Why Days of our Lives’ Greg Rikaart feels like he’s finally ‘graduated’ 

Days of our Lives' Greg Rikaart has been a soap opera mainstay for the last two decades, picking up a Daytime Emmy along the way for her efforts early into his run on The Young and the Restless. This year, he has the chance to pick up another one in an entirely different category.

Days of our Lives' Greg Rikaart moves into the big leagues

Rikaart began his soap opera career back in 2003, playing creepy and quirky computer wizard Kevin Fisher on Y&R. Eventually, Kevin became a somewhat upstanding citizen, raising two children with Chloe Mitchell (Elizabeth Hendrickson).

In 2005, Rikarrt picked up an Emmy in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category, earning five more Emmy nods in the same category since. But this year, he is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role as Leo Stark on Days of our Lives.

"It definitely hits a little different," Rikarrt told Women's World. "It feels like a graduation of sorts. I’m super honored to be nominated alongside Paul [Telfer, Xander Kiriakis, DAYS] and Eric [Martsolf, Brady Black, DAYS], of course, and Dominic [Zamprogna, Dante Falconeri, General Hospital] is terrific. But I have admired Peter [Bergman, Jack Abbott] since my first day at The Young and the Restless, so being nominated alongside him is a particularly satisfying thrill."

Leo's baby blues

Sometimes babies can bring luck, and Leo has certainly been around an abundance of them over the last year, or at least an abundance for Leo. While the character is also Salem's best comic relief in years, reminding us of Calliope Jones (the late Arleen Sorkin), Rikaart chose to submit scenes that were a little more serious this year.

"I’ve been told when I do that it’s a breath of fresh air… but it never gets me a nomination," Rikarrt explained. "So I played by the rules this year, and I submitted a monologue where Leo has baby Jude, and he’s expressing his concerns to the baby about the baby’s future. What I liked about that scene was that it’s just me—because the baby is obviously just a doll. That felt like a nice showcase. And then I submitted the scene where Leo visits Diana in prison. I kept it short and sweet. Leave people wanting more!"

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Rikaart might have more dramatic baby scenes to submit next year as Leo and Javi (Al Calderon) have been fostering little Tesoro, the infant whom Sophia (Rachel Boyd) left at the firehouse. With all these babies around, Leo has been turning into much more of an endearing character than ever before, thanks to Rikaart's impeccable portrayal.

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

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