In the aftermath of the heartbreaking death of Days of Our Lives star Drake Hogestyn, news has surfaced that the actor filmed John Black’s death scenes. One of the major heroes of Salem, John, and Hogestyn are missed equally. His co-stars spoke out about their reactions to filming those scenes and how they got through them.
His Spirit is Still Alive
Co-star Stephen Nichols (Steve) told Soap Opera Digest that every single day since his passing, Hogestyn has been in the thoughts of everyone involved in creating DAYS. “Whenever he is mentioned, everybody’s in on the conversation because we all loved him so much,” he said, adding that Hogestyn was beloved and declaring, “I’m keeping his spirit alive.”
Nichols, who had kept in close contact with Hogestyn through his final days, was initially aghast at filming the scenes. He explained that he was against it because his good friend was still alive. But once he learned that Hogestyn really wanted to do it, Nichols figured, “If it was okay with him, then I felt that I had to do my part.”
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Hogestyn Approved the Difficult Decision
Executive Producer Ken Corday explained that it was a hard decision to make in filming John’s death with his portrayer still alive. He finally decided it was a wise choice because the character’s absence needed to be dealt with. And when he asked Hogestyn if he was okay with it, “He was totally in favor of it. He trusted me. Had Drake, God willing, beaten this, he would’ve come back, and it would’ve been something different.”
Hogestyn’s co-star and decades-long onscreen romantic interest, Deidre Hall (Marlena), explained that she pushed her scene partner’s real-life illness of pancreatic cancer out of her mind while filming those scenes. She wasn’t prepared to say goodbye. However, the support of the fans helped her feel she wasn’t alone. She described upcoming flashback sequences, which “Will take you back to [John and Marlena’s] first handshake at Shenanigans, when he first rescued her, the pier scene…”
Additionally, she praised the scenes designed to cover decades of John’s life. Hall noted, “There’s a lot of history and a lot of heart.” Meanwhile, Corday praised Hogestyn, regarding him as “the consummate actor. Always a team player and pretty good-looking, too.”
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