) and Louise Sorel (Vivian).
Being lucky enough to have one fabulous actress playing your mom is one thing, but John-Paul Lavoisier (Philip) hit the mother lode twice on Days of our Lives. In addition to working opposite Lauren Koslow, who plays his character’s biological mama, Kate, Lavoisier has also gotten to share the screen with Louise Sorel, who plays Vivian, who infamously carried Philip to term after being implanted with Kate and Victor’s embryo.
Getting to Know You
Lavoisier first got a taste of Sorel’s brilliance when he returned to film Victor’s funeral in 2023. “I don’t even technically think I met her, but I was in scenes with her,” recalls the actor. “Vivian made this grand entrance after Victor’s memorial. She burst in the door claiming that she deserved [part of the Kiriakis fortune]. It was her show, and she had a lot of dialogue. I did not. So I didn’t get to know her until [her most recent] visit to the show.”
And it’s been quite the experience. “Everything that Louise is, she’s my favorite kind of person,” enthuses Lavoisier. “I just want to be surrounded by a bunch of Louises for the rest of my life – her stories, her personality, who she is, what she’s done… We both love Seinfeld. The Golden Girls is my second favorite show, and she was married to somebody [Herb Edelman] who was on The Golden Girls, which I had no idea about. She’s from New York. We know a bunch of the same people, and she loves to run lines. Not that other people don’t, but some people only want to run scenes a couple times before they tape. I love to run scenes over and over again, and Louise is the same way. On a day when I worked with Louise, I was in her dressing room the whole day, so we could hang out, chat and run lines over and over again. That makes for such a pleasurable work environment.”
By the time the pair got on stage to film, Lavoisier notes that “it was like a Broadway play, and we were doing our 800th show. That’s what it felt like, which is a great feeling and so fun. Once you know that you know [the material] you can really just act it and be in the moment. That’s what Louise and I had. I could work with her every day.”
The actor also has glowing words for his other DAYS mom, Lauren Koslow. “We get along so well,” he shares. “She has seen TV shows that I haven’t, so she opens my eyes to them. I learn a lot listening to her. I’m like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that.’ And even though we kind of have the same opinion about some things, hers will be just a little off from mine. Then I listen to her and go, ‘Okay.’ She opens my eyes to other sides of the equation that I never would’ve thought about it that way. When Lauren and I run lines in her room, I always know that our time is going to be divided. We talk about life, and she opens my eyes to a bunch of new information. Then we run the lines. It’s like 50-50 and it’s great.”
Lavoisier cherishes his special bond with Koslow. “I feel so close to her, and I get along with her so well,” he says. “I do feel like she’s my mom. Well, that’s not totally accurate. She’s like my mom, but my really cool, younger, hip wise mom. She’s a cool chick, man. Like rock and roll. I could see her dancing at a Metallica concert or something. But I’m in a scene with her, the mom vibe that I get from her is so real. I just respect her very much.”
