Days Of Our Lives
Emily O’Brien Talks On Her Y&R Past as Jana Hawkes and Working with Peter Porte on ‘Days of Our Lives’

On the latest edition of Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart which dropped on Tuesday, July 21, Emily O’Brien is the featured guest. As soap fans know, Emily has worked with Rikaart both in her first soap role on The Young and the Restless as Jana Hawkes and now on Days of Our Lives in her current role of Gwen Rizczech.
While Emily continues on DAYS, she has very impressive list of credits in the other part of her career as a voice-over actress and one in motion-capture in some of the most popular video games in the world.
O’Brien was first seen on The Young and the Restless back in 2006. She recalled her landing the role which eventually paired her for her five year run with Greg Rikaart.

Photo: JPI
BEING CAST ON THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
“The role was just a few days and she wasn’t even supposed to be English,” Emily recalled. “The role was originally called Jade. Karen Rae, the casting director of The Young and the Restless at the time said to me “Oh, you’re from England. Try it with the dialect.” I put it on and she said, ‘I’m going to bring you back at like 3 for s callback.’ So then they changed the role to Jana and they said she’s going to be a Brit. I was only supposed to be on for like five episodes and it turned into 5 years.”
In explaining why she loved crazy Jana, Emily shared, “Jana was sort of like the misanthrope. She was just was the odd one out and I loved it. I felt so comfortable playing that because she was just eclectic and weird and she loved playing with Ouija boards and she rode a motorbike. There was just so much color to bring to her. It was just such a great match to play with Greg (Kevin), and Christian LeBlanc (Michael) and Tracey Bregman (Lauren).

Photo: JPI
GWEN, DIMITRI AND LEO ON DAYS OF OUR LIVES
On Days of Our Lives, the Leo, Gwen, Dimitri dynamic is quite unique and been through many schemes and entanglements. Often Emily finds herself in repartee with her ex-lover, Dimitri, who turned out to be gay and then had a thing for her bestie, Leo (Greg Rikaart)!
During the conversation, Greg and Emily sang, Peter Porte’s praised with O’Brien expressing, “Peter is just ready to play. He comes on set prepared. I’ve never seen him with his script. From blocking and rehearsals, he doesn’t have it. He’s prepared. He’s a physical actor and he always trying to come up with something. I think he let me slap him. He let me kiss him. He let me throw a cheeseburger in his lap. He’s ready for anything for anything.”
You can catch the full episode of ‘Soapy; featuring Emily O’Brien below where the actress also talks about replacing Jen Lilley as Theresa Donovan after being let go as Gwen; and being paired again with Greg Rikaart on the Peacock streaming soap opera this time as best friends and more.
So, were you a big Jana Hawkes and Kevin Fisher fan on Y&R? Did you like them as a couple? Do you like the dynamic between Emily and Peter Porte and Greg Rikaart on DAYS? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
I was a little ticked off when they were writing Jana off Y&R. Her exit story just didn’t sit right with me. I loved Kevin and Jana!
Me too! I don’t like that fact that they made Jana crazy! But cheers to Emily O’ Brien for her portrayal.
Beyond the Gates
53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Winners: ‘General Hospital’ Takes Drama Series, Tamara Tunie and Scott Clifton Top Acting Honors

The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards have just concluded on Friday night, October 30, and it was ABC’s General Hospital who took home the top prize for Outstanding Drama Series for the sixth time in row. Executive Producer, Frank Valentini accepted the award on behalf of the show.
Beyond the Gates scored its first two acting honors in the young history of the show. Veteran actress, Tamara Tunie won her first ever Emmy for Lead Actress a Daytime Drama Series for her performances as Anita Dupree, while Ambyr Michelle took home the gold in the Emerging Talent category.
Scott Clifton won his fourth Daytime Emmy overall, and second Lead Actor Emmy for his heart-tugging performance as Liam Spencer, who believed he was battling an inoperable brain tumor, only for it to turn out to be medical ruse to bilk Liam’s father out of $1 million dollars.

Courtesy/NATASYouTube
DECADES BETWEEN BETH MAITLAND AND ROGER HOWARTH LAST EMMY WIN
In the Supporting Actor and Actress categories, Daytime Emmy history was made with Beth Maitland (Traci Abbott, The Young and the Restless) winning her second Emmy 41 years since she won her first won, and Roger Howarth (Matt Clark, The Young and the Restless) following suit for the men with his coming 32 years after he won in 1994 for One Life to Live.

Courtesy/NATASYouTube
Jeff Kober picked up his second Daytime Emmy win for his role as Cyrus Renault on General Hospital in the Outstanding Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series category. He previously won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role in 2022, following a nomination in the same category in 2021.
The Kelly Clarkson Show, meanwhile, won Outstanding Daytime Talk Series it its final year, while Sherri Shepherd won for Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host after finding out her talker had been canceled after four seasons.

Photo: NATAS/YouTube
THINK OF LAURA
General Hospital star Genie Francis (Laura) received the Lifetime Achievement Award and shared from the stage, “I know 50 years sounds like an awfully long time, but it doesn’t feel like that to me,” she said. “As they say, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.”
Overall, General Hospital, Beyond the Gates and The Kelly Clarkson Show received the most gold statuettes for the night with four wins apiece.
Here’s a look at the honor roll for tonight’s big winners below:
Outstanding Daytime Drama Series
General Hospital
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress
Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree, Beyond the Gates)
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor
Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful
Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor
Roger Howarth (Matt Clark, The Young and the Restless)
Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress
Beth Maitland (Traci Abbott, The Young and the Restless)
Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series
Ambyr Michelle (Eva Thomas, Beyond the Gates)
Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Drama Series
General Hospital
Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series
Jeff Kober (Cyrus Renault, General Hospital)
Outstanding Casting for a Daytime Program
General Hospital
Outstanding Directing in a Daytime Drama Series
Days of our Lives
Outstanding Talk Series
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Outstanding Talk Series Host
Sherri Shepherd, Sherri
Outstanding Lighting Direction for a Daytime Program
Beyond the Gates
Outstanding Costume Design/Styling for a Daytime Program
The Young and the Restless (Episode 13273)
Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup for a Daytime Program
Beyond the Gates, The Kelly Clarkson Show
So, who were you happy to see win a Daytime Emmy on tonight’s 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards? Do you think the right show and actors took home the gold? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section. In case you missed it, you can watch the replay of tonight’s livestream of the Daytime Emmy ceremony below.
Beyond the Gates
Who Should Win Outstanding Daytime Drama at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards? (Poll)

Tonight at the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, the top prize is Outstanding Daytime Drama Series. This year four soaps are in the running, will the best show take home the gold? Now it’s your turn to let us know your pick!
Going into the night’s festivities, The Young and the Restless leads all nominations this year with 18. Meanwhile, the upstart Beyond the Gates, in its first Daytime Emmy appearance in its history received a record 15 nominations for a first time entry into the Emmy competition.
Then, there is General Hospital who could win its sixth Daytime Emmy in a row for Outstanding Daytime Drama series and its 19th overall. Will they continue the streak?
Meanwhile, Days of our Lives looks to prove just because they are on Peacock and not on network television that they continue to be relevant, especially in a year where we learned Ryan Gosling and John Oliver where big fans of the show.
To watch the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards live, you can catch it on the NATAS/Emmy official You Tube channel here beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT.
Now it’s your turn! Take the Michael Fairman TV poll below and then let us know in the comment section, which show you are rooting for tonight to take home the gold statuette?
Beyond the Gates
Who Should Win Outstanding Lead Actress at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards? (Poll)

Five leading ladies of daytime drama are getting ready to go for the gold on Friday night, October 30 at the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards.
Will it be one of two women securing their first-ever Daytime Emmy nominations from the newest soap on the block, Beyond the Gates? Will Heather Tom become the winningest actress ever in Daytime Emmy history if she wins what would be her 7th gold statuette?
Could Michelle Stafford become a four-time Daytime Emmy winner? And, will Stacy Haiduk, win for Lead after previously being nominated in twice in the Supporting Actress category? Stay tuned.
In case you didn’t know, and to get you up to speed, the 2026 Lead Actress nominees are: Stacy Haiduk (Kristen DiMera, Days of our Lives), Karla Mosley (Dani Dupree, Beyond the Gates), Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers, The Young and the Restless), Heather Tom (Katie Logan, The Bold and the Beautiful), and Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree, Beyond the Gates).

Photo: CBS
HEATHER TOM POISED TO BREAK TIE WITH ERIKA SLEZAK FOR WINNINGEST ACTRESS IN SOAPS
Heather Tom spoke with Variety on the potential of breaking the daytime actress tie for most wins with One Life to Live’s veteran Erika Slezak. The B&B actress, writer and director explained she is not in rivalry with Slezak.
“I don’t think I could be in a rivalry with Erika Slezak because she’s just iconic. It kind of floors me to think that I’m kind of in the same conversation as her, because I was such a huge fan. I had the honor working with her and I just loved every single second,” shared Heather. “She always just brought it. There was never a day where she phoned it in. I certainly cannot feel like I’m in the rivalry with her because I would just have to say that she’s already won.”
As previously reported, ahead of the big day, the annual Lead Actress Ladies Luncheon was turned into a dinner and a house party by last year’s Lead Actress winner, Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis, General Hospital).
Make sure to tune-in to the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards streamed live on the NATAS/Emmys You Tube Channel beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT emanating from the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California tomorrow night!
Now below, vote in Michael Fairman TV’s poll and let us know which Lead Actress should win the Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy, and then let us know in the comment section who you
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