Days of Our Lives Brings the Soap to Life with the Messiest Recast in TV History
At least the series' behind-the-scenes is just as entertaining as what’s going on on-screen.
Unfortunately for all the soap fans, the genre has been in decline since the early 2010s and is now in more danger than ever. Although it's far from extinct, as we're sure no network is ready to deal with millions of daytime viewers bombarding them with requests to bring back their favorite shows, there are still many unpleasant changes.
These changes affect the casts and crews more than viewers as they make production more difficult. Budget cuts mean longer days, shooting on tighter schedules, less money for costumes and more for technology. And that's not to mention the actors' salaries.
If only there was a way for an actor to play two characters at once! Well, Days of Our Lives seems to be at the point where this is the most sensible decision they could make. And to say that the story is as messy and confusing as the drama the writers usually put into the episodes would be an understatement.
As recently confirmed by the show's credits, the actress who portrayed Theresa Donovan on the show, Jen Lilley, will be stepping down from the role she just reprised. The twist, however, is that she'll be replaced by one of her castmates, Emily O'Brien. So O'Brien will end up playing two people at once, Gwen and Theresa.
If that makes your head spin, imagine how the news was received by the actresses themselves. As Lilley stated in her interview with Soap.com, she doesn't hold a grudge against her co-star, but thinks the situation wasn't handled in the best possible way. It's been awkward for both actresses, and she's sure it will be even harder for the fans of the show.
So far, the reactions of the audience have been split. While some are sad to see Jen Lilley go, others are not ready to give up on Theresa yet:
“GH does it. Legends of Tomorrow did it. Uncommon but not unusual,” X (formerly known as Twitter) user @JLMoonlight92 said in a post.
While it's true that some shows have attempted to do the same thing, it's also worth noting that each of these recasts was met with backlash and considered a failure. Whether Emily O'Brien will be able to break the spell under all the pressure from Days of Our Lives fans and the production team is unclear — we'll have to wait and see.
Tune in to Days of Our Lives Monday through Friday on Peacock to make sure you never miss an episode.
Source: Soap.com