When Peter Reckell appeared on Days of Our Lives earlier this year, reprising his iconic role of Bo Brady, he not only got to work with TV daughter Victoria Konefal (Ciara) for the first time, but also got to share the screen with a few other young actors who play members of his character’s family.
Relatively Speaking
Bo and Hope’s son, Zack, was tragically killed on DAYS back in 2006, but in an ethereal encounter before Bo emerged from his coma, he got to spend time with a now-adult Zack at the Brady Pub. During that sequence, the role of Zack was played by Brandon Butler, who earned rave reviews from Reckell. “The casting people are bringing these awesome actors in,” enthuses Reckell. “He was amazing.”
Reckell hopes that DAYS will find a way to incorporate Butler, who has appeared on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why and Trinkets, into the Salem scene in the future. “Hopefully, we’ll use him again as Zack,” the actor muses. “Either that or he goes on to do another character on the show, because he was right on. There was no [adjusting to things]. I didn’t have to [show him the ropes]. Sometimes with younger actors, you have to help them out a little bit — you have to point them in the right direction or whatever. But there was none of that with him.”
Reckell felt that Butler was a great fit as Zack and had an instant connection to him, which made their scenes together so effortless. “I just went in and did my work, because he was my son and I was his dad,” declares Reckell. “It felt so natural. It was perfect.”
Reckell also got to interact with his character’s new grandson and namesake, Bo Weston, who was played by young Vincent Simard. That was another easy experience — except, perhaps, for one thing. “The grandfather part,” Reckell chuckles. “Trying to recognize that I’m old enough to be a grandfather! But that is true. He was a great kid. He was so on and a feisty little guy. Again, I’m really proud of our casting people. They did an amazing job finding such right-on actors for both of these roles.”
Reckell, of course, has a long history of working with child actors on DAYS. He shared the screen with young performers like Andrea Barber (ex-Carrie) and Scott Groff (ex-Shawn) during his first stints on the soap, and as Bo and Hope’s family expanded, he acted alongside Lauren Boles (ex-Ciara) and twins Spencer and Garrett Gray (ex-Zack). For the actor, that’s been nothing but a pleasure.
“I don’t know why they say, ‘Never work with animals or children,’ ” ponders Reckell. “Because I’ve always loved working with both of them. It kind of adds a little extra, I don’t know, something. There’s an excitement, because you never know what a kid’s going to do. Very often, they’re going to do something different when you’re taping. Also, helping them focus helps me focus.
Besides, smiles the real-life doting dad to daughter Loden, “I just love kids. What I do for a living is a child’s game. It’s playing pretend. So to play pretend with kids is just perfect.”
