Days Of Our Lives
Freddie Smith Returns To Days of our Lives!
Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com
Tis true! Daytime Emmy winner Freddie Smith is on his way back to Salem as Sonny Kiriakis! The actor who began filming new episodes several months ago is slated to make his on-screen return to the canvas sometime in July!
This week’s Soap Opera Digest which will hit newsstands tomorrow and Friday has the exclusive first intel. Smith admits he is very excited to return to DAYS, and now the big question on everyone’s mind is … will Sonny reconnect with his ex, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) and therefore reignite DAYS having a same-sex couple on the long-running series?
Freddie’s last appearances on DAYS were returning to Salem for the funeral of his husband, Will Horton (Guy Wilson) who was brutally killed by necktie serial killer, Ben Weston (Rob Scott Wilson). Smith was widely praised for his gut-wrenching performances in the aftermath.
Now with a reset button, and a new DAYS co-head writing team, will Sonny’s story captivate viewers once again?
Share your thoughts on the return of Freddie Smith in the comment section below!
But Will isnt dead…he survived the brutal murder, revived off camera and his death staged for his protection-he was in a coma all this time and will eventually return played by Chandler Massey!!!…Dont ya all wish!!!!
I agree with you, Jimmmy. Sami whisked Will away to Switzerland to recover and to keep him safe, until such time as Ben is altogether gone. My hunch tells me Marlena is the only one in Salem who knows ……and, Sonny has been with Will all along in Switzerland. Sounds wild, right? Lol.
Please let’s leave Will in the deep freeze❄️❄️❄️
Here’s what I choose to believe:
Stefano DiMera went shopping again at “Body-Doubles-R-Us,” just like he did previously when he kidnapped Rafe and substituted him with a fake body-double who fooled most people for awhile.
Stefano did this merely for the sport of messing with the jocular folk of Salem, since one does need a hobby beyond counting one’s money all day long.
William’s recast was the rented body-double all along. The William-double was far more convincing than earlier Rafe-double, so no one spotted him, right up to and including the double getting murdered, rather than the real William.
Meanwhile, the real William has been safe and sound, living the perfect life happily in Paris with Sonny and Ariana.
All this time, William has been learning to play the piano with a distinct French accent, and is now an accomplished mime.
Okay, none of that will prove to be the actual story line, but it’s what I stubbornly choose to believe, against all evidence to the contrary.
I watch days of our lives and enjoyed seeing sonny and will on there.hope they return they made the show will be watching for them to return
So, is it long-term??? Would love it if they found a way to bring Will back…in the form of Chandler Massey! Wishful thinking though… Paul and Sonny would be cool.
I too am wondering how long he will be on. It is just a drive by or a long contract.
Wow that’s wonderful news, Freddie is a wonderful actor. Hopefully he signed a long term contract.
That’s my hope, too, Ricardo.
Sonny is definitely missed in Salem. Welcome back, Freddie!!!
And maybe it will give story to Justin and Adrienne. I do miss them!
Yes Jeremy, Freddie is missed in Salem. Also I always love your comments on this site. Let’s pray and hope, that Freddie signed a long term contract.
Oh, great! Glad to have him back. Good actor. A Sonny and Paul romance would be a good storyline. I liked Will, and was sad and sorry when they killed him off, so if he can be resurrected that would be good, but if TPTB have made their decision then glad to at least have Sonny back.
Wouldn’t it be interested if they pulled a Shelter Island/Secret of NIMH/Pam Ewing’s Dream where this all occurred in Abby Devereaux’s mind…then Will could be alive…
Freddie Smith without Chandler Massey does not excite me.
THEY WILL RE-UNITE…..I just know it. I am fervently praying, mike. Love the actors and their characters.
I’m hoping this will be what happens: Freddie and Chandler both back!!! With the recent rumor about CM returning to Days, there’s a def possibility!
I’m taking a wait and see attitude. I’ve seen in the past where SOD makes a big deal about an actor returning only to find out it was just for a 2 or 3 episode arc. I hope that Sonny comes back for a longer story arc than that.
Since this rumor turned out to be true, then the Chandler Massey as Will rumor must be as well. I guess if Matthew Ashford can come back as Jack Deveraux’s ‘ghost’ then Chandler can come back as Will’s. i’m predicting it will be some sort of ‘it’s okay to get on with life and love again’ scene or scenes.
Yeah, so true, Eddie. A lot of honey is offered, and we’re the flies.
I’ve heard that it’s only for month. July through August.
I was thinking the same thing, maybe Chandler Massey is only returning as Will’s “ghost” to tell Sonny it’s all right to move on with your life. Would be nice though if there were some kind of reunion.
YASSS!!! I wouldn’t mind seeing him with Paul again and then pray really hard that Will isn’t really dead and that Chandler Massey comes back!
*Rubs hands together in glee* Bring on Paul/Sonny! I’ve been waiting since Paul’s first appearance for them.
Have you guys not seen the article and heard the rumors?? Chandler Massey is on his way back to DAYS!!!!! WATCH!!!!! And yes as Will Horton!!!!
Hoping only dream sequence
I also think that it’s going to be some sort of dream, vision, or flashback type of scene(s).
I expect the rumor about CM will turn out to be… TRUE!!!
Bringing Sonny back won’t bring back all the Wilson fans and the other viewers they lost when they brutally, gleefully and hatefully murdered Will and then ruined Sonny’s character by having him abandoning his daughter and make a date with ex on his husband’s grave.
I agree with you, perhaps not as strongly as you feel it, bringing back Sonny is not going to erase what happened last year. There is so much wrong with what the show did to the characters. Many fans blame the writers, but it seems to me the story line would not have been written if Corday hadn’t approved it.
I agree. Then again daytime fans are notoriously forgiving (I mean read some of the plot speculations here. The wild plot lines fans even here would be willing to swallow just to accommodate a CM/WilSon return).
Personally, I would find such ridiculousness insulting and just salt to the wound, but that’s just my opinion.
I’m sure CM will return, but prob’ly as a ghost/vision/dream. Especially considering how fond DAYS has become with that particular gimmick lately.
[This is my previous submission EDITED to – I hope – comply with MF’s guidelines – and it’s also improved a bit. Thank you!]
Days utterly DESTROYED Sonny’s character!
Here’s what Sonny said when he returned to Salem after they killed Will. This is in conversation with his mom and Kayla :
‘You know I was planning on coming back here before this happened. Will left me this message, and I listened to it over and over again, and I started thinking “what the hell am I doing?”. I realized I still loved him and I needed to be here with him and Arianna. And now I got to tell MY TWO YEAR OLD DAUGHTER she’s never going to see her Dad again. ‘
A week later Sonny totally abandons HIS DAUGHTER, and the daughter of the husband that he said he “loved”. And why? Because he couldn’t cope with his feelings! He “saw” Will everywhere in Salem, everywhere he went he was reminded of him. Well welcome to grief Sonny lad! Did you not think your two year old daughter needed you to help her through? Did you want her to grieve the loss of you too?
Sonny delivered Arianna, and raised her from birth as his own. Will and Gabi signed a custody agreement naming Sonny as a parent if one of them died. And to Arianna herself, Sonny was her daddy – and Days had Sonny abandon her because he couldn’t cope with his own feelings! How utterly pathetic!
In real life, Sonny’s behavior would have met with very strong disapproval. In truth it was bad writing. But it wasn’t just bad writing, it was bad writing that sprang from a bad agenda, as can be seen with all the other anti-gay messaging that was incorporated into the story, which was talked about in length by commentators on this site back in the fall, here:
https://e98.637.mwp.accessdomain.com/news/days-decimates-will-horton-should-ben-have-brutally-murdered-this-once-legacy-character/2015/10/09/
and here:
https://e98.637.mwp.accessdomain.com/news/have-daytime-dramas-become-more-afraid-of-having-gay-characters-on-the-canvas/2015/11/17/
and here:
https://e98.637.mwp.accessdomain.com/news/days-of-our-lives-salem-grieves-at-wills-funeral-what-did-you-think-of-the-episode/2015/10/20/
Days put out negative messages on gay love, gay fatherhood, and on step fatherhood when they designed the Kill Will plot. Who designs plots? The head-writers do, Higley and Griffith, with the co-operation of the executive producers.
Freddie’s return, and Chandler’s alleged return – none of this can fix the damage that Days did to its own fictional world and characters when they had Will murdered and no one was interested in investigating Will’s end, despite Will’s grandpa being the police commissioner! It’s like they all shrugged their shoulders and carried on. Abby didn’t even bother to report Will’s last movements – and her character was destroyed by it. And Will’s grandpa Roman Brady’s police department didn’t bother to investigate Will’s last movements. Kate Roberts, powerhouse of revenge and making-things-happen, did nothing but carry on with her work. All the characters had a wrecking ball put through them with the Kill Will debacle – but none worse than Sonny Kiriakis, the love of Will’s life!
I *LOVED* Sonny. But I have no interest in a Sonny who abandoned his daughter, and who had no interest in seeing that the murder of his husband was properly investigated, and the perpetrator convicted. TomSell began the wrecking of Sonny by retconning Paul into his life. The Sonny that was introduced to the show and fell in love with Will wasn’t someone pining after a lost love, he was a vivacious and capable young man who had independently traveled the world and was tremendously happy – he was, quite literally, a sunny young man! Griffley topped TomSell’s damage by ripping out Sonny’s heart and sending him off to the land of ruined characters. So what if he’s back – he’s still a ruined character!
Days wrecked the show when Griffley had Will killed. Whatever they might be doing to “resurrect” Will, it’s not going to fix the damage that Days did. And Freddie’s return is not going to fix anything. I don’t want a broken Sonny! No thank you!
The only way to fix Days is for the show to apologize and do a rewind.
It’s been six months and they haven’t apologized, so clearly that’s not happening. And, oops, they’ve sacked half the cast!
I do agree, Stephen. Abandoning his child and not seeking any closure for his husband’s death does make Sonny look like the lowest of the low. But, what if what I predicted above, albeit jokingly, is fact? What if Will is alive and Sonny is with him? Too far fetched? Not in soapland. LOL.
This would not make amends for me. Insulting my intelligence with a ridiculous plot hardly makes up for what they did (not that that will stop them)
Excellent post, Stephen! And I totally agree.
I agree as well. I wish everything that happened on Days since fall 2015 could be just a BIG, BAD dream, but there was so much “mess” that I’m afraid even using a dream excuse ala Dallas would still leave Days in a wrecked state! Too bad the show is so messed up now, not even a hot mess, just a mess. Period. It’ll be interesting to see what these writers can do to fix the show in the fall!
Thank you James!
Apologize for what…turning you into a big crybaby?! Get over it! If DAYS apologizes, I my have to quit watching!
Don’t watch!
Thank you ! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for :
a) the blatant personal attack and insult! Hah!
b) the commands!
c) the revelatory question!
I love it when folks reveal their incivility and bad attitudes so succinctly and clearly!
Stephen…you are so RIGHT ON, dude!!!!! As far as I’m concerned, TIIC at DOOL did a major character assassination (or whatever) on Sonny!!!!! NOT COOL AT ALL!!!!!!
Have a good one, Stephen.
Thank you jay!
I agree and have only one add on. When Sonny , more or less told Paul to wait for him, standing over his husbands grave, that just made me cringe. People in Salem were more broken up over Paige and for longer than Will, who had a huge part in everyones lives. It was poorly written and didnt do justice to an amazing character.
When the writers destroyed the amazing couple that was Will and Sonny, I mourned for them.
To be clear, Stephen, I was a fan of Will and Sonny, but I’m against fans trying to pressure DAYS into apologizing for ANY storyline or character actions. No soap should apologize. That would open a huge can of worms! Should all soap viewers expect apologies for a long list of perceived wrongdoing? I can make a sizable list after viewing 32 years. I could also include storylines from other soaps I never watched.
You also wrote “rewind” as in change the story as if it never happened…AS IF IT’S THE ONLY STORY THAT MATTERS! The characters and storylines are linked, which means a rewind for one is a rewind for all. I happen to be happy with most of the stories, which you are saying DAYS should change to justify the actions of one character…DREAM ON!
The a, b and c of your reply to me pertains to you also.
Take comfort in knowing that Sonny’s return and Will’s possible return can eventually heal your wounded heart.
A bit OT but: In reference to the links about the brutality of Willl’s murder scene, that was certainly bad enough…but then they repeated it with 12 (yes, 12…I counted) flashbacks! Personally, I founded it appalling.
Great reply to me, 4ever DAYS! Thank you for your comments! The only jerk here in this thread is me for having a quick trigger on the “Reply” button, needlessly becoming involved in a disagreement that was none of my business, and violating the personal attack rules. My apologies…
Stephen, good for you! Some people will remain 4ever jerks…
I’m a jerk for wanting the same treatment for ALL characters and storylines, James?
There’s been several fathers in recent years on DAYS who abandoned their children. It happens. Those other fathers were thought to be too good to leave, but they did and it was accepted without demands of apologies and rewinds of storylines.
There shall be no preferential treatment or I will not support it!
I don’t want Sonny to return under the poison pens of either Josh Griffith or Dena Higley. Their unapologetic anti-gay messaging was sick and should have resulted in Days being ripped from the airways. In particular, Sonny walking out on his daughter was part of the message that there would be no more gay families on the show, and that betrayed fans such as myself.
I have no doubt that Will will be revived and Sonny’s time will be short lived. I don’t care which actor, Guy Wilson or Chandler Massey, as I respect them both and Will is too important to leave dead. However, I think the show has become so sick and twisted that I wouldn’t wish the rotten writing on any actor I respect.
Thank you for this comment. I totally agree. I can only add that in the past 6 mos they have also reduced their one remaining gay character to a mere token (if you put all of Paul’s scenes since Thanksgiving together in one reel he’s had a little over 35 minutes of screen time in almost 6 months). And yes, they introduced a new gay teen (Henry), but then spoiled it by having him harassed with a vulgar gay slur (MEMO TO DAYS: That “F” word is no longer acceptable under any terms!). I do disagree that the remedy is to rewind, however. To me the remedy is to move forward. Give Paul his own story without Sonny or any connection to WilSon (his history with Sonny/WilSon is too tainted IMO), develop the Henry character and try (good luck!) to make this right.
Great post, Stephen. I totally agree with what you have said.
Thank you, Kay!
I agree that the damage may be unfixable. It could be easier, and far more interesting, if they simply started with a tabula rasa blank slate.
Perhaps Freddie could come back instead portraying one of Sonny’s many brothers, let’s say Alex — or new brother who happens to be gay, let’s call him Shmalex.
Likewise, Chandler could reappear as one of William’s long-lost cousins from the Old Country, let’s call him Shmilliam. I’m thinking as in Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha and Serena, or even the Patty Duke twins.
It could be very interesting to see how Shmalex and Shmilliam adjust and get acclimated to a Salem they don’t know well, and its smothering/overbearing hordes of interfering relatives.
Actually, it could be very helpful if Shmalex and Shmilliam started asking questions about the convoluted mess of relationships and tangled history of Salem. Hearing brief explanations would greatly help newer members of the audience.
Appearing as different characters could be liberating to the actors themselves, who might enjoy portraying different aspects of characters. Plus, it could be more entertaining to see love begin anew, without the baggage from the past.
Glad to hear. Love Freddie Smith’s Sonny
I think it is too soon for Sonny to move on. I do hope Chandler as Will returns.
welcome back Sonny. Qnd hope u resume
resume relationship with Paul
Chandler has not been on Twitter for the last 2 months, maybe so he won’t have to lie about being back on DOL
I love all the bits of info… one can reap on this FAN’tastic “blog”
I don’t do twitter …
giddy with anticipation
just PLEASE do not be a dream
let’s AMP this : Sonny – Chandler Massey’ Will – Paul and BRING BACK T – and Brian
Ta-Da
I think it’s great that Sonny will return to Salem – I didn’t think it would be this soon so contract negotiations must have been worked out ~ maybe he will hook up with Paul, who has absolutely nothing to do on this show except that dumb modeling job. It would be nice also if a new character could be thrown into the mix – weren’t there rumors of Will coming back in the original version played by Chandler? Maybe that was just for a brief “dream sequence”?
If Will is only coming back as a ghost, then Days should do itself a favor and not bring him back at all. This “ghost sequence” will only reinforce the hurt some viewers feel and make it impossible to ever believably revive the character. Days needs to fix the mess caused by recent writers – not add to it – and get those ratings up pronto!
I’m sure Chandler would only come back to resurrect the character.
I’m confused thought, he (the character of Will) was CLEARLY strangled to death in front of our eyes by crazy Ben – how can they “bring him back”? I could understand it they say “his plane went down” or if they say “his car went off a cliff” (but he’s been stranded on an Island with amnesia) but since the character was choked to death while pleading for his life (which by the way was a horrible demise of a gay character or ANY character for that matter, and really shouldn’t be depicted on daytime TV) I don’t understand how they can bring him back.
Maybe Will shall only come back in a dream advising Sonny that “he needs to go on with his own life”. I don’t know, this is just conjecture on my part – and didn’t Chandler Massey leave to pursue College and other avenues of the entertainment field – some of it doesn’t add up to me.
We had a long, long, long gay storyline on Days. I for one was very very bored with it–this is a show with all types of love interest and family matters. I LOVE the way the show is going now.
The writers focused wayyyyyyyyyy too much on the gay story line last time–sure hope it’s not going to be so focused on this time. Freddie is a good actor, though and would rather to see him back with Justin/Adrienne/Victor–maybe even a new job locally with Titan.
Well, I’m sorry if you felt the writers focused too much on Will and Sonny, but when they switched gears and focused on John and his putrid father, or had Brady fishing out what’s her name out of the Ocean, that was a total and complete snooze. The show was better when it involved Sonny, plus the once baseball star Paul, and the neurotic Will interfering – and I do love Abigail and her crazy way of dealing with Ben, that’s very compelling.
I find the storyline of Kayla and Steve to be a bore, two more than middle aged people still having teeny bopper problems, c’mon.
Hey, Tom,
I was actually thinking along the same lines as yourself, at some point.
That is; Will appears in Sonny’s dreams, so that Sonny would be at peace within himself and continue his life without guilt.
Perhaps, find a meaningful, new relationship?
I, among many, always found this storyline’s ending too abrupt.
Nonetheless, it’s a soap….dying is not always the end for a character. Those swinging doors are omnipresent. Lol.
You are right about John’s father and Summer/ocean but I think the new storyline with Summer/Maggie/Victor is all interesting and love Brady/Theresa, Chad/Abby-and Abigail’s recent-burning Ben episode was EPIC–awesome acting! Kayla/Steve-you would’ve had to have watched DAYS back in the day to appreciate them-they should make up and have sweet wedding-grandchildren from Joey, etc.
And again-yes, they focused WAY WAY WAY too much on the Sonny/Paul storyline-Will, too but at least Will was a Horton-to me they should bring him back-But, would like the original Will. they’ve brought others back from the dead-and was surprised they would kill off him and Bo. Paige and JJ had great chemistry, too-shame they killed her. Also, like the new Hope/Rafe love interest. However, the actress that plays Rafe’s mother OVER ACTS BIG TIME. I think it’s nice to have a new storyline with her and family-just wish it were a different actress. Thanks for listening.
Just as a side note I do feel that Rafe’s mom does “overact” and I’m not quite sure what the significance is having the mom around Salem – I like Gabby but for some reason I don’t sense a real chemistry between Gabby and JJ and it’s a little difficult for me to accept JJ as suddenly being a full-fledged police officer – but, these are all just minor observations.
Overall I enjoy the show and it will be interesting to see if Will emerges in some miraculous way.
Will is dead. Please let it be that way. I loved the character but not much toward the end. The recast did not help. Look, if it is so important to have consistency then the powers that be need to ride heard on writers and say, “No!” I prefer stories that take characters in new directions rather than repeating same plots and patterns over and over and over (Victor and Nikki Newman!). Sonny K’s return allows some course correction in that botched it-happened-to-Will-and now-we-forgot-murder story line. And it can be very interesting to follow a young person deal with grief and rebuilding one’s life in ways other than a quick return to another’s arms. I hope for the best here.
I happened to enjoyed the recast as did others. The ratings are abysmal since the new writers took over and ruined characters and killed off characters such as Will which in turn drove away a lot of viewers that the show may never ever get back which is the show’s own fault. The show needs to get over it and bring Will back.
I loved both CM and GW about equally. They both had strengths and qualities they brought that I loved (CM’s sensitivity, GW’s toughness) and weaknesses that I often found irritating (CM often came off as whiny to the point that it bordered on stereotype, like gay men just burst into tears over nothing, GW was often flat when he SHOULD have been more emotional, like in the Chapel scene). Both were good & neither were perfect, IMO. As I said above, I think the best course for DAYS is just to move forward, but if the are trying to satisfy fans with a CM return then it’s easy to do a re-write: This was all just one of Abby’s hallucinations. Done. Lame (IMO), but done.
It’s been known for months so why is this now being reported here? How about news about how long he’s back for. I won’t get excited until it’s long term.
And it’s been known that Chandler Massey has been back as Will. Where is that story?
Not known, just rumored.
Not rumored when there were pics months ago of Freddie back at work at Days.
As I said above, I’ve heard that he’s only back for a month from July-Aug (And FS always said he was open to guest appearances on DAYS while he pursued other things so there you go). I agree, I don’t find a guest appearance anything to get excited about (though they’re nice sometimes) especially since they’re so often disappointing.
Rumored that CHANDLER is coming back, not confirmed.
There you go, you cleared it up now.
I really hope this means that Chandler Massey is back as Will, and they can undo the damage done to these two last year. WilSon was one of DAYS best couples and deserve a good story. Especially with these two fantastic actors playing the roles.
I am thinking this will be of a short duration.
Last time Freddie said an amazing story line was coming, they destroyed Will and Sonny. So forgive me if I am skeptical. I think Freddie is a great actor. Sonny’s barely there time after Wills death, didnt even go see him at morgue after stating he needed to tell Will how much he loved him, his inability to stay due to “seeing Will everywhere”, duh! What did he think would hapoen? They changed Sonnt too much. Will have to see what they do with him.
*Sonny
I agree. I’m not expecting much. The past year we’ve been promise great stories time & again (and from the actor’s perspective they might be great to play) but this is what we got. We’ve also had A LOT of hype built up around very brief appearances that turned out to be duds. That’s what I fully expect to happen again.
Hopeful, but note excited.
I just hope they aren’t bringing Sonny back so that he and Paul can ride off into the sunset and the show can “de-gay”.
This is what I fear will happen. Does anyone know when Christopher Sean’s contract is up?
Although, Freddie did add NBC Studios — Days of Our Lives back to his Facebook Intro. Hmmm…
I dunno, but read somewhere that CS’s contract expires in June? so this might be exactly what happens.
I am afraid that is exactly what these incompetent writers have planned.
I am happy about this! There is something about Freddie Smith that has this boy-next-door kind of quality and is good at portraying emotions. I enjoy watching his scenes.
It would add color and realism to the show if Sonny occasionally slipped-up, and absent-mindedly said something in French, to show how acclimated he had become to living in Paris.
It might also be nice if Sonny introduced William to some of the other personal social graces that Sonny learned while living in the City of Love.
I am so happy that Sonny is returning to Days. He is such a great guy and a great performer. Can’t wait for July! It is about time someone stepped up and brings back some of the best actors they had. Great Job!
I am excited that Sonny aka Freddie Smith is returning to Days, but i think that the writers needed to come up with something to bring Will Horton back ,either like they did Aiden or some other way. I DO NOT WANT SONNY AND PAUL TO GET BACK TOGETHER! The way they got rid of Will was a disgrace for all of his fans, whether it is Guy Wilson or Chandler Massey, i do not care (prefer Chandler though) both are wonderful actors. When they killed Will, that blew the chance for Sonny and Will to reunite and that was a slap in the face of the fans, but i know this SoapShow, Days of Our Lives’ writers are more than able to rewrite or come up with something special.
Days Of Our Lives
‘Days of Our Lives’ Favorites Making Returns: Alison Sweeney, Christie Clark, Chandler Massey and Bryan Dattilo
Great news for Days of Our Lives fans, now that Ryan Quan is co-head writer of the long-running soap opera. Coming in June of 2027 (since DAYS tapes ten or so months ahead), you can look forward to the returns of Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady), Christie Clark (Carrie Brady), Chandler Massey (Will Horton) and Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Horton).
The foursome is back on set and began last week to tape their upcoming story arc, according to TV Insider. As to what exactly is going on that brings sister Sami and Carrie’s history back up, as well as Will and Lucas’ is only being teased at this time, but suffice to say, it should be intriguing.
Alison Sweeney explained on being back on set, “It was a lot of dialogue and emotion, but with all the best actors to work opposite, we fell into it as if no time had passed. It was really wonderful.”
Photo: JPI
As to working with the longstanding rivalry of Sami and Carrie, Alison added on working with Clark, “So, it really does feel like we’re sisters. It’s so fun, and she’s such a good actor that she makes everything so natural that you can really disappear into those stories.”
JUST LIKE OLD TIMES
It also seems like the deep-history, which often had the sister fighting for the love of Austin Reed, but that might not figure into the equation this time, or will it?
Alison indicated what she thought of the scripts she was given. “I felt like when I read it, it was a page-turner. I was very excited. There’s a lot of history here, and a lot of things that haven’t been said. So, it’s really not like, ‘Oh, rehashing stuff.’ And now having played some of the scenes, I’m psyched.” Sweeney added, as for the men, working again with her on-screen son, Chandler Massey and Will’s on-screen father Bryan Dattilo, was also extra special.
The last time DAYS viewers saw Sami on the canvas was back in November of 2025, when she revealed she has gotten engaged to never-before-seen Dante Vitali. As for Clark, she last visited Salem for the episodes surrounding John Black’s memorial in June of 2025.
Chandler Massey’s Will Horton last made a visit to Salem in November of 2025 when he attended the gala for the Tom Horton Free Clinic as part of the soap opera’s 60th anniversary celebration. Bryan Dattilo was last seen in December of 2025. So, by the time we see all four again it will be close to two years since they were on new episodes of the series. Time to look forward to June of 2027.
So, excited by the news of Alison, Christie, Chandler and Lucas making a return to Days of Our Lives? What do you think the story will be involving, Sami, Carrie, Lucas and Will? Let us know via the comment section.
Days Of Our Lives
‘Days of Our Lives’ Alum Al Calderon Talks On His Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes as Javi Hernandez (Exclusive)
Last Tuesday, Al Calderon scored the first Emmy nomination of his career for his role as Javi Hernandez on Days of Our Lives.
Calderon name was announced as one of the performers competing for gold in the Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series category at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards on October 30.
This week, Calderon chatted live on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel for a one-on-one conversation where he discussed: his nominated scenes and time on the Peacock streaming soap opera, his decision to leave DAYS, his role of Nico Silva on Brilliant Minds and its sad cancellation, plus his passing the torch of Javi to Jacob Martinez, who took over the role on-screen on the June 30, 2026 episode of Days of Our Lives.
Photo: JPI
JAVI REVEALS TO LEO THAT HE HAD A DAUGHTER WHO DIED
Al revealed the scenes that comprise his now Emmy-nominated reel have at its epicenter the heartbreaking moments from the September 12, 2025 episode. In it, Javi shares for the first time to Leo (Greg Rikaart) that he had a daughter named Solana, with a woman he was seeing named Sylvia. One fateful day, Sylvia left their child in a car when she went to work and the little girl died. Javi had blamed himself for not being the parent to take his daughter to school that day since he was hungover the night before, therefore it opened up the opportunity for something to happen to the his child, and it did.
The multi-talented actor/singer explained his reel: “It was the scene where he is talking about his daughter to Leo. I also included the scene where Javi goes to talk to Melinda (Tina Huang) and to see if it would be a viable option to adopt, because I wanted to introduce the subtlety and nuance of why Javi kind of has this whole connection to Tesoro, in a way.”
It is true that Al can bring the tears and make us cry right along with him during his run as Javi. To that, Calderon added, “I’ve read the comments that I’m a little bit of a crybaby, so I didn’t want the entire reel to be of me crying, but I wanted it to show a little bit of an emotional range of the restraint that Javi was feeling so I included that scene
In addition Calderon shared, “I also included a really beautiful scene with Cherie Jimenez (Gabi Hernandez, DAYS) where I’m looking at photos of Tesoro, and of course, Javi is crying. I just wanted to show the relationship between Javi and his family as well, and as I mentioned the reveal of the child that he lost.”
Photo: JPI
ALUMS AL CALDERON AND ALICE HALSEY REPRESENT DAYS OF OUR LIVES IN EMERGING TALENT CATEGORY
In a twist of fate, Calderon is also nominated in the Emerging Talent category with Alice Halsey who played Rachel Black. Halsey is currently starring in the reboot of Little House on the Prairie in the lead role of Laura Ingalls on Netflix.
As to his hope on Emmy night, Al expressed, “Of course, I want to win, but Alice Halsey is going to give me a run for the money. And if’s not me (who wins the award), it better be her!”
You can check out the full interview with Al below.
Now let us know, do you remember Al’s emotional scenes when he explained to Leo he had a daughter who died, which made it all the more heartbreaking to not end up with permanent custody of Tesoro? What do you think of Al’s chances to win the gold based on his Emmy scene selection? Do you miss him as Javi? Weigh-in via the comment section.
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.
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