The annual "Day of Days" event was held on Saturday, November 14 at Universal Citywalk. Mandy Lynn Denaux covered the event and chatted with the cast of Days of our Lives about the 50th anniversary of the NBC soap opera, the biggest changes with the new behind-the-scenes regime, and much more.
Below are some of the interesting quotes from the day.
Christopher Sean (Paul Narita): "Days is going in a different direction. A stronger, more commercial direction. They knew the fans wanted to see these legends … these heavy hitters, back in the ring for one more round. And that’s the right answer to bring back the avid fans."
Lauren Koslow (Kate Roberts): "We're moving a lot faster. In fact, super fast. I do think it's a good thing. I think it's how stories are told in other genres. Sometimes you have to understand a lot of stuff happens off camera, that you might not see. We're used to doing scenes where we explain everything, and there's less of that. Now we have to get caught up too. I actually think it's a positive change."
Jen Lilley (Theresa Donovan): "Theresa’s been a lot more sympathetic with the new writers. I think she’s got mommy syndrome, as all moms do. Or hopefully all moms do. I think that’s something that people can universally relate to. So it does sympathize her. The fun shift for me is that Theresa still has old Theresa in there, but here’s the shift...if you mess with people she loves, she will come after you. But if she loves you, she loves you fiercely and she loves with all her heart. I really like that shift, just bringing a lot more dimension to Theresa to the surface."
Kassie DePaiva (Eve Larson): "It used to be that fans only had access to their soap stars through the shopping mall experience or the soap magazines. Now it's tweets and it's so instant. It just changes how people perceive soaps. Thank goodness there's still a lot of interest and they're not changing the endings of the stories, though I'm sure that's what's coming next...there will be an interactive ending. Thank god that's not happening now or Eve would have been dead a long time ago. [Laughs]"
Thaao Penghlis (Andre DiMera): "With my age and longevity comes wisdom. I do things more understated. I'm also in touch with my humor because you get to those layers that are real rather than superficial. All of those feelings are there to explore from that aspect but you have to get there. So, I can get to my tears if I want to, my humor if I want to, to my drama if I want to, only because I have had a sense of maturity over the years since my parents died–those life changing things. And they affect you honestly and you have to go and express yourself at this stage in your life so every time I have gone back there has been a huge journey that I have taken that has changed the outlook of the character I play."
Galen Gering (Rafe Hernandez): "One of the things I really love is there is a real cohesive blend between the producing, directing, the acting and the writing. Historically, that hasn’t been the case. It was a much more closed-door policy, and while at times that can be good, most of the time it’s not as good."
A Martinez (Eduardo Hernandez): "Albert Alarr, who has directed more episodes than anyone [and is now co-executive producer], is on the floor with us, literally day after day after day, so you’re not just communicating over the intercom from the booth. You're actually having someone come up and look you in the face and tell you what they think is going on if there’s a problem. You could argue that that’s almost miraculous, given how little time we have to prepare. It’s kind of absurd really. The fact that it can end up being as good as it is...it's amazing."
Camila Banus (Gabi Hernandez): "Spending a night in jail will probably change you; make you not do things. And so imagine spending a whole year in a facility that you cannot leave, where you have to follow specific rules. Where you have to be with people you don’t want to be with. You have to not see your family. It is very traumatizing. So you are going to see a little difference in Gabi … maturity. She’s going to grow."
Billy Flynn (Chad DiMera): "I don’t think my story changed much in the direction it was headed, or I think they were heading with Chad and Abigail. But with the regime change, I don’t know if my character and Abigail’s character would have gone to the heights they go to. I think this is the way they were going, but they propelled it to you know with their idea of trying to create this couple that is a solidifying couple in the history of Days."
Josh Taylor (Roman Brady):
"It's so much clearer...at the cop shop, you never knew who was a cop or who was in charge. And since the new writers have come in, we know who is in charge. We brought in JJ, which has been great. And we have the commissioner, and the detectives and the cops. We know the hierarchy and that makes storyline."
I have to say I have not been happy with the "new" regime, but yesterdays (11/17) episode was really good, (except the Steve and John scene), I especially enjoyed the overlapping dialogue between Andre and Sami.
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