‘Days of our Lives’ Recasting: Meet the New Tate Black, Leo Howard

On April 5, daytime newcomer Leo Howard will assume the role of Days of our Lives’ Tate Black from Jamie Martin Mann, who left the soap to go to college full time, TV Insider can exclusively reveal. The gig, says Howard, came about as most do. “I auditioned for it and got to do a chemistry read on set and then boom, all of a sudden I was thrust into the throes of our lovely little show,” he relays. “It’s been a good experience.”

Though he hadn’t appeared on a soap prior to Days, the genre wasn’t new to Howard. “My mother is a die-hard General Hospital fan and my grandmother was a die-hard Days of our Lives fan, so they battled it out, the two of them,” he reports. “My whole childhood, the characters were on the screen and I remember it vividly.”

The actor’s path to Days started early, when he developed a passion for martial arts. “I’ve done that for a long time,” Howard explains. “When I was a little kid competing in tournaments, somebody that was friends with a commercial agent said, ‘Hey, that kid would be cute.’ And I told my parents that I really wanted to be in the movies like Bruce Lee. I was 6 years old. I knew I liked attention and here was an opportunity to get to do martial arts on a bigger scale. So that was my initial goal — ‘I want to bring martial arts to the world’ — and then I fell in love with acting. And I was fortunate enough to have parents that were very supportive of what I wanted, and combined with some dedication and some luck, I’ve made a career out of it. I’ve been very fortunate.”

The following year, at age 7, Howard was cast in an episode of Monk, and at 11, he played a young Jason Momoa in Conan the Barbarian. At 13, he was cast as the lead in the Disney XD series, Kickin’ It, where he not only starred in every episode, but also directed one, earning him a Guinness World Record for the distinction of being the youngest person to ever direct a television series. “That was really cool to get that opportunity,” he enthuses. “I directed one episode on Kickin’ It when I was 16, and then I directed two episodes on another show called Gamer’s Guide To Pretty Much Everything and that was a blast. One day, I’ll definitely pursue directing some more, but trying to be a good actor takes up a lot of time.”

Play the Classic Soap Characters TV Crossword

So Howard is focusing on learning all he can about his new alter ego. “Tate is in a very defining point in his life; he’s not quite an adult but he’s not a kid,” says the actor. “He has had kind of a tumultuous childhood in life with both of his parents and in and out of rehab and a lot of money around, which sometimes doesn’t cause people to do the best things. He’s had a kind of a rough go of it. He’s 17, and it’s not where you want to be at 17, all the while trying to explore being in love for the first time with Holly. So it’s fun for me to get to explore that because it’s been a little while since I’ve been that age.”

With his Days debut less than a week away, Howard — and his mom — are looking forward to turning in. “You have no idea,” he chuckles. “My mom is very excited. This is her world and though she didn’t watch Days, she is absolutely catching up. Her favorite person in the soap world is Steve Burton [who plays Days’ Harris and GH’s Jason]. That is just her favorite. So the fact that he’s on Days made her very happy.”

Days of our Lives, Weekdays, Peacock