Rachel Boyd stepped up in a big way in July. Her Days of Our Lives character had some seriously heavy stuff to play, and she nailed every beat from determination to utter despair. Sophia gave birth to a son and proceeded to make choices that would enable her to live the life she wanted. Those choices would also leave a big hole in her heart.

The Teen Mom With a Twist

Giving birth to a baby alone in the bedroom she probably grew up in was no joke. Then, Sophia (Rachel Boyd) made the heartbreaking decision to give up her baby despite the fact that she didn’t have an actual adoptive couple lined up. Instead, she dropped her son off in the safe haven box at the firehouse. She felt adamant that giving up her and Tate’s son was the right thing to do.

Boyd infused Sophia with the appropriate amounts of fear, determination, loss, regret, and an overwhelming amount of guilt. That’s what the actress did in July. She played all those beats and then some.

The Lies Began

Beyond those initial heart-wrenching scenes, Sophia had to pull herself together, and she and Tina Huang’s Melinda Trask had work to do. They needed to come up with a perfect cover story to explain why her baby was suddenly gone and she was no longer pregnant.

Sophia knew it would be tough to convince her mom and Tate (Leo Howard) that she had given birth in Chicago, where she had met up with a potential adoptive couple. But Boyd’s high school graduate mustered up the courage, even though she had to unload lie after lie, including the fact that she gave birth to a daughter, not a son.

When she came face-to-face with Tate, Boyd was really good at flickering in between emotions. Basically, Boyd beautifully brought what was a wild and crazy story to life. She’s young, but she expertly played the pain of the situation in all its forms.

She Dug Deep and Showed Range

The actress made us believe Sophia when she said that she was too young to have a baby and that she wanted to go to college, live her life, and have a future. On the other hand, there was that scene where Sophia ran into Javi (Al Calderon) and Leo (Greg Rikaart) when they were caring for Tesoro. Sophia couldn’t walk away. From across HTS, she was compelled to look in on her son. And while she talked to Javi and Leo and asked about Little T’s life, she oozed regret and clearly held back tears.

Boyd’s performance wasn’t over the top. Her Sophia was subdued in her devastation, but very clear about her motivations. And while Sophia feels bad that she has dropped a bunch of lies in Tate and Amy Choi’s (Shi Ne Nielson) laps, she isn’t coughing up the truth anytime soon. The actress has really sold us on this story and gave our favorite DAYS performance in the month of July.

And, hopefully, she’ll earn Emmy recognition next year.