INTERVIEW: DAYS' James Lastovic on his Emmy nomination

Days of our Lives' James Lastovic (Joey Johnson) opens up about his Daytime Emmy nomination and why his on-screen parents, Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Johnson) and Stephen Nichols (Patch Johnson), didn't make the list.

Days of our Lives' James Lastovic (Joey Johnson) is thrilled to have received a nomination for this year's Daytime Emmy Awards, but it just won't be the same without his on-screen parents, Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Johnson) and Stephen Nichols' (Patch Johnson), having nabbed nominations, too. Find out Lastovic's assumption as to why the pair wasn't nominated this year as well as why the young actor is particularly proud of having nabbed a nom for himself.

soapcentral.com: Congratulations on your nomination!

James Lastovic: Thank you! I appreciate that.

soapcentral.com: How do you feel about being nominated?

Lastovic: Super excited! I was totally surprised. I was wrapping up a couple of scenes this morning, and I kind of forgot that the whole Emmy thing was going on, and after I finished the scene, someone told me I got nominated, so I was pretty excited.

soapcentral.com: Who was it that told you?

Lastovic: A lovely lady named Cleo who's in the wardrobe department. Most of us were on set, shooting, so we didn't really have time to actually watch it on TV.

soapcentral.com: What did you do immediately after finding out you'd been nominated?

Lastovic: I had just finished doing some pretty emotional scenes, so I went to my dressing room and collected myself a little bit and then called some friends and family. I told my mom, and she's pretty happy.

soapcentral.com: I can only imagine. But it sounds like you're going to be really exhausted today, having both emotional scenes and now this. I mean, these are good emotions, but still tiring, I imagine.

Lastovic: Yeah, it all goes into the same kind of emotional energy.

soapcentral.com: What scenes did you end up submitting?

Lastovic: I submitted three scenes. One scene was the scene after Ava [Tamara Braun] tells Joey that she's dying. Joey goes home and is sort of grieving about it, and his dad comes in to find him pretty bent out of shape. And then I submitted the scene where Joey kills Ava in the hospital room, and then the third scene was right before Joey leaves for the commune, he goes to his dad's office to say goodbye. He doesn't really say goodbye, because he's not telling him. But in his own subtle way, he's saying goodbye.

soapcentral.com: Did anybody help you with your selection, or did you just trust your own instinct?

Lastovic: No, no, I chose on my own. I think actors have pretty good intuition about when they're giving a good performance or not. So, yeah, those felt the most honest to me and felt the most powerful, so those are the ones I chose.

soapcentral.com: Is there anyone from your show you're particularly excited for?

Lastovic: Yeah, I'm really excited for Kate Mansi [ex-Abigail Deveraux], because she didn't get nominated last year but totally deserved to. She had so many good scenes and so much good footage, and she put so much work into that character while she was on the show, so I was really happy to see her get nominated.

soapcentral.com: Is there anyone who was left off the list you were really rooting for?

Lastovic: I guess just my friends. I'm friends with Olivia Keegan [Claire Brady] and Kyler Pettis [Theo Carver], and it would have been cool to see them get nominated. And Mary Beth Evans [Kayla Johnson] and Stephen Nichols [Patch Johnson], but I don't feel too bad because Mary Beth won the Emmy last year, and Stephen admittedly didn't pick the best scenes this year. [Laughs] Actually, Mary Beth keeps grilling him for it, because she says he should have let her help him pick his scenes.

soapcentral.com: She's probably right! Women seem to have a nice touch with that.

Lastovic: Yeah, maybe I have the feminine touch when it comes to picking my scenes.

soapcentral.com: I was literally just going to say you're the exception to that rule, because you did pretty good on your own. Do you have any plans to celebrate your nomination?

Lastovic: Not really. I might do a little celebrating this weekend, maybe grab a beer with my buddies or something.

soapcentral.com: Does this feel totally crazy? You haven't been with the show very long, and yet you've already landed an Emmy nomination.

Lastovic: Yeah, it does feel pretty surreal. But at the same time, I think I hold pretty high expectations for myself. I allow myself to pat myself on the back and feel excited for a few moments, but pretty soon after, I think I just get back to the next goal, you know?

soapcentral.com: I know you're a guy, so you don't stress out about it the same way the ladies do, but have you put any thought into what you'll wear?

Lastovic: [Laughs] I knew that question was coming! I actually have no idea. I contemplated wearing something that I've already worn before, but I figured since I got nominated, maybe I'll treat myself to a new tux or something.

UPDATE (April 10, 2017)

Kate Mansi took to Twitter to comment on what James said about her in our interview.

"Thanks @JamesLastovic what a gem you are," she wrote. "And back atcha ! I've said it from the beg- terrifically talented human you are."

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