On Days of our Lives, very few cast members have experienced, since being on the long-running soap opera, what Emily O’Brien and Rob Scott Wilson have been through. Rob went from playing the role of Ben Weston to being written off the canvas, and then being written back on to the canvas as a new character, Alex Kiriakis. Emily went from playing troublemaking Gwen Rizczech in one scene, to reappearing in the same scene as the recast for the role of Theresa Donovan formerly played by Jen Lilley.
So, what has it been like taking on new characters, while still mourning not playing your former alter-ego, and trying to make the audience go along for the ride with you? Both Emily and Rob weighed-in during the Michael Fairman Channel’s recent sit-down conversation with the duo at Day of Days 2023.
Emily revealed if she was ready to say goodbye to Gwen when she found about her role switch, admitting, “No, I wasn’t really ready. But this happens all the time. They’re circulating through characters. Characters come and go. And so you as an actor, you’re always thinking, this could be the time, you know? But, at that moment, I wasn’t expecting it just because I thought that there was more to flesh out with that storyline. What was a bigger shock was when they called and said, ‘Would you like to play the role of Theresa?’ It’s been a journey and one that I’m actually enjoying now. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it because I didn’t know how I would fit in in this role. I feel so fortunate to be working with Eric Martsolf (Brady), and Rob, and Jamie Mann (Tate) who is now playing my son. I get to work with all these new actors and kind of stretch my legs somewhere else now. It feels really good.”
Recently, viewers learned that Alex is supposedly the biological son of Victor Kiriakis (the late John Aniston) and not the son of Justin Kiriakis (Wally Kurth). Rob weighed-in on the whole story twist: “The only thing that would’ve made it better was if John was around to be a part of it, you know? t’s been amazing. It was a bittersweet thing. He’s (Alex) going to question him himself and question his family, his friends, his relationships. You know, it was almost like a lot of his life was a lie. But with that, you know, he’s the CEO of Titan. He’s the heir of the Kiriakis fortune, and we’ll see how long it lasts.” And it may not last long, if the Days of our Lives extended winter promo, which dropped during the Day of Days 2023 fan fest, is correct! In it, a stunning revelation seems to occur, which names Xander (Paul Telfer) aactually Victor’s bio-son, not Alex! Stay tuned.
As to what fans can look forward to as she gets deeper into the skin of Theresa, Emily expressed: “There’s a lot to come, It’s a ride. It was a challenge to begin with and I really tried to just put my head down and just do my job and do it as best as I could. That’s always been my main focus, ‘They’ve given you this opportunity. They’re trusting you for a reason.” It may not make sense right now, but I think fans might be surprised. I’m hoping. I’ve really kind of found a stride now and everybody has been so incredibly supportive.”
Rob added that he is happy to be working with his newest scene partner: “I am really grateful. We got to touch on it a little bit with Alex and Gwen, and there was just something that worked with Emily and I, you know. She’s a good actor, but she’s a great person. We come in wildly prepared, and do as much as we can, rehearse as much as we can, but really, we’ll always find something new, and that makes it exciting. She’s available like that. Then, when everything happened with Theresa, you know, it worked out perfectly, because we get to kind of continue what we were doing with new characters.”
Just a few months back, when Days of our Lives viewers saw the scene where a stunned Justin tells Alex that he is not his father, both Rob and Wally Kurth brought their A-game. Wilson commented on the emotional moment: “Ultimately, working with Wally he cares about the work and he’s just a pro. Wally’s a legend. So, we have a good dynamic and good chemistry So, for that moment to happen, we just wanted to do it justice.”