It appeared that Ava Vitale had truly sent Susan Banks to that great soap in the sky on Days of our Lives. However, viewers recently learned that that wasn’t the case! Ava and Susan’s respective portrayers, Tamara Braun and Stacy Haiduk, stopped by to chat with Soap Hub at the recent Day of DAYS fan event about Susan’s return and more.
Stacy Haiduk: Susan Banks Lives!
“I was super excited,” Haiduk tells Soap Hub as to how she felt when she heard that her late alter-ego on DAYS was going to do the Lazarus bit. “Susan’s alive! [I said,] ‘Thank you very much!’” The actress adds that a bonus to Susan’s return is the potential for even more screen time with Braun’s Ava. “I love working with her as Susan, as Kristen, I don’t care!”
A Character Close to Her Heart
Haiduk is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. There’s no word on when the ceremony will be held, but one thing’s for sure — Haiduk has a dynamite reel that includes scenes of her work as both Kristen and Susan.
“I remember being really connected in that moment,” she says of the scenes involving Susan and Xander (Paul Telfer). In the past, Haiduk has put only Kristen scenes on her reel. This time, voters saw both roles on her submission. Haiduk does such an amazing job of differentiating her two roles she wonders if Daytime Emmy voters “even know I’m playing both characters?”
Tamara Braun & Steve Burton: Together Again for the First Time
Susan’s kidnapping ordeal may have led to her presumed death, but Haiduk recalls the story led to her doing scenes with Judi Evans’s Bonnie. “She’s amazing,” Haiduk praises. “She’s just such a fabulous actress. I just love her.”
Braun’s Ava has been paired with Steve Burton (Harris), but as fans of the actors know, this is not the first time they’ve worked together. The actors shared lots of screen time on General Hospital when she played Carly, and he was Jason. “It’s very easy,” Braun says of re-igniting the couple’s chemistry. “Steve is very professional.”