Monday, August 17, 2015

'Days of our Lives' Waters Its Roots with Next Generation: Kyler Pettis, Olivia Keegan, Jonathon McClendon, Vivian Jovanni and James Lastovic

Kyler Pettis, Olivia Keegan, Jonathon McClendon, Vivian Jovanni
and James Lastovic. Photo Credit: JPI Studios
They grow up fast on soaps, and Salem USA is about to get a whole new crop of teenagers. Days of our Lives is aging five child characters into young adults: Ciara, Theo, Chase, Claire and Joey.

On August 28, Patch and Kayla's son Joey, last seen as a 6-year-old, will pop up as a troubled teen played by newcomer James Lastovic. A new Ciara Brady (Vivian Jovanni) and Chase Jennings (Jonathon McClendon) will both arrive October 30. Then comes Theo Carver (Kyler Pettis) on November 3, followed by Claire Brady (Olivia Keegan) November 25.

“Young people are the life blood of any soap—especially ours as we head toward our 50th anniversary in November,” executive producer Ken Corday tells TV Insider. “By aging these children into young adults, we’re making them more relatable to our audience and more dramatically exciting. These are not ancillary characters, but young leads. None of them will be a goody two-shoes. Each is somewhat flawed.”

The next generation will share similarities with their parents. For example, Ciara will be reminiscent of her mom, Hope, and Joey is very much like Patch.

“My late mom [Days executive producer Betty Corday] used to say, ‘You have to water the roots of the Days of our Lives tree with a new generation every 10 years or so,’ and that’s what we’ve done,” Corday notes. “These are the children of the children of the children of the children, and they are vital to our future.”

Meanwhile, is Days adding an Emmy winner to its cast?

4 comments:

  1. I'm guessing it's going to be Robin Strasser.

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  2. The photo kind of looks like one of the "unauthorized" Lifetime movie cast photos that has been released this summer. :)

    I think it's a good idea to bring on the next generation but their success, and possibly the success of the whole show, will depend on how good these actors are, and how well-written this next generation is. Wishing them luck.

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  3. 3 out of the 5 are related to each other!
    Peter, Clare and Ciara are all cousins. In fact, Ciara is clare's aunt. So I assume everyone will fight over Theo and Chase?

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  4. What in the world is going on? Why didn't they ease the characters into teenagers. It is so weird turing on the television one day and Ciara is 9 or 10 and then the next day she 18....Wow !! What a gap. I love Days but they really need to try to be a little more realistic when they switch characters to a more aged character. That being said ...Well Wishes also.

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