Mary Beth Evans Takes Us Inside Days of our Lives In A COVID World

Days of our Lives star Mary Beth Evans says she loves doing all the family scenes on the NBC soap opera. However, the actress, who has played Kayla Brady on and off for three and a half decades shares that since COVID-19 safety protocols have been implemented on the show, it’s a whole new world.

Mary Beth Evans — An Inside DAYS Look

“You really don’t see anyone,” Evans tells Soap Hub about the way DAYS is being shot. “It says on your dressing room door ‘Occupancy: 1.'” The Daytime Emmy-winning actress says that safety protocols entail getting tested regularly and remaining in your dressing room until your results come back.

So, while actors used to spend time hanging out in each other’s room or in the commissary — either running lines or catching up with one another — now, they’re spending more time alone in order to adhere to the new guidelines. “It’s okay,” Evans reports. “We do Microsoft Teams where we run lines with each other over our phones.”

In order to avoid being too close in contact with creative arts professionals, Evans says that actors do either half their makeup or even all of it, sometimes. “You have to be flexible,” she advises.

The beloved star passes the time in her dressing room by literally staying flexible. “I got a yoga app on my phone and stay busy with that,” she reveals. Over the last year, the actors, staff, production personnel, and crew at DAYS and at all the soaps have stepped up in order to keep the shows going. Evans has played Kayla Brady Johnson for 35 years and still brings the same enthusiasm to her job that she did when she began.

“Every time I go to work, I send some shoutouts [of gratitude] to the universe,” she says. “I’m so lucky to have had this job for years. I never take it for granted.” During her time away from Salem, Evans has worked on other daytime serials.

She played the part of doomed Katherine Bell on General Hospital. She also portrayed heroine Sierra Montgomery on As the World Turns. Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.