Mockumentary III - The Search for Stories (Read 8,394 times)

[fluffysmom]

This was a favorite story for the actors and readers alike. I'm glad Nicole finally has a child.

[Kpatch]

I remember being so excited that you were shooting on location in Florida! Hope you'll bring the DAYS cast down again sometime soon.

[André DiMera]

Spring Fever

DRAKE HOGESTYN (as John): The only place he'll be moving on to is hell.
James pulled out a gun and points it at Liana
JAMES SCOTT (as E.J.): Then, she'll be going with me!
James pulled the trigger. Liana fell to the ground.
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): Cut! Liana, are you okay?
LIANA LIBERATO: Yeah. I'm only acting.
Everyone laughs.
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): Okay. Just making sure. All right, everybody. Let's take it from E.J. pulling out the gun.

SOUNDTRACK
“Fireflies” by Owl City
“Come On, Eileen” by Dexy's Midnight Runners
“Danny's Song” by Loggins and Messina
“Closing Time” by Semisonic

INTRODUCTION
ANDRE DIMERA (writer): I felt that I needed to do something big. I knew that this would be the last time that I wrote these characters for quite a while, so I wanted to do something big. That's where I came up with this.

THE STORY
ANDRE DIMERA: The first thing I wanted to do was show Salem High's Turnabout dance. We've always seen the Last Blast, but I wanted to show a different sort of dance. I also wanted to show Sydney having fun, as the rest of the story would be quite grim for her.
LIANA LIBERATO (Sydney DiMera): Sydney and Ceri going to Turnabout was...magical. That's the only way I can describe it. Millie (Rosso) and I had so much fun shooting the scenes for the Turnabout dance. It was just spectacular.
CAMILLA ROSSO (Ceri Alamain): We see another step in the evolution of Ceri and Sydney's relationship. In “End of Summer”, Ceri taught Sydney how to dance; now in “Spring Fever”, they go to a dance and have the best time ever!
ANDRE DIMERA: While all this is going on, Morgan returns to Salem in disguise as Melanie.
RACHEL MELVIN (Chelsea Brady): Max and Chelsea already know that Chelsea is pregnant, but then they get the news that there's more than one baby. When I first read the script and it said quintuplets, I was in shock! Chelsea's a fairly small girl, how was she gonna be able to carry all of those babies? In the end, of course, it's a lie, and Chelsea is revealed to only be having triplets.
KRISTEN RENTON (Morgan Hollingsworth): So, Morgan once again tries to steal Max, and is, as one would expect, unsuccessful. She gets herself in enough hot water, though, for somebody to kill her. And who is that somebody?
ANDRE DIMERA: Like I said, I knew I wanted to do something big. I felt that we had reached a safe place in the story for me to bring back E.J., who had supposedly been dead in the last several stories.
JAMES SCOTT (E.J. DiMera): The DiMeras never die. Never. This was the first time for this set of stories that I worked with anyone other than either Ali (Sweeney) or Liana (Liberato), all of my scenes so far had been done with them. In this story, I worked with people like Thaao (Penghlis) and other actors, as well as Ali and Liana. It was great to come back, but I am glad that E.J. gets his comeuppance in the end, as he really was horrible this time around. I think “swiss cheese” was the comparison that Bo or John made.
LIANA LIBERATO: For Sydney, E.J. coming back is the worst thing that could possibly happen. She could not be more terrified of him. However, in the five years that E.J.'s been gone, Sydney's changed. She's more confident. She has a much closer bond with people than she's ever had. She's ready to stand up for herself. I think since we first saw her in “Summer Breeze”, Sydney has really evolved as a character.
ANDRE DIMERA: The scene in the white room between Sydney and Marlena was a direct homage to a chapter in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, which is one of my favorite books. I had wanted to pay homage to Harry Potter in some way, and I felt that this was the way to do it.
DIEDRE HALL (Marlena Evans): I came back for one day to shoot a scene with Liana, and it was great! It was great to come back! I love Days, and I really missed working with everybody! I feel that that scene was very special for Sydney, as she and Marlena had always had a close bond.
LIANA LIBERATO: Diedre (Hall) is one of the soap opera greats. She is such a great lady. Every scene I've done with her has just been amazing. We really missed her on set, and I'm glad that she came back. And then, of course, Sydney goes back to reality and is ready to see what comes next.

THE (TEMPORARY) END
ANDRE DIMERA: I had wanted to write more for these characters, I really had, but it was almost like I was on burnout from this story. I wanted to write other stories with other people. Don't get me wrong, I love all of these characters, but I just...it needed to end, at least temporarily.
LIANA LIBERATO: It was sad filming that last scene with Millie, not knowing if we would be revisiting this story ever again. Thankfully we did. This wasn't the end, it was just a temporary goodbye.
REBECCA ROSSO (Rhiannon Alamain): Sadly, this was the last story that Millie and I were able to do. By the time another story in this series had been written, we were already signed onto other projects.
CAMILLA ROSSO: We wanted to come back, but it just wouldn't have been possible. But, we're very grateful for everything.
ANDRE DIMERA: As you'll hear later, this was not the end. After taking about a year to work on my other stories, I did come back to these characters. Sadly, I had to recast the roles of Ceri and Rhiannon, as Millie and Becky Rosso were not available to shoot by the time we needed to. I'd like to thank them both so much for being so incredible as Ceri and Rhiannon. Girls, I wish you all the best of luck in whatever the future holds for you.
REBECCA ROSSO: Working with these people on this show...it's something we'll never forget.
CAMILLIA & REBECCA ROSSO: Thank you, Days of Our Lives, MyHourglass Forums, and André (DiMera, of MyHourglass Forums). And thank you to all of our readers.

[fluffysmom]

I liked hearing all of the actresses thoughts.

[André DiMera]

Previews

Next week...
SHELLEY HENNIG: She is just completely insane.

More interviews with the cast and crew...
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON: It was so interesting.

More behind the scenes footage...
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): Cut!

More intrigue...
MATTHEW ASHFORD: I didn't even know this was a real thing.

All this and more next week on THE SEARCH FOR STORIES
RACHEL MELVIN: That story was creepy!

[Kpatch]

Oooh sounds like a revealing week ahead. Thanks Andre!

[fluffysmom]

Thanks for the previews André DiMera.

[André DiMera]

The Princess and the Policewoman

KRISTIAN ALFONSO: So, which Gina am I this time?
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): You're both in this scene, but we're shooting the big reveal from the real Gina's point of view
KRISTIAN ALFONSO: I'm Gina II, then?
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): No, you're Gina I. Hope is Gina II.
KRISITAN ALFONSO: Okay, I think I got it.
Kristian grabs Peter's arm.
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): Okay. Action.
Kristian and Peter walk on stage.
KRISTIAN ALFONSO (as Princess Gina): Actually, it's me.

SOUNDTRACK
"We Are the Love We Give" by Imaginary Friend (Prospect Park's All My Children Theme)

INTRODUCTION
ANDRE DIMERA (Writer): I felt that there was more that I could do with Princess Gina, which is why I left her fate open at the end of “Salem Beauty”. The last scene features her and Stefano at Maison Blanche, and from there, I just kind of tried to piece the rest of the story together.

THE STORY
ANDRE DIMERA: The first thing that I had to do was the switch. There had to be some concievable way for Hope and Gina to have switched places in such a short amount of time.
KRISTIAN ALFONSO (Hope Brady/Princess Gina): Something as simple as Hope being out of town for a case leads to all of this craziness. As always, it was a lot of fun to come back and play Gina, as she is so different than Hope. Playing two characters is so interesting, especially when one is the complete opposite of the other. Plus, the accent is fun, as well.
PETER RECKELL (Bo Brady): As usual, Bo doesn't get it. But, then again, he never really does. At the same time, Gina's had a lot of experience impersonating Hope. She's good at it. In the end, of course, the real Hope is found.
KRISITAN ALFONSO: The thing that I think I liked about it most is that Hope isn't just a damsel in distress. She actually uses her brain and doesn't need someone else to save her. She has control over the situation, which is what we see in the scenes with Koslov, as well as the confrontation with Gina. I also liked that Hope got the chance to save Bo for once, since we joked about that at the end of “Salem Beauty”. That was a lot of fun.
JOSEPH MASCOLO (Stefano DiMera): One of the most interesting things is that, in this story, Stefano doesn't have the upper hand. Normally, he does, and I think he gets used to it being that way. So, suddenly, when Hope is revealed to be Gina and Gina revealed to be Hope, he is taken aback. He thought he had this all planned out, only to be fooled by Hope Brady. On top of that, he gets blown up at the end. Of course, I don't think Stefano was all that harmed in the explosion. I'm sure he'll come back at some point. The DiMera's never truly die.
ANDRE DIMERA: The story also features a minor subplot about Mia coming to terms with the idea that Tony DiMera is her father.
TAYLOR SPEITLER (Mia McCormick): Mia seeks out Will because he's one of the people that she really trusts. And, I think the advice that he gives her, to give Tony a chance, is good advice. I just kind of wish we'd gotten to see more of that storyline.
ANDRE DIMERA: I have to be honest, I kind of dropped the ball on that one. I had the storyline going, and then I got so caught up in Stephanie's story and Hope/Gina's story that I kind of lost track of Mia's story. I will get around to finishing that up, someday, I'm just not sure when. As for the Melanie/Philip/Stephanie story...
SHELLEY HENNIG (Stephanie Johnson): Stephanie comes back to break up Melanie and Philip. Only this time, she's crazy. That's it, she's just completely insane. The nice thing about it is that you get a hint of where that comes from. There was a brief, and by brief I mean it lasted two days, story where Stephanie is hooked on pills, and that kind of comes back here. I was so disappointed that that story didn't go anywhere, but I was so glad that it got brought up here.
ANDRE DIMERA: The whole two-day pills storyline in the show really bugged me. That's not a proper story. Which is why I brought it up here. I didn't go in depth with it, but maybe I will in the future. Who knows?
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON (Philip Kiriakis): The end of the story does not leave Philip in a good place. Stephanie hits him over the head and puts him in a coma. That's just not a nice way to end the story, though it does lead to good drama later on. Plus, I got to do more shirtless scenes.
MOLLY BURNETT (Melanie Layton): The whole Melanie/Philip/Stephanie thing comes right after the end of the Melanie/Philip/Cynthia debacle in “Salem Beauty”, so Mel's not having a great time. She can hold her own, though. When the time comes, she and Steph will have a proper showdown. On that note, it's great to be working with Shelley (Hennig) again! Even though the character of Stephanie has become despicable, Shelley is such a nice person, and I am so happy that she came back for this story!

THE ALL MY CHILDREN CROSSOVER
ANDRE DIMERA: I wrote this around the time that Prospect Park were airing their All My Children continuation, and I was really getting into it. I had only ever seen the last year or so of the show, starting around the time of that weird story with Jane, the Erica Kane look alike. Thanks the miracles of the internet, though, I have since seen more episodes. I wanted to do an All My Children crossover, and thought “why not bring in Yuri Koslov, the Russian pimp from the relaunch?” I think this added another layer to the story, as it showed Gina's henchmen outside of Kurt. I also added in a line or two about Jesse Hubbard and Zach Slater, two of my favorite characters. It was so much fun to work with the people of All My Children! It was great!

CLIFFHANGER
ANDRE DIMERA: Of course, not all ends well. Thanks to Stephanie, Philip ends up in a coma. What happens next, you ask? All will be revealed shortly.

[Kpatch]

LOL at Kristen wanting to know which Gina.

Jay is such a fan pleaser, willing to endure a coma for more shirtless scenes.

Thanks Andre.

[fluffysmom]

Even Kristian was getting confused about who was who. I liked hearing Peter and Joseph's thoughts about the story.

[André DiMera]

Brave New World

Jay and Molly are lying in a bed together.
JAY KENNTH JOHNSON: Hi. Welcome to Jay's video diaries. I'm Jay. As you can see, I'm not wearing a shirt. This is because I am shooting a bedroom scene. And, because the ratings always go up when I don't wear a shirt.
Molly laughs.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON: This beautiful woman next to me is Molly Burnett. Say hi, Molly.
MOLLY BURNETT: Hi.
Molly waves.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON: And, we're on the set of Days, filming a story for André DiMera (of MyHourglass).
MOLLY BURNETT: This is actually the last scene of the story that we're filming today.
JAY KENNTH JOHNSON: That's right. In this story, Philip's not really himself, but he does come back to himself by the end.
MOLLY BURNETT: Jay, don't spoil it.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON: Well, if they're watching the behind the scenes stuff, surely they've seen the story already.
MOLLY BURNETT: They probably have seen the story already. And don't call me Shirley.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON: Well, our director is coming onstage now, so we have to go shoot the actual scene. Hope you enjoyed the story. We'll see you later.
MOLLY BURNETT: Bye.
Jay and Molly wave.

SOUNDTRACK
“Who Are You” by The Who

INTRODUCTION
ANDRE DIMERA (writer): After putting Philip into a coma at the end of “The Princess and the Policewoman”, I had to find a reason to bring him out again. Then, I had the idea of doing an amnesia storyline, and we just kind of went from there.

THE STORY
ANDRE DIMERA: Amnesia is one of the staples of soap operas. Every few years, some character gets amnesia, even if it's only temporary. This time, the unlucky candidate is Philip.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON (Philip Kiriakis): Playing Philip as an amnesiac, it was so interesting. Seriously, I got to play a whole different side to the character. It's still Philip, but it's a Philip who isn't so sure of himself or anything at all, really. He has no idea who he is, or who any of these people are. That's an interesting character to play.
SHELLEY HENNIG (Stephanie Johnson): Stephanie really has no idea what she's doing. She has no plan. She is really just flying by the seat of her pants. She also feels a little guilty, since she's responsible for Philip ending up in a coma. Not guilty enough to confess, of course. Everything she does, though, is spur of the moment. Nothing has been thought through. Telling Philip that they're married just seems like the logical choice. She may not have the rings to prove it, but Philip isn't married to Melanie yet. I do think it's pretty terrible of Stephanie, though, to try to continue this lie, and to take advantage of Philip like that.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON: Philip doesn't believe Stephanie. Even with having no memory of anything, Philip just has this sense that Steph isn't telling the truth.
JOHN ANISTON (Victor Kiriakis): Victor knows that Stephanie is the one who did this to Philip. He doesn't have any proof, but he can tell by the way that Stephanie is acting that she's guilty. But, help comes from a most unlikely source.
LOUISE SOREL (Vivian Alamain): With Philip being hurt, where else would Vivian be? It is interesting just how crazy she can be, and yet she can make sense at times, too. One of her goons saw what happened the night that Stephanie attacked Philip, and she tells Kate, who then tells Victor. I only came back for a few days to work with Lauren (Koslow) and Jay (Johnson). I wish I could have stayed longer, though. As crazy and as much of a caricature that I feel Vivian has become, I do miss playing her. I also miss all of the people on the show, and I was very glad when I was asked back to reprise the role of Vivian.
SHELLEY HENNIG: When Stephanie finds out that Victor suspects her, she goes into full panic mode. Sure, he doesn't have anything to prove it, but she doesn't know that. She has no idea what's in store for her.
MOLLY BURNETT (Melanie Layton): Melanie's main concern is Philip and getting him better. I like this story, as well as the previous ones, as it really enforces the idea that Melanie and Philip are truly in love. Working with Jay is awesome, and I love our two characters together as a couple. All of the scenes between Jay and I where Melanie is trying to help Philip remember were great.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON: All I can say is that Molly (Burnett) and I had a great time doing this story together. It was awesome! Melanie does have one powerful kiss, seeing as it brought back Philip's memory. And then, of course, everything gets wrapped up. Stephanie's found out, and Philip comes home.
SHELLEY HENNIG: I like that they leave Stephanie's fate open. The last thing we see is Melanie, Victor, Kate and Vivian ganging up on her. It leaves it open to see if she survives this ordeal or not. I kind of like that it's up to the viewer's interpretation.

CLIFFHANGER
ANDRE DIMERA: At the end of the story, Philip and Melanie are reunited, and Melanie makes a big announcement: she's pregnant. I'm not sure if I'll follow this up or not, as it would be interesting to see where these two go from here. If I can think of a good enough storyline, then I most certainly will write one.

[fluffysmom]

I'm glad Louise was able to return for this story. I've enjoyed her since she appeared on Santa Barbara.

[Kpatch]

Loved the video Jay made. That is a very Jay-like thing to do. Cute addition!

[André DiMera]

Salem: The Lost Files

Molly and Victor are running down an aisle, each pushing a shopping cart. As they turn the bend, Molly's cart crashes into, and topples, a display of DVDs. They keep going into the toy aisles. As they pass through one, Victor's cart knocks down a set of Iron Man toys. As the two continue to cause mayhem throughout the store, they finally get to the front.
VICTOR WEBSTER (out of breath): Okay, I give. You win.
The two look at the giant mess they've made.
MOLLY BURNETT: Whoops.
Both of them laugh, but not for long.
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): Whoops?
Both stand and clear their throat.
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): Cut!
The manager of Wal-Mart walks over to the director.
MANAGER: Sir, do these two belong to you?
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): They are my actors, yes. I'm very sorry about all the damage. I stepped away for just a minute. I should have watched them. This is on me.
The director digs in his wallet.
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): Now, what do you say to three Franklins and five Jacksons?
MANAGER: Sir, I can't take bribes. I'm gonna have to call the police.
ANDRE DIMERA (of MyHourglass): How about five Franklins, five Jacksons, three Hamiltons and my personal assurance that you will never have to deal with these two again?
MANAGER: Deal.
The director and the manager shake hands as the director hands over the money.

SOUNDTRACK:
“Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright
“Starman” by David Bowie
“Magic Dance” by David Bowie
“We Built This City” by Starship
“Boot Scootin' Boogie” by Brooks and Dunn
“Back to School Again” by the Cast from Grease 2
“Stille Nacht” by Mannheim Steamroller

INTRODUCTION
ANDRE DIMERA (Writer): I'd wanted to do a very different type of story. For a while, I had wanted to air some of the clips that, either for pacing or timing reasons just wouldn't have worked out in the stories as aired. So, I put together a kind of clip show the showcase a bunch of the scenes that I had to cut.

THE STORIES
ANDRE DIMERA: The first thing that I knew I wanted to do was show a scene or two from the unreleased story “Summer Nights”. Now, “Summer Nights” was a story that I wanted to release for a long time, but due to lack of an ending, and funding, I couldn't get it all done. I did have the chance to film some parts of it, as can be seen in both “A Look Back” and “Lost Files”, so those clips did survive.
LIANA LIBERATO (Sydney DiMera): I know I said earlier in this that I've now played four different characters, but I was wrong. I've played five. They are: Evil Sydney, or the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come, Sydney from “Summer Breeze” and all the others, the Sydney clone that Johnny created and named Grace, the apprentice angel named Grace, and I also played the Sydney in “Summer Nights”. I make the distinction between those two as the Sydney in “Summer Nights” is different than the one in “Summer Breeze” and all the following stories. She's more confident, at least in the beginning of “Summer Nights” than the other Sydney. I only got to shoot a few scenes as her, but it was fun. Seeing all of the other scenes that couldn't be released was really cool, too.
ANDRE DIMERA: After that, I just picked various scenes that I had never been able to put out before. This included the now infamous Wal-Mart Incident.
VICTOR WEBSTER (Nicholas Alamain): I've been telling this story for the last...couple of years now. It's still funny every time that I talk about it, though. Molly (Burnett) and I were shooting a scene at the Wal-Mart in Ladysmith, Wisconsin for “This Charming Man”. Molly suggested that it may be fun if we had a shopping cart race. Well, our wonderful director got temporarily distracted and, while nobody was looking, we did. We caused a huge mess, it was total chaos...but it was hilarious!
MOLLY BURNETT (Melanie Layton): It was great! Even though we got in trouble, it was so fun! I am just so glad that you all at home finally got to see it!
ANDRE DIMERA: Afterwords, I approached Liana (Liberato), Millie (Rosso), Taylor (Spreitler), Thaao (Penghlis), Jay (Johnson), Kristian (Alfonso) and Peter (Reckell) and asked them to pick their favorite scenes that had to be cut for time. Millie and Liana chose the same, as did Peter and Kristian. I'm very glad that we got to see those clips that they chose.
JAY KENNETH JOHNSON (Philip Kiriakis): And the shirtless scenes strike back! I remember that scene Jason (Cook) and I shot on the basketball court. That was great! Jason's a great guy, and I'm glad I got to work with him. It was great fun!
PETER RECKELL (Bo Brady): Kristian and I both picked the one scene we were able to shoot with Paula (Garcés) and Thorsten (Kaye) from All My Children. We were both a little disappointed that that scene didn't make the final cut, as it was great to work with both of them, and to do a crossover, even for just one scene, with All My Children. That's why we picked the scene we did.
CAMILLA ROSSO (Ceri Alamain): The elevator scene, which was picked by both me and Liana, was by far my favorite scene to do. A shortened version of it made the final cut, but now you've seen the full one. I am so glad I don't get claustrophobia, but it was so interesting to play a character who does. Liana and I had a great time shooting that scene, even though it was intense.

[Kpatch]

That was a good story, thanks for the refresher. I am thinking that Walmart won't be giving you permission to film at any of their stores anymore.

I loved the throwback scene with Shawn and Philip.