Legendary actress Deidre Hall has portrayed the iconic role of Dr. Marlena Evans on “Days of Our Lives” for 40 of the 50 years the long-running soap has been on the air.
In an interview with IOL, Hall revealed that she feels blessed to have had such career longevity on a show that has enhanced both her personal and professional lives.
“I Was Only Meant To Stay A Few Months!”
“When I began, I was brought in to bridge two characters. I was only meant to stay for a few months so as to not have two blonde psychiatrists on the show. And then they gave me a love interest and, pretty soon, they just had to keep me on,” Hall told IOL.
In the years since Hall made her debut, she’s kept fans on the edge of their seats in storylines ranging from Marlena’s mind control and kidnappings to being a surrogate, developing amnesia, and of course, her wildly popular possession storyline.
“It was a first for daytime. They had not tried that before. Our then head writer, James E, Reilly, who is a devout Catholic, came into the studio and sat down with the executives and myself and explained what he was thinking, which was extraordinary in itself,” she shared in the interview.
Marlena’s Possession Storyline
“We had been prepared for something because all the Christmas trees had gone up in flames and all kinds of supernatural things were happening. We knew there was something afoot. Then James said, ‘It’s you doing all these things.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ He replied, ‘Because, you are possessed.'”
“It was quite a ride. I thought it was so well-revealed and relayed so beautifully to the audience. It allowed my character to do things that were so out of character, which was a great departure for me,” the actress concluded.
Another favorite storyline during her 40 years in Salem occurred when her sister Andrea Hall, played her character’s twin, Samantha.
[relbar link=”http://soaphub.wpengine.com/days-of-our-lives/might-chase-back-days-of-our-lives-one-day-soon/” text=”Might Chase Be Back on DAYS?”]She recalls: “The twin story was also unique to daytime TV. You can’t do a split screen (this was a long time back). Then, in some ridiculous thought process, one of the writers killed the twin.”
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