Days Of Our Lives
Days of our Lives’ Suzanne Rogers Talks 50 Years as Maggie: From Farm Girl, to Becoming a Horton, to Picking Up the Pieces After Victor’s Death
Days of our Lives enduring favorite, Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Simmons Horton Kiriakis), recently chatted on some of the high points and low points throughout her journey, as she looked back on 50 years on the long-running soap opera.
Rogers was interviewed by Michael Fairman on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel during a virtual discussion, which covered a lot of ground including: her debut as a young farm girl who couldn’t walk and on crutches, to becoming a Horton, to more recently, losing her beloved husband, Victor Kiriakis (the late John Aniston), and everything in between.
Suzanne first aired on Days of our Lives back on August 20th, 1973. Throughout her time, she has been “killed-off” the show, only to ultimately return nine months later, after it was revealed her on-screen ‘death’ was part of an overall PR stunt and story arc.
Photo: JPI
Rogers has also had her real-life chronic autoimmune neuromuscular condition, myasthenia gravis, written it to the show, even though she was originally against it. She has been married on-screen to two of the more complex men in the history of the show, John Clarke (ex-Mickey) and John Aniston (ex-Victor). As well, through the years, Maggie learned that she had more children that she thought! In addition, Maggie is an alcoholic, who has been known to have her battles with the bottle throughout the years. It was her performance in Maggie’s original bout with alcoholism that won her the very first Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category back in 1979.
Here are just a few of Suzanne’s comments on some key subjects throughout her five decades on DAYS.
Photo: JPI
On filming the recently aired scenes, where Maggie learns Victor has perished in a plane crash, and how it brought back emotions of John Aniston’s passing: “It was hard. I think right back to the memorial service (for John Aniston). That was a hard day. All I kept thinking in my mind is he’s not in any pain anymore. I kept saying that. So, I had to play the scenes. It was all surreal. It really was surreal. The fact that he was no longer gonna be there. There’s a tribute to him on the set. I just look at that all the time and I’m right there with him.”
When addressing her fears and concerns about being seen with myasthenia gravis, and being asked to come back to the show: “The producers, Al Rabin and Wes Kenny, said, ‘We would like for you to come back to the show.’ I said, ‘I think you ought to see me first.’ I just didn’t want to shock anybody. We met at Du Pars (coffee shop). It didn’t register on their face that I looked any different, but I did. I really did. They said, ‘We’ll work around you, whatever you need. If you need to come in at noon, that’s fine. We’ll put a sofa in your dressing room so you can lie down.’ (Fast-forward) Then, the audience started seeing me on camera. The first day I saw myself on camera, I turned off the TV, and I started crying. I thought, ‘Well, I guess God wants to see me, see myself like this. So, I put it back on and I forced myself to watch … and it didn’t look like me, to me. Then the audience, of course, got a hold of it, and they said, ‘What’s the matter with her? Is she drinking? What is wrong?’ So, they figured they had to write it (myasthenia gravis) into the show. I said, “Only if it has a happy ending, because I plan on beating this. That was the criteria that we went with – that they would write it in the show, but they had to have a happy ending.”
Photo: NBC
When recalling being killed-off the show in 2003, after Marlena clubbed Maggie over the head with a whiskey bottle, only for Suzanne to return to the show months later: “I thought I was gone and then to see yourself 10 feet tall. I mean, it was at least 7 feet tall that (movie) screen. It was more than I could handle. I really thought that was the end. I thought, ‘Well, this is a big sendoff.’ Marlena hit her with a bottle and smashed her in. I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness gracious’. It wasn’t a pretty scene. And no, I didn’t know (I was coming back). I had brought my mother out here, and I had added on to my house, and I thought, ‘I’m going to lose this house.’ It wasn’t a joke, you know? But then, we were all brought back on April the first. Hello!”
On the audience reaction to Maggie becoming an alcoholic: “Well, I think the first time, I knew the audience right off the bat, hated it. They didn’t like the Maggie character getting soiled in any way. But it led to the Emmy!”
Photo: NBC
On her working relationship with John Clarke (ex-Mickey): “Susan Flannery (ex-Laura) told me the very first day that I was on the show, ‘He’s (John) got to fall in love with you, or he can’t work with you.’ I said, ‘Oh, my.’ So, I remembered that in my mind. So, when we were off-stage, he would say, ‘Let’s go out to dinner.’ I said, ‘no’, because I knew Patty, his wife, and all of his kids. I just don’t mix business with pleasure. You just don’t. That’s just not a good thing. I thought, ‘Let’s just keep the two separate, and that’s what I tried to do.”‘
Make sure to check out watch our full conversation with Suzanne below.
Now let us know, what has been your favorite storyline of Maggie’s through the years? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Days Of Our Lives
Brandon Butler, Who Once Played Zack Brady, Returns to ‘Days of Our Lives’ in New Role
Days of Our Lives has revealed another addition to the cast of the Peacock streaming soap opera; only this time his face is familiar to fans of the soap opera. Brandon Butler is taking on the new role of Mason Whitfield, but he previously played Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope’s (Kristian Alfonso) deceased son, Zack Brady for a stint back in 2025!
In a post on Thursday, August 27 on the official DAYS Instagram account, they shared a video of Butler telling 5 interesting things about himself caption with, “Get to know Brandon Butler, who will be playing Mason Whitfield! Here are five fun facts about the newest addition to the Days of our Lives cast before his first episode on September 1.”
That means that viewers will see Butler’s debut as Mason next Tuesday! When Brandon named his fifth fun fact, he shared, “Last but definitely not least for me: Days of Our Lives was my late mother’s favorite show. So this one’s for you, Mom. Love you.”
Photos: Peacock
Previously on DAYS, Butler took over the role of Zack Brady from Scott Shilstone, who last played the adult version of Bo and Hope’s son back in 2022 during the Peacock limited series, Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem Chapter Two. Fast-forward to the June 2, 2025 episode on Days of Our Lives.
In story, as Bo Brady finally comes out of his coma after receiving the critical dose of Versavix, thanks to the late John Black (Drake Hogestyn), he is visited by his deceased son, Zack in heaven and he helps push his dad to return to the land of the living.
Brandon’s previous TV credits include roles on: 13 Reasons Why, Hysteria!, Trinkets, and Seal Team, to name but a few. He also appeared on General Hospital back in 2016 for one episode.
It should be noted that also heading to Salem on-screen in September is actress Sydney Malakeh who as previously reported is starting her run in a ‘mystery role.’ Malakeh’s first airdate is September 9. Does this mean that Butler’s Mason will cross paths with Malakeh’s Salem alter-ego? Stay tuned.
So, intrigued to see Brandon Butler back on DAYS in the new role of Mason Whitfield? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.
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More casting news from Days of Our Lives, and for now, the soap opera seems to be breaking their new additions to Salem via their Instagram account. Now comes word and picture on August 24, that General Hospital and The Young and the Restless alum Brytni Sarpy has joined DAYS!
The Peacock soap opera’s Instagram account, showed a photo of Sarpy standing in front of her dressing room in the hallways of Days of Our Lives’ studios. The caption read, “Someone new is checking into Salem… Welcome Brytni Sarpy to the Days of our Lives family! Stay tuned.”
The casting of Sarpy comes on the heels of the announcement of Sydney Malakeh coming to the show in September, and earlier this year General Hospital favorite, Sofia Mattsson (ex-Sasha Gilmore, GH) joining the show in a mystery role when she began taping back around the end of March of this year. Now Sarpy is the “mystery role” category too!
In addition, the Days of Our Lives social team dropped a video ditty of the cast spoofing Love Island, where Sarpy appears as the new “bombshell” of the villa. Other cast members such as Rob Scott Wilson (Alex), Abigail Klein (Abigail), Casey Moss (JJ), Sal Stowers (Lani), Paul Telfer (Xander) and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah) pop-up in it too, among others.
Photo: JPI
SOAP HOPPING
Soap fans first met Sarpy when she played Valerie Spencer, the niece of Luke (Anthony Geary) and Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) on General Hospital back in 2015. She made her final appearance on the series back in 2019 to join the cast of The Young and the Restless in the role of Elena Dawson.
Elena was introduced as a love interest for Devon Winters (Bryton James). She later cheated on him with his cousin Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic). Elena began to be back-burned by 2023 with Sarpy’s last on-screen appearance in Genoa City in November of 2024.
Due to Days of Our Lives nearly year in advance tape schedule, viewers will have to wait till sometime in the early summer of 2027 to see Brytni’s arrival in Salem.
So, happy to see Brytni Sarpy has landed another soap role? Now that she is at DAYS, who you think she might be playing and paired with? Put on your casting director hats and let us know via the comment section.
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Days Of Our Lives
Sydney Malakeh Joins the Cast of ‘Days of Our Lives’ in Mystery Role: Who Do You Think She’s Playing?
There’s a new gal coming to Salem, or is she new and a recast? That’s what inquiring minds from Days of Our Lives fans have been trying to figure out since the Peacock soap opera dropped an Instagram video heralding actress‘ Sydney Malakeh‘s arrival in Salem.
The soap did confirm that viewers will first see Malakeh on the September 9 episode. In the video, Malakeh is seen going set to set from her dressing room and in to the halls of Days of Our Lives studios.
What we do know id that Sydney has been acting professionally for 6 years and had appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, Apple TV’s Shrinking and the HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Plenty of Malakeh’s DAYS castmates jumped into the comment thread with positive emojis symbols or written excitement including: Paul Telfer (Xander), Linsey Godfrey (Sarah), Sal Stowers (Lani), Conner Floyd (Chad), Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Christie Clark (Carrie) and more now that fans will finally see her on-air. Since Days of Our Lives tapes 10-11 months in advance, Sydney would have started taping the show sometime back in 2025.
DAYS fans think perhaps because the actress’ name is Sydney that she might be playing the grown-up daughter of Sami and EJ. That character hasn’t bee on the canvas since 2021.
So, who do you think Sydney Malakeh might be playing on Days of Our Lives? Drop your casting director thoughts via the comment section below.
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