A casting shake-up is officially underway in Salem — and this one actually matters to the story already in motion. According to Deadline, Jacob Martinez has been tapped to take over the role of Javier “Javi” Hernandez, with his first episode set to air June 30, 2026.
From Stage to Salem
Martinez may be new to daytime, but he’s not coming in cold.
Before landing the role on ‘Days of Our Lives‘, he was part of In Pieces: The Musical at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater. His credits also include the short film Memory Swim and the play Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, where he took on the role of CB.
Why the Show Isn’t Letting Javi Go
The role was previously played by Al Calderon, who exited the Peacock soap to join NBC’s Brilliant Minds. Instead of writing Javi out, *Days of Our Lives* is keeping him in play — and that tells you everything about how the show views this character right now.
What This Means for Javi’s Story
Martinez is set to make his first appearance on June 30, which drops him right into the middle of summer storylines — a window the show typically uses to push bigger character movement. That alone suggests this isn’t a blink-and-you-miss-it return.
With a new actor stepping into the role and a key storyline already in motion, all eyes are now on how this transition will land. Will Jacob Martinez’s take on Javi shift the character in a new direction, or pick up exactly where things left off? Either way, this is one casting change viewers won’t be able to ignore.
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