James Scott on EJ Hitting Bottom (Read 426 times)

[karebr13]

from daytime royalty

daytimeroyaltyonline.com/topic/8551178/1/



James Scott on EJ Hitting Bottom


Has EJ reached bottom? We think maybe he has. His marriage to Nicole was intended to be a sort of business arrangement that would have her acting as a mother to his children, a point of stability in their lives. Before they could say "I do," however, EJ's wandering eye wandered to her sister, Taylor. He seemed to have forgotten his responsibility to his children and, between that and the whole "Rafe2" debacle, he drove away everyone who ever cared for him, or at least tried to.

"He really sort of has lost everything," James agreed. "He's lost Taylor. He's lost Nicole, for whatever that was worth. There was a time in which she was going to be the mother to his children. His children have lost that. He's behaved in a really selfish and callous way."

One could argue, of course, that he behaved in this manner because he at least believed he had found true love. Taylor represented a potential relationship that, while not perfect, was at least one in which the feeling was mutual. One could argue that, but James might not agree. "The way in which he's pursued Taylor – whilst on one hand you can argue that it's obviously something that he felt compelled to do because of these feelings that he had – on the other hand, it does negate not what he said to Nicole about her role as a mother to his children, but it negates his children's position. In needing somebody to bring them up," James declared. "I think it's incredibly selfish of him to put them through that. He talked to Nicole about how he didn't want to put the children through this situation again, not having a mother figure. So that's why he wants her to be consistent in his life. And ten minutes later he's undoing all of that."

Before Taylor was ever in the picture, however, EJ and Stefano created Rafe's doppelganger, someone they intended to drive Sami to complete despair. In a brutal twist of fate, "Rafe2" was the person who killed Fay, Taylor and Nicole's mother. At first, Taylor didn't want to believe this horrible truth. When she could no longer deny it, however, she spat venom at EJ and wanted nothing more to do with him. Their burgeoning relationship ended before it really began.

Then EJ's son Johnny was confronted with this confusing truth of two Rafes. He no longer trusted his own father and wanted to only be with the real Rafe and Sami. This finally drove EJ to sign over custody of their two children to Sami. "He's certainly not somebody who should be given the responsibility of raising two children," James confirmed. "I think he feels – rightly – that his emotional problems and his problems with consistency, you can almost think of him as being like an alcoholic or a drug addict or something."

That's certainly an interesting take, one that indicates James believes EJ has as little control over his own behavior as an addict. He is therefore unable to be in a real relationship or to care for his own children. The amazing thing is, however, that EJ seems to realize it, as well.

"It's so incredibly evident that the behavior and actions of that person categorically make them unfit to be responsible for children," James said of alcohol or drug addicts. "They're just not. They've demonstrated they're not able to put the best interests of their children ahead of their own. Unless they're able to demonstrate that, they're not fit to be a parent. He recognizes that. In recognizing that, he does the only thing that he should do, which is to step back. He recognizes that at the moment he's causing these two innocent children a tremendous amount of confusion and pain and uncertainty in their lives. That's not something that he should be doing. And I think that he recognizes that he's unable to break the cycle because he's demonstrated that he cannot. Therefore, probably the best solution, really, is to remove himself from the equation until such time as he can sober up, so to speak.

"He's like an alcoholic," James continued. "He needs to go away. His children need to be absent from the process. But he has to go through it, getting rid of these ailments and developing himself as a stronger person."

It seems so final, so dramatic, however, to have given up custody of his children to Sami. Did he need to take that step? "I think he loves his children," James mused. "But one has to really think that if he really put his children on the same pedestal that he talks about putting them on, then he wouldn't be acting the way he's acting. He just wouldn't. Evidently, as much as he can say that he loves his children, that they're the most important thing in the world to him, clearly they're not. He's inconsistent and he needs to stop being inconsistent. He needs to figure out where he is."

Here's to EJ going through rehab, so to speak, and figuring out where he is and coming out a stronger person. Because once he does, the drama will most certainly get amped up, and that's what we love about the whole DiMera family.

daysofourlives.com/specials/interviews_detail_5278.html

[jaysdelina]

Ok....As much as I'm not fond of Mr.Scott anymore than I am of his character,I have to say,he gave a great interview.He didn't once again justify EJ's behaviour or even explain it away.This time was really "No,this is not cool,he shouldn't be treating his kids like that".VERY nicely done!

[MrsM]

Interesting take I guess. It almost seems like a copout, saying it is like an addiction. It means he isn't really accepting responsibility by saying he can't control his actions. This isn't going to do anything to endear him to me. That ship has long since sailed.

[rockfordfosgate]

"He needs to go away". Yep, I agree with that!

But what I see happening is that EJ won't have his kids to use as an excuse for what he does anymore. If he's not doing it "for his kids", then is he going to straighten up his act or is he going to own up to being an evil bastard? I don't buy that *this* is what gives EJ a wake-up call, when Johnny's eye being removed did not. Unless they play up the fact that Johnny has officially rejected him, and I mean give us EJ constantly flashing back to Johnny denouncing him. Give us evidence *that* is the cause for EJ to re-evaluate his life, and not this Taylor BS.

[jaysdelina]

I agree Rockford.I had a tiny glimmer of hope that he'd see the light with his child so sick,but apparently not.Now this....while I agree his children should be away from him,I want to see his moments of reflection.I want to see him thinking about the moment his son said "I'm not your son anymore!".I want to see the moment he watched his son crawl all over Rafe in an effort to get away from EJ.THOSE are flashbacks I can live with a few times over.

[DancingDays]

I think with DH gone, James now has the freedom to say that the direction his character was taking was crap. I'm sure that the current writers are going to give him time to go to "rehab" and when he comes back it will be ON! I hope it turns out to not be over Sami (again) because that is SO over. I would rather see a Dimera/Kiriakis showdown. That would be good TV.

[jaysdelina]

I noticed that the actors seemed to be a bit more free to express themselves.This is certainly the first time I've enjoyed an interview with Mr.Scott who usually sounds like a pompous....you know...lol.

[Trey]

I agree, this was a good interview for JS. I'm glad that EJ is finally coming to terms that he's destructive and not good for the kids.

[jaysdelina]

Jul 26, 2011 23:43:41 GMT -5 Trey said:

I agree, this was a good interview for JS. I'm glad that EJ is finally coming to terms that he's destructive and not good for the kids.

I am too,but then I ask myself,how long is that really going to last before he tries to take them back again?He's known he's destructive before,given Sami custody only to push his way back into their lives again.

[Tom Horton]

I remember James Scott calling the writers F....ing Stupid before so I don't think Higley being gone or not has anything to do with it for him. However I agree that the other actors all seem to be breathing a collective sigh of relief lately and I think that's because Tomlin was such a micromanaging control freak.

EJ is nothing like an addict - his behavior has very consistenly been written as a sociopath since he first arrived in Salem. James is right though in this quote about EJ: "But one has to really think that if he really put his children on the same pedestal that he talks about putting them on, then he wouldn't be acting the way he's acting. He just wouldn't. Evidently, as much as he can say that he loves his children, that they're the most important thing in the world to him, clearly they're not." ... but the best quote of all is the one Rockford mentioned that James said in reference to EJ, "He needs to go away." I couldn't agree more.

[slyn11]

Ej is the most complex character on the show right now. Every soap has an EJ type...and Days would definitely be at a great disadvantage without him. You need men with flexible morality... the ability to love and live hard...to push against the rules...to have the strength to take what they want...because that makes their falls all the more epic to watch. The best TV comes from these types of characters.

Sonny on GH

Todd on OLTL

JR (and used to be Adam) on AMC

Victor and Jack on YnR

Best decision ever to have added him to the cast. And I am not a EJ/James Scott fan.

[slyn11]

Jul 26, 2011 23:47:30 GMT -5 jaysdelina said:

Jul 26, 2011 23:43:41 GMT -5 Trey said:

I agree, this was a good interview for JS. I'm glad that EJ is finally coming to terms that he's destructive and not good for the kids.

I am too,but then I ask myself,how long is that really going to last before he tries to take them back again?He's known he's destructive before,given Sami custody only to push his way back into their lives again.

He needs to be in their lives. He is their father. And it makes for compelling TV to watch him struggle to raise them in the shadow of his choices and his demons.

Who wants to watch Rafe be a good dad? BORING. The best part about soaps is you get to explore people you might never meet in real life.

[rockfordfosgate]

EJ *could* be complex. Right now he is one-note. His behavior now over Taylor is the exact same as it was over Sami back when he first came to Salem. He has tunnel-vision when it comes to whatever woman his thinks he's "in love" with. He has the potential to be a good villain, to be a guy that we want to root for to overcome his last name....but he has to be given a believable storyline of either embracing his Dimera ways or a long, drawn-out story of his struggle of redemption. None of this, "I gave the children up, so I now am a good guy" bs. What I find most intriguing about is EJ is his relationship with Stefano. He wants his approval but at the same time he's trying to prove to Stefano that he can be just as good (well, bad/evil) as Stefano if not better than Stefano. And the potential sibling rivalry that could have happened with him and Tony and still could with him and Chad. I would rather EJ's story focus on his family than his obsessive "love" of the month.

[jaysdelina]

Jul 27, 2011 10:46:54 GMT -5 slyn11 said:

Jul 26, 2011 23:47:30 GMT -5 jaysdelina said:

I am too,but then I ask myself,how long is that really going to last before he tries to take them back again?He's known he's destructive before,given Sami custody only to push his way back into their lives again.

He needs to be in their lives. He is their father. And it makes for compelling TV to watch him struggle to raise them in the shadow of his choices and his demons.

Who wants to watch Rafe be a good dad? BORING. The best part about soaps is you get to explore people you might never meet in real life.

While you and I are more often than not on the same page,I have to disagree with you here.He really doesn't need to be in their lives.He is abusive toward them in his own way,and that's NOT good for them.While my own father isn't as bad as EJ,I walked away from him three years ago and am much better off,my kid is happier and more confident without his abusive behaviour and it would be the same way for Johnny and Sydney.I get that you like the angst,and yeah,usually angst is good and it's what all good soaps are made of,but EJ's gone too far.He really doesn't care about his kids or he would have mellowed a bit and thought about them before he acted.You don't try to take a child's mother away from him when he's sick with cancer,you don't try to convince said child that his mother doesn't love him.As far as I'm concerned,EJ needs to go away for a while and man up.

[slyn11]

Jul 27, 2011 10:48:26 GMT -5 rockfordfosgate said:

EJ *could* be complex. Right now he is one-note. His behavior now over Taylor is the exact same as it was over Sami back when he first came to Salem. He has tunnel-vision when it comes to whatever woman his thinks he's "in love" with. He has the potential to be a good villain, to be a guy that we want to root for to overcome his last name....but he has to be given a believable storyline of either embracing his Dimera ways or a long, drawn-out story of his struggle of redemption. None of this, "I gave the children up, so I now am a good guy" bs. What I find most intriguing about is EJ is his relationship with Stefano. He wants his approval but at the same time he's trying to prove to Stefano that he can be just as good (well, bad/evil) as Stefano if not better than Stefano. And the potential sibling rivalry that could have happened with him and Tony and still could with him and Chad. I would rather EJ's story focus on his family than his obsessive "love" of the month.

I agree. He has always needed better writing. But for Days he gets quite a bit. Far more emotionally challenging stuff than the majority of the cast.

Though I want him to always want that ideal woman...which I think for him is Sami. (Like Brenda for Sonny on GH). But I think he needs to be with Nicole for the most part.