Marlena has been managing a lot on Days of our Lives recently. Her connection with Brady is strained because she didn’t tell him the truth about Rachel, who’s now struggling in Bayview. However, there’s been a continual stream of concerned friends visiting her hospital room, with coloring books and heartfelt revelations, which has helped cheer her up. Despite all the emotional chaos surrounding her, Deidre Hall paused this month to reflect on the character that has shaped whole chapters for decades. In the process, she recalled an instant from her years in Salem that continues to strike deeply within her heart.
Key Takeaways
- Hall looked back on her early DAYS years with warmth and humor.
- She recalled mistakenly calling herself “Amanda” on her first day — a lesson she never forgot.
- Hall deeply feels Drake Hogestyn’s absence on set.
- She says it’s “way too soon” for Marlena to find new love.
- Hall hopes the show continues exploring Marlena and Julie’s widowhood bond.
When Marlena Forgot She Was Marlena
Hall chatted with People, and you could sense the warmth when she talked about how she raised her kids on the show’s soundstage. She reflected on her five decades as Marlena, noting that working on the show is more than being in a family, it’s a community.
She even reminisced about her first day, when she totally forgot which character she was supposed to play and mistakenly introduced herself as someone else. She remembered when iconic DAYS legend MacDonald Carey (Tom Horton) introduced her to Mary Frann, who was playing Amanda Howard, and said, “I’d like you to meet Dr. Evans.”
Hall then explained her most egregious gaff. “I said, ‘Oh no, please call me Amanda.’ And the scene stopped.” Hilariously, Carey politely corrected her by saying, “Darling, she’s Amanda. You’re Marlena.” Still somewhat embarrassed by this, Hall remarked that remembering which character you play is, “a good life lesson.”
The Loss That Still Shapes Marlena’s Story
Naturally, the discussion shifted to John (the late Drake Hogestyn). Referring to both the character and the actor behind him, Hall openly admitted that she continues to sense his absence on set. She has mentioned previously that she finds herself realizing John is no longer here, Hogestyn is no longer present. The heaviness of that loss remains with her. She recalled the scene where John saw Marlena: “Seeing John on the pier, referred to as the ‘famous pier scene,’ where he thinks I’m dead, and I come out of the fog. You could just hear the audience screaming. That’s a big favorite.”
When the question of Marlena finding love again came up, Hall didn’t dodge it. “I would defer to Ken Corday and our writers,” she said, before adding that, despite Marlena’s long romantic history, it’s “way too soon” for her character to move on. Hall pointed out that many long-time viewers have lived through their own losses, and she wants that part of Marlena’s journey to be treated with care.
“For people that have watched the show for a very long time, we have a lot of widows out there that are trying to navigate that,” she explained. She further noted that the bond between Marlena and fellow widow Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) is something she hopes fans will continue to see unfold. (Did you know this fact about Hall?)
