Photo Credit: JPI Studios Days of Our Lives’ Dan Feuerriegel reflects on EJ’s struggle between redemption and ambition as the Lexie resurrection story unfolds.
EJ has spent the past few years trying to convince people he’s not the same man he used to be on Days of our Lives. Then, this week, he stood before Paulina and revealed what he’s truly been working on. What she saw didn’t seem like redemption. It appeared to be another DiMera scheme quietly taking shape behind closed doors, with all of it hovering over the promise that Lexie might somehow be brought back from the dead. Most disturbing is EJ’s calm willingness to protect it, no matter who gets in the way. In a recent interview, Dan Feuerriegel reflected on the shift viewers are seeing in his character and why EJ’s darker instincts might be reemerging.
Key Takeaways
- Dan Feuerriegel said EJ’s darker instincts never truly disappeared.
- EJ believes the Lexie project could help people, but also sees the financial reward.
- His willingness to continue the experiment raises serious moral questions.
- Feuerriegel said the better side of EJ still exists, but it’s buried.
The Change May Not Be Gone After All
Feuerriegel spoke to Soaps about the darker turn viewers are beginning to see in EJ. The actor explained that even during EJ’s attempts to change, that ruthless side of him never truly vanished. It simply stayed buried beneath the surface, waiting for the right circumstances to bring it back.
As Feuerriegel put it, because no one believes EJ is trying to better himself, “Even though he’s trying really hard to be a changed person, I think the evil side slowly creeps back in and takes hold of him.”
The shift became impossible to ignore once the stakes surrounding Lexie’s (Nikki Crawford) resurrection began rising. EJ framed the project as something greater than himself, a scientific breakthrough that could save lives if successful. (Find out about the on-set mistake that Harry powered through.)
A Dangerous Line EJ May Not Come Back From
But Feuerriegel pointed out that EJ also recognizes the significant financial opportunity associated with the research and has no plans to walk away from it. But for right now, “his investment is financial,” the actor said, explaining that EJ believes the treatment could genuinely help people while also generating a huge payoff for himself.
That attitude became chilling when the possibility of losing Lexie was raised. When Gwen (Emily O’Brien) expressed concern about what would happen if Paulina revealed the operation, EJ dismissed it with a frightening lack of emotion. There would always be other test subjects, and the work would go on.
Feuerriegel admitted EJ still believes the good version of himself exists somewhere beneath the surface. But it no longer guides his decisions. As he chuckled, he said the better side of EJ is still “there, but not really…it’s buried.”
