“Tears Flow as ‘DOOL’ Stars Eric Martsolf & Christopher Sean Recall Heart-Wrenching Memories of Drake Hogestyn”

Eric Martsolf and Christopher Sean shared their experiences of filming Drake Hogestyn’s final scenes as John Black on Days of our Lives, describing the honor of working with the iconic actor and his dedication to the show despite his battle with pancreatic cancer.

Days of our Lives stars Eric Martsolf and Christopher Sean told Access Hollywood about filming Drake Hogestyn’s final scenes as John Black. Hogestyn’s last airdate was September 9, and you can stream them on Peacock.

Family Ties

Martsolf and Sean played John Black’s son, Brady, and grandson, Paul, respectively.

The described what happened when they did the last scenes with Hogestyn, who died of pancreatic cancer on September 28.

Of course, at the time, they weren’t aware it would be the DAYS icon’s last. Martsolf felt it was an honor to be in those scenes.

“There was a particular sequence of scenes where in which I actually looked him in the eye and said, ‘How you doing man?’

And he did that little grunt that he does and said, ‘Kid, I’m on a journey, got to do my thing.’”

Martsolf said. “I could tell that he was going to fight hard. He did not want to leave the program. He would compose himself off camera and get right in there.”

Sean described being on set with Hogestyn ahead of the scene, and he didn’t know the actor was ill.

Sean asked him how he was doing, “‘Oh, not feeling too good so I’m not going to talk much.’

And I said, ‘Oh geez.’ The first time ever he’s not telling me a story. So I start talking to him and he stops me and is like, ‘You know what?

This is what’s happening to me. I’m going to be honest with you’ And he told me everything. Oh man, I just remember thinking, ‘No, no, no, no. Not him.’”

Both men had a close relationship with their on-screen dad. “Absolutely love him,” said Sean. “I loved him as a father on television and as a father in real life. We would literally spend hours hanging out on set.”