Days of Our Lives Greg Rikaart explained how he approaches Leo’s fast-paced dialogue.
Although the show seems to be in a bit of a holding pattern lately, Greg Rikaart’s Leo Stark seems to be the secret weapon on Days of Our Lives that keeps it interesting. He’s thoroughly entertaining to watch, especially as his character has evolved from a scheming manipulator to someone with genuine feelings for other people’s lives. Part of his charm is his penchant for making obscure pop-culture references and the speedy way he delivers his dialogue. Rikaart recently opened up about how he took on Leo’s unique speech pattern.
There’s Musicality to How He Speaks
Much like General Hospital’s Spinelli (Bradford Anderson), Leo has rapid-fire dialogue on DAYS, albeit without using larger or archaic words. He often goes off on tangents until someone reigns him back in, making his dialogue seem natural. Rikaart spoke to Soap Opera Digest about the challenge of doing such dialogue all the time. “It’s my favorite challenge of this job that I’ve been working at for over 20 years.”
Rikaart praised the show’s costume designer, Richard Bloore because once he gets into Leo’s often outlandish outfits, he truly feels in character, and the dialogue can flow more easily. He also praised the words he continually says. “I always say there’s a musicality to the way Leo is written,” and that he finds “the rhythm of a scene. Leo’s also written so specifically, which certainly helps.” He further explained that he prefers to find the various beats in what Leo’s saying rather than outright memorizing the dialogue.
His Dialogue is Very Specific
“I can take a breath and figure out the way to get from non sequitur point A to non sequitur point B, etc.,” he stated. “But I love the challenge. I like having all the words.” He marveled at the fact that after a couple of decades of acting, he’s still being tested. The dialogue’s specificity precludes any need for him to improvise. He considered much of Leo’s dialogue tongue-twisters and admitted, “I do louse it up sometimes.”
The actor revealed that he has a great short-term memory. Somehow, after the scene is over, the dialogue disappears from his brain. And he doesn’t remember what he said on any given day. It’s a testament to Rikaart’s acting skill and memory that he always delivers a flawless and highly entertaining performance as Leo, which keeps viewers coming back for more.
