Days of Our Lives Recast Done Right: Stacy Haiduk Channelled Eileen Davidson

Soap Hub has to admit that when we learned Days of Our Lives chose to recast the iconic roles of Kristen DiMera and Susan Banks we wondered what on Earth the show could be thinking.

Eileen Davidson had brought those characters to life on and off for more than two decades. There are just some roles you do NOT recast and we saw these characters as Davidson’s alone.

We knew Stacy Haiduk would take them over, well aware of how outstanding she is, but we only could see her as Patty Williams on The Young and the Restless, never as Kristen, Susan, et al on DAYS.

Well, yesterday was Haiduk’s debut as Susan and it left us with our jaws on the floor. We had just seen Susan less than a year ago when she was shipped off to a mental hospital after convincing an amnesiac Will he was her son, EJ, for two years. So, the character was still fresh in our minds.

We didn’t expect to see a near-replica of Susan. Sure, despite the makeup and wig, Davidson and Haiduk do not look alike, so we saw those facial differences, but the rest of what (or who) we saw was Susan Banks.

As quirky as ever, with the same mannerisms, and southern-accented mousy voice, Susan was right there with Will and right there in Doug’s Place. This recast was absolutely seamless, and we can’t even imagine what Haiduk’s Kristen will bring later this week.

However, we do say “Bring it on.” We thought a recast would ruin the insanity of this long-awaited wedding that goes oh-so-wrong, but we now believe we were oh-so-wrong. Congratulations, Stacy Haiduk.

Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.