Inside Kristian Alfonso’s First Encounter with Days of our Lives’ Bill & Susan Hayes

Fans are thrilled that Kristian Alfonso’s Hope has returned to Days of Our Lives once again. Unfortunately, what brought Hope back to Salem was the death of her father, Doug, played by the late Bill Hayes. In some tender scenes, she reconnected with Doug’s wife, Julie, who was reeling from her husband’s demise. Alfonso recently opened up about her first encounter with Julie’s portrayer, Susan Seaforth Hayes, and her real-life husband. 

They Were Like Her Real Parents

Before becoming an actress, Alfonso competed in figure skating, she told Soap Opera Digest. As a teenager, she and her mother would take a train from Massachusetts to New York to meet with a modeling agent. Being a fan of DAYS, she was awestruck upon seeing the Hayeses on the cover of Time magazine. Little did she know, she would one day not only work with them but also become close friends with them.

She described her first meeting with the happy couple in which she couldn’t utter any words. “And I’m usually not silent!” she stated, adding, “But I was taken aback by her beauty and his handsomeness and their love. They were so inviting and so comfortable and they touched me deeply, him and her.” For Alfonso, it was evident that the two were very much in love.

READ THIS: Find out what’s coming up on DAYS.

He Made Her Feel Safe

Bill Hayes’ welcoming and gentle nature reminded her of her own Dad — a mutual affection that would deepen over the years. She remarked, “I just always loved working with him and to witness Bill and Susan’s love. It reminded me very much of the kind of love my parents shared.” She found him to always be present and focused no matter what kind of emotional scene they were sharing, and despite the fast pace of the production, they found time for deep conversations off-camera.

“From the day Bill met me to our very last scene, he never made me feel like, ‘Oh, who is this kid playing my daughter? She doesn’t have a lot of experience,’” she stated. With Hayes, Alfonso always felt safe and secure. “He always made me feel like an equal. And he was just so supportive, always.” (Check out the Bill Hayes remembrance photo gallery.)