Wild AT HEART

A character shift is just what Greg Vaughan needed to breathe new life into DAYS's Eric

- Janet Di Lauro

If DAYS’s Eric Brady seems more brazen than usual, part of the blame goes to Greg Vaughan. After being summoned back to the soap to save Marlena from her second dance with the devil in 2022, the actor realized he wanted something more, something different. So he lobbied for a change.

“I had a great conversation with Ron [Carlivati, head writer]. I was like, ‘I want to be a staple on the show. I want to be a leading man and have a story,’ ” explains Vaughan, who was ready to return to DAYS full-time, and, more importantly, portray a revamped Eric. “He’d been holier-than-thou for so long. That’s really how I felt, and the state of mind I was at with Ron, having the conversation, ‘I’m bored. I’m tired of being the good guy. I don’t want to be that guy anymore.’ ”

The message was received loud and clear. “Ron and I really saw eye-to-eye,” adds Vaughan. “He got where I was coming from and put it into the character and the story, [making Eric] more carefree and free-spirited and not so by-the-book. He really gave me the opportunity to flip-flop.”

The pronounced turnaround has not only stunned the audience, but Vaughan, as well. “To go from the priesthood to being the American Gigolo was not what I expected,” he admits with a laugh. “Eric’s never been in and out of the bedroom so much with so many different women. He had always been a very monogamous individual. I was like, ‘Ron, wow. This is way far left. Okay. That’s our guy.’ Now it’s just trying to [play him] with the right motivation and intention, not making excuses, and being accountable for his actions.”