The time fans dread is coming: Drake Hogestyn and John Black’s final farewell on Days of Our Lives. Since 1986, Hogestyn entertained fans as John became one of Salem’s greatest heroes. Sadly, Hogestyn died in September 2024, but not before helping to plan John’s death on the show. Deidre Hall opened up about how Marlena, the love of John’s life, will deal with the upcoming, inevitable bad news.
Marlena Is Used to John’s Job
Marlena recently learned that not only has John gone missing, but his ISA handler also doesn’t know where he is and hasn’t heard from him. This is a terrible sign that, while a search for John will presumably commence, the story will ultimately lead to John’s demise. Hall spoke to Soap Opera Digest and explained that because of the nature of John’s work as an espionage agent, “She’s slightly accustomed to him being out of sight and not in touch with her, but then it just starts to get concerning,” since he’s fallen off the grid.
When asked how Marlena is going to present this to Belle (Martha Madison) and Brady (Eric Martsolf), Hall explained that her character is, “Hopeful. Always hopeful. She’s gentle. Always gentle. They’re a family, and they’re in this together.” She further noted that Marlena is the matriarch whose job is to keep from falling apart “for the children.”
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Real Emotions Were Kept in Check
Hall noted that she, Martsolf, and Madison didn’t do much rehearsing and didn’t really discuss the dreaded scenes. “We made sure we all knew the dialogue so it didn’t have to be done more than once. Then we stepped in and [did the scenes],” she explained, adding, “There may have been a hand squeeze. We’re big on no words and just eye contact and a hand squeeze.”
The real-world death of Hogestyn would have a major impact on the actors’ emotions as they approached John’s final scenes. Hall stated that finding the balance between keeping things together and letting real-world emotions intrude on their acting was not easy. She remarked, “You don’t want to tap into it [real feelings] deeply because then there you are, or you’re out of control.”
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