Here’s The Surprising Real-Word Inspiration That DAYS’ John Kapelos Used For Konstantin’s Accent

As Salem’s latest schemer on Days of our Lives, Konstantin Meleounis, John Kapelos tapped into his roots to put on the perfect Greek accent.

Kapelos Draws from Real Life

Fans of the cult classic 1990s TV series Forever Knight fondly remember John Kapelos’ Detective Don Schanke, who sadly never found out that his partner, Detective Nick Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies), was really a vampire. But DAYS’ supernatural Salem is now the perfect playground for Kapelos who’s been in over 200 TV shows and movies including The Shape of Water (2017), and the amazing 2000s series Houses.

First appearing in April 2023 as Konstantin Meleounis, Kapelos has since become a series regular and continues to work his mysterious agenda, including attempting to control the Pawn and wooing the grieving Maggie Horton (Suzanne Rogers) with his Greek accent. What fans (and some crew members) may not know is that Kapelos is actually Canadian and puts on the accent for the show.

He told Soap Opera Digest that growing up in a Greek family, he had tons of great role models for Konstantin’s accent. But while his manner of speech drew from his relatives, he based Konstantin’s demeanor on someone specific, recalling that, “I modeled him more after an Athenian gentleman that my father knew that was very erudite and quite free with his opinions.”

Kapelos explained that the man in question was very nice, “But a lot of these Greek guys tend to want to pontificate a bit. I found him to be a little bit like that. And my father was like that too. My father was a bit of a teacher type.” 

No stranger to accents, having played an Armenian character in Shape of Water, the actor enjoys being able to develop his character much more than any other one he’s played because of the nature of daytime serials. He explained that, unlike other actors, he can switch it on and off and doesn’t necessarily stay in character. “A lot of crew people and some actors were surprised because I would just speak like that on the set and then go back to my dressing room,” he said. 

As Konstantin often seems to have an evil glint in his eyes, and we can see the wheels of scheming turning in his head, he explained, “As you can see, Konstantin is quite articulate. He doesn’t suffer fools lightly and he doesn’t really speak like a fool, although he sometimes acts like one.”