Soap fans get that actors leave shows for different reasons and that many of those performers simply can’t be recast. However, the absence of Hope Williams Brady has been glaring on Days of our Lives given her dad Doug Williams’s medical condition. Should someone else play Hope if Kristian Alfonso can’t?
Soap Hub’s going to play armchair casting director and make six suggestions as to who DAYS could cast as Hope. Read on to see if you agree with our choices.
Tammy Taylor: Who’s Tammy Taylor, you may be asking? Veteran DAYS fans aren’t, however. Taylor played the role of Hope Williams from 1981-82. After she vacated the part, Alfonso was cast in the role. Taylor has continued to act since leaving daytime. She appeared on the syndicated soap Rituals in 1984 and more recently was a series regular in the program Just Us Guys. If Taylor were cast again as Hope, DAYS could show flashbacks from her first tenure in Salem!
Susan Walters: Both Walters and Alfonso started in soaps in the same year — 1983. While Alfonso was bringing Hope to life, Walters was exasperating fans as spoiled socialite Lorna Forbes on LOVING. Walters has other soaps under her belt including The Young and the Restless (as Diane Jenkins). In primetime, she played on Point Pleasant and The Vampire Diaries. She can bring strength, heart, and gusto to Hope.
Lisa Peluso: Peluso also has a slew of experience under her belt and is familiar to fans from her roles as Lila on Another World; Ava on Loving; Billie on One Life to Live; and Wendy on Search for Tomorrow. We can easily see her bringing Hope’s feistiness and love of family to the screen.
Teri Hatcher: Best known as Susan on Desperate Housewives, Hatcher actually has daytime experience from her turn as Angelica on CAPITOL. Hatcher wouldn’t be the first nighttime star to visit daytime. She can play both vulnerable and loving; she’s brunette, tough, and attractive — qualities that viewers are used to seeing in Hope.
Lesli Kay: Hope’s a cop and a very good one. We can see Kay, a Daytime Emmy winner for her role as Molly on As the World Turns, bringing a no-nonsense approach to Hope. Kay’s got a habit of stepping in for other actors. She replaced Colleen Dion as Felicia on The Bold and the Beautiful and stepped in as Lois, the role originated by Rena Sofer (Quinn, B&B), on General Hospital.
Our sixth, final, and, ultimately, only choice to play Hope is…Kristian Alfonso herself! The fan-favorite played the part of Hope Williams Brady from 1983-2020. She was nominated for Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series in 1985. Alfonso and Peter Reckell (ex-Bo) won a special award for America’s Favorite Couple at the 2002 Daytime Emmys. The actress is synonymous with DAYS.
Salem devotees followed Alfonso’s journey as Hope as the character emerged from a young woman to Bo’s true love, to policewoman, to mother, to world traveler. After Hope and Bo welcomed son Shawn-Douglas, they took off to see the world. Presumed dead for a bit, Bo and Hope were reunited in the mid-1990s.
Viewers continued to see their story unfold as the couple mourned the death of their son Zack and rejoiced over the arrival of daughter Ciara (Victoria Konefal). Tragically, Bo died in 2015, leaving Hope a widow. Should DAYS decide to bring Hope back to care for her father Doug (Bill Hayes), we hope that the show makes every effort to rehire Kristian Alfonso in the role.
Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Salem, check out all the latest that’s been posted on DAYS spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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