Credit to Daytime Royalty -
daytimeroyaltyonline.com/topic/8548370/1/Of her return, Deidre Hall (Marlena) says, "I don't even have the words. It's just ticklishly good."
* Hall says talk of her return to the show began with a meeting with new Co-EP Greg Meng. He was crazy about her new book (Kitchen Closeup) and they went on a book tour together to promote their books. While on the tour, a fan asked Hall what it would take to get her back on the show, she replied that she would have to be invited. Meng responded, "You're invited." Hall says that Meng is "a man of his word, a man of integrity, and a man of honor." She says that Meng "set about making [her return] happen and in his stride, he set about changing the entire show."
* About the "relaunch," Hall says "We are going back to the good old DAYS 2.0. It's the end of buried alive and cloning people and who's the daddy?" She says the show is returning to "the old era of love stories and romance and family values and tradition and real-life drama" and that the show is "back with a passion." She says that DAYS is returning to "the things that made it a generational family tradition," which Meng said they needed to get back to. Hall says that John and Marlena as well as Carrie and Austin are going to be a critical part of this. "It gives me chills to say it. You're going to see that show again."
* Hall says that, though it was unexpected, she was grateful for the time off, which she used to spend with her sons, gardening, traveling, and campaigning for the Child Nutrition Act.
* When asked about Drake Hogestyn's return as John, Hall says she didn't know that he was being asked back, too. "That wasn't discussed in the beginning." Hall says that she thinks the audience has been "lonely for [John and Marlena]. They're lonely for that grown-up love story, for that relationship and for those familiar faces."
* Hall says returning to the set was "deeply emotional." She says "It was like putting on a pair of slippers that you've worn for years and you say, 'Oh, this feels so good.' I couldn't have been more embraced. I couldn't have been more welcomed." When asked if she's nervous about returning, she mentions that the shooting schedule has accelerated since she's been away and she's not used to that pace, but she's excited to be back. "It's a homecoming, it's a reunion and it's breathtaking. I feel giddy. And the lovely thing is that I feel giddy for all the right reasons because I'm so pleased with all the changes they're making and so proud of the product we're about to start turning out."
* About the new Head Writers and Co-Executive Producers, Hall says that she's met Marlene McPherson and Darrell Thomas. "They are new blood. They are fresh and enthusiastic and collaborative. It's how Greg [Meng] works, it's how they work, it's how [new Co-EP] Noel [Maxam] works." She adds that Maxam has designed extraordinary sets that belong in Architectural Digest because they're so groundbreaking and innovative.
* Hall says that Marlena is "exactly the same, loving and devoted, and a family-based woman. She has obviously been caretaking John for the past 2 1/2 years." About the new material, she says, "Oh my gosh, there is good stuff coming up. I'm seeing it in scripts already and I know of it in future storyline. It's just full of startling surprises."
* Hall says she's over the moon for the fans who have been clamoring for her return. "I think we're going to see the people who have been falling away over the last 10 years - our core audience - come back. And my excitement is around having them come back because it will not disappoint. I love that Greg Meng has decided to push the reset button on one day; the whole new look and the whole resurgence starts on September 26th. Mark your calendars."
* Hogestyn says he honestly never thought he would be back on the show. "I'm just grateful that this opportunity has presented itself and I promise not to disappoint." Hogestyn says he missed being a part of the DAYS cast and it was bittersweet when Greg Meng asked him to go to Houston with Kristian Alfonso and James Reynolds for the book tour. He says he had a meeting with Meng at the DAYS studio on Valentine's Day about another project and that's when Meng hinted to him that he may be asked to come back to the show. Hogestyn says he got a call from Ken Corday on May 12th, asking him if he was ready to come back to work. Hogestyn says he was originally supposed to begin taping on June 25th, but that got pushed back so they could get the story right.
* Hogestyn was called to the studio and he met with the new Head Writers and Co-EPs. He says Darrell Thomas is "really, really cool" and that he is very excited about the new writing team. "They have a firm pulse on the show and what it was all about, when the romance and suspense and intrigue was at the height of its game, and that's what we're going to bring back. That's the feeling that we're going to give the fans and we're going to go back and capture that again." He credits the outpouring of support from the fans for his and Hall's returns to the show.
* Hogestyn says that McPherson and Thomas are very receptive to sitting down with the actors and discussing the characters and how they can find the point of view of a scene "the way it used to be." "Deidre and I are going to sit down and go back to working how we did in 1986, which is finding each little nuance in a scene." He says that the fast pace that the show is shot now may be a challenge, but he's excited for it.
* Hogestyn mentions his frustration with his character and the writing before he left in 2009. "Sometimes when stories become more plot-driven than character-driven - and I never used that expression before, but I started to understand what it was when you felt like you were doing things so out of character that you didn't recognize the person you had built over the years - that's probably where frustration comes in." He says the show is "coming back with a new, fresh attitude and a new, fresh approach. To me, it's like DAYS is going to raise the curtain on a new era on September 26th and I'm sure the audience is going to be taken back and they're going to be reminded of how powerful those romantic and intriguing and suspenseful stories were."
? It's like reading a book....!!! I might as well read "War and Peace" or "It"....!!!!!!
