BREAKING DAYS CASTING NEWS! Lorelei Olivia Mote Is The New Rachel Black

RACHEL BLACK GETS A NEW FACE AND STEPS INTO CHAOS

TL;DR: Days of Our Lives is recasting Rachel Black starting the week of March 16, with newcomer Lorelei Olivia Mote stepping into the role vacated by Alice Halsey. Rachel is knee deep in Sophia Choi’s schemes, having second thoughts about every dirty move she’s made, and Mote is walking into a storyline that is pure fire from the first frame.

Salem’s Youngest Schemer Gets a Fresh Start

A familiar face in Salem is about to look a little different. Rachel Black, the daughter of Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) and Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk), will be played by a brand new young actress when Lorelei Olivia Mote makes her Days of Our Lives debut the week of March 16. Mote takes over for Alice Halsey, who brought Rachel to vivid, scheming life from April 2025 through March 2026.

Halsey made Rachel Black one of the most watchable young characters on daytime television, turning what could have been a background kid role into something genuinely unpredictable, and now it falls to Mote to carry that torch into what might be the most volatile chapter of Rachel’s story yet. The recast arrives at a moment when Rachel is at a genuine crossroads, and whoever plays her next needs to be able to sell both the darkness and the doubt.

Got a sizzling hot take on the Rachel Black recast? Think Mote is the right pick to play Salem’s youngest villain? We want YOUR theories, opinions, and wildest commentary! Email us at amber@soapoperamagazine.com and you might see your thoughts published on the site!

A Resume That Says She Came Ready

Mote may be young, but her resume reads like she has been doing this for years. She has appeared on American Horror Stories and Daisy Jones & the Six, and she turned heads in many films like Riddle of Fire and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. That last one earned her warm reviews and put her on the map as a young performer who could hold her own alongside seasoned actors like Judy Greer and Lauren Graham.

Here is a fun detail for fans who love a good connection: Mote was actually named after Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls, which feels oddly fitting for a girl about to step into one of daytime’s most complicated young roles. Days of Our Lives will mark her daytime television debut, and the storyline waiting for her is anything but a soft landing.

A Long Line of Rachels

This character has been through more faces than most Salem residents go through marriages, and that is really saying something. When Rachel Black was born on screen back in 2019, she was played by twins Josephine and Rosalind May and later by triplets Emma, Kate, and Miller Kamienski. Finley Rose Slater stepped into the role in October 2021, aging Rachel into the little girl fans first started to recognize as a real presence in the Brady and Kristen orbit, and she gave the character a personality that went beyond simply being their kid. Slater held the part until Halsey took over in April 2025 and immediately made it her own.

Halsey’s run gave Rachel some of the sharpest, most unsettling material the show has written for a child character in years, and her departure was not without emotion. “I will be forever grateful for the privilege to play such a fascinating, complicated character and to be a part of this epic story,” Halsey said as she bid Days of Our Lives farewell. She is heading to Netflix to star as Laura Ingalls in the new Little House on the Prairie series.

The Storyline Waiting for Her Is Combustible

Here is what makes this recast so thrilling. Mote is not inheriting a quiet corner of Salem. Rachel Black has taken after her mother far more than her father, and that is less a compliment to Kristen’s parenting than it is a warning label. This kid manipulates, schemes, and burns bridges like a seasoned DiMera, right down to the way she tried to force Brady and Kristen back together whether they wanted it or not.

She recently confessed to shooting EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel), which landed her in Bayview Sanitarium for treatment. While locked up, Rachel befriended Sophia Choi (Rachel Boyd), who has been using the girl to do her dirty work against Holly Jonas (Ashley Puzemis) ever since Rachel walked free and Sophia stayed locked behind Bayview’s doors. But something interesting is happening.

Rachel has started showing cracks in her loyalty. She appears to be questioning whether Sophia’s schemes are worth the wreckage, and that internal battle between the angel and the devil on her shoulder gives Mote a meaty, layered debut that most young actresses would sell their souls for. If Mote brings even a fraction of the fire Halsey delivered, Salem’s youngest troublemaker is in excellent hands.

Rachel has been torn between her mother’s ruthless instincts and her father’s guilty conscience since she could talk. Where do you think Mote’s Rachel will land? Drop your thoughts in the comments and tell us if you are Team Kristen or Team Brady when it comes to this kid’s future!

WATCH THIS: We need to talk about those Pods…

@soapoperamag EJ said there are more pods with more patients… Could that mean we'll soon see Abigail rise from the dead again? Oh, wouldn't it be fun if she's the reason Chad finally returns to Salem? #DaysofOurLives ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine