Days of our Lives Performer of the Week: Rachel Boyd

Days of our Lives handed Rachel Boyd, who plays teen mom Sophia Choi, a "mother" of a storyline courtesy of her character's decision to leave her newborn son at the local fire station. Sophia may feel that she's too young to be a mom, but Boyd is more than capable of handling this challenging and mature storyline, given her vulnerable and nuanced performances.

Sophia Boyd, Performer of the Week, Days of our Lives

Sophia may be a teenager, but she was mature enough to know that she was unable to become a mother at her age. After her water broke, she tried to get to the hospital in time. This little guy was not going to wait!

Choi brought believable fear to her character's predicament, but throughout each beat of the labor (mostly off-screen) and the decision to give the baby up, the primary emotion we saw Sophia display was the love she had for her child.

Feeling pressure from her mother, Amy (Shi Ne Nielson), and believing she has no future with her baby's dad, Tate (Leo Howard), after hearing his message about the adoption attorney, Sophia made a difficult choice. It was clear that Sophia loved her son, and it was that very love that made her bring the newborn to the fire department's Safe Box.

Alone again, naturally

Serving as a metaphor for how alone Sophia must feel (she gave birth by herself), we saw her placing bloodied clothes in a trash bag the next day. In these scenes and others following the birth, Boyd played Sophia almost as if she were in a trance. Her ordeal had been so great that she couldn't fully process what happened or why she did what she'd done.

Sophia snapped out of her trance-like state when she heard her son's crying. When Sophia returned from the fire department, she looked even more alone, and for very good reason. Her son was no longer with her. Exhausted and emotionally drained, Sophia climbed into her bed and clutched a stuffed white bear, unable to hold onto her baby. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she said through the tears.

After birth

Sophia may have found the strength to give her son a better life, but her agonizing journey continues. She woke up from nightmares of what had occurred the day before, hoping that somehow it had all been a horrible nightmare. Boyd chose to have Sophia, once she was awake, instinctively check her stomach area to see if the baby was still there, praying that the last several hours had been a bad dream.

After wandering Salem for a bit, she connected with Melinda Trask (the always-terrific Tina Huang) and recounted her labor and dropping her newborn off at the fire station. Nearly hysterical, Sophia clung to the fact that she'd done the right thing. Given her past as a young mother who needed aid, Melinda provided a haven for Sophia. "I was you," she explained.

The stage has been set for the tale to be told of Sophia and Tate to be reunited (or not -- there are no guarantees in life) with their son on Days of our Lives. The story affects others, too, as Melinda, who must think of her late daughter Haley (Thia Megia) every day, now has another chance to help another young girl. Leo (Greg Rikaart) and Javi (Al Calderon) are falling in love with their foster son pretty quickly. If they ended up keeping him, would they be willing to give him up someday?

Trending

Time will tell whether Sophia comes to regret her decision or her choice to let people continue to think she's still pregnant (courtesy of the baby pad we saw her modeling). What we do know is that Boyd will continue to earn our sympathy and support for her heartfelt performances.

Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives weekdays on Peacock

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