NEED TO KNOW
Al Calderon is closing the chapter on Days of Our Lives.
The 31-year-old actor joined the soap opera last year, and confirmed his exit from the show in a post on his Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
He has played Javi Hernandez since October, cousin to Rafe (Galen Gering) and Gabi (Cherie Jimenez).
Calderon paid tribute to the whole team behind the long-running soap opera as he reflected on his experience.
“My time on Days of Our Lives has been truly life-changing,” he wrote in the statement.
“I’m endlessly grateful to the cast, crew, and creatives who made me feel seen, valued, and part of a legacy of family.”
Al Calderon/Instagram
“I’ll carry the love, lessons, and memories with me on every journey I go on,” he continued.
“While I’m just a small grain of sand, I’m just happy I got to pass through the hourglass. As my mom used to tell me—it’s not goodbye, just see you later.”
Calderon added of the series, “I love you forever.”
His exit from Days comes after he was cast in season 2 of Brilliant Minds.
The actor is leaving the soap to join the NBC series led by Zachary Quinto, which follows Dr. Oliver Wolf, a unique neurologist working in a New York City hospital.
Calderon celebrated the casting news in a July Instagram post, writing, “Hold up, lemme get my scrubs on right quick.”
He gave a “big thanks to my crew, my village, my gang” in the caption too, as he called out several members of his team for helping him land the role.
Per Deadline, Calderon will play Scotty Silva in Brilliant Minds, a nurse who “runs the hospital and looks good doing it” and is “widely regarded as the Mayor of Bronx General.”
Calderon credited the soap for giving him confidence as an actor.
After joining Days, he told TV Insider, “I feel like I can conquer anything after this.”
Peacock
“I am so grateful to be on Days because I have become such a better actor in terms of learning my lines and being able to make choices,” he said.
“You wouldn’t necessarily feel confident walking into a room of heavy hitters like that, but I really do owe it to Days for helping me find my confidence again. So I walked in there and I was just like, ‘I’m supposed to be here, let’s do it, let’s crush it.’”
Calderon also told the outlet that playing Javi Hernandez, who is gay, felt like a “big responsibility,” but he was “honored to be able to be a part of something that might change someone’s perspective.”
“The crux and core of any relationship, straight, gay, anything in between, is love and respect and care and kindness. And I think the writers did a really great job of creating a genuine love story that isn’t pander-y, but two people living their lives authentically and unapologetically.”
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Days of Our Lives airs weekdays (check local listings).
