Unable to get information about the whereabouts of her husband, John, who’s been off on an ISA mission for months, Marlena shares worrisome news with Brady and Belle about their father on Days of Our Lives: The patriarch of their family appears to have gone missing. Deidre Hall (Marlena) spoke to Soap Opera Digest about the onset of the emotional storyline that will ultimately lead to the demise of the beloved character, who was portrayed by the late Drake Hogestyn, and Marlena’s mission to track down the man she loves.
Soap Opera Digest: What leads Marlena to come clean with Brady and Belle about the situation with their father?
Deidre Hall: She can’t reach John, and she can’t get any [information about him] out of Shane. She just can’t get a straight answer, but she’s somehow led to understand that John is off the radar.
Digest: Does Marlena fear that something might have happened to John at this point?
Hall: I think she knows of John’s work. She knows that he does very serious work and very private work, and he does have to fly under the radar. So she’s slightly accustomed to him being out of sight and not in touch with her, but then it just starts to get concerning.
Digest: How does Marlena approach her conversations with Brady and Belle? Is she stoic? Hopeful?
Hall: She’s hopeful. Always hopeful. She’s gentle. Always gentle. They’re a family, and they’re in this together. As the matriarch, she thinks it’s her job to hold it all together. She’s trying to be brave and strong and to hold it together for the children.
Digest: What can you share about filming these scenes opposite Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Martha Madison (Belle)?
Hall: You know what? We have all been in such a place of trying to survive this terrible loss, trying to absorb what it means to Drake’s family, to our family, to the show, to the audience… It’s been a big ask for everybody, and we are not in the habit of talking about losing Drake to each other. We’re just trying so hard to carry on and complete the job at hand. I do know what we all do as castmates is just pull together and get through it.
Digest: This was all taped when Drake was alive, but very ill. Were you playing these scenes with mixed emotions, with part of you hoping he might come back to the show and part of you realizing that he might not and that you had to proceed with the story?
Hall: I understand that Ken [Corday, executive producer] had [spoken to Drake] and that the door was wide open for him. Ken had said, “The minute you’re ready to come back, you’re back.” I think all of us that loved him so much were just braced for whichever [outcome it might be]. “Please come back. We would love to have you be able to come back.” Drake loved working. He loved being there. He loved everyone from the night crew to [the people who worked in] the commissary. He was close to everybody. Our greatest wish was that he would rally enough to come back. I’m sure that you could tell when he was still on air that he was getting thinner. The wardrobe department was doing a lot to try to ameliorate that. It was a tough one. But we wanted him there so much, and he wanted to be there so much, so we were all pulling in the same direction to hopefully make that happen.
Digest: Did you put in extra time with Eric and Martha prior to tackling these scenes or did you just trust yourself to be able to access your emotions and deliver on the spot?
Hall: We didn’t talk about it, and we didn’t especially run the scenes very much. We did say the words, as we say, “Mark them.” We made sure we all knew the dialogue so it didn’t have to be done more than once. Then we stepped in and [did the scenes]. There may have been a hand squeeze. We’re big on no words, and just eye contact and a hand squeeze.
Digest: I imagine it was easy to convey emotions based on the reality of the situation off camera, that they were right there at the surface and ready to come out.
Hall: It’s hard to find the balance. You don’t want to tap into it deeply, because then there you are or you’re out of control.
Digest: How do you feel the scenes turned out opposite Eric and Martha?
Hall: Everything was good. Everybody did their best and pulled together. I also think the writers were having an enormous struggle with how to play it all out – how to have him there if he wanted to be there and how to position ourselves in the show if he were not to be there again. So it was a tough one. I think the writers had a bigger challenge than we did. We just had to get through it. They had to create it.
Digest: Ultimately, Marlena decides she’s going to investigate things, and Steve insists on going with her. What’s her hope in all this?
Hall: Marlena decides, “I’m going to D.C. I’m going to go find John or find out what’s going on.” She wants a confrontation. She’s going to demand answers and demand to know as much as she possibly can about where John was, who saw him last, what the mission was, what was going on, when was their last contact with him? She wants everything she can get from Shane.
Digest: Is Marlena receptive to Steve going with her on this journey for answers?
Hall: Yes. He truly doesn’t know anything [about what’s happened to John] either, and when he doesn’t know, then it’s alarming. Marlena and Steve are so in tandem on this. They are in agreement and mutually supportive, and they carry each other.
XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
Lean On Me: Marlena is grateful for Steve’s (Stephen Nichols) support as they embark on a search for John.
Unable to get information about the whereabouts of her husband, John, who’s been off on an ISA mission for months, Marlena shares worrisome news with Brady and Belle about their father on Days of Our Lives: The patriarch of their family appears to have gone missing. Deidre Hall (Marlena) spoke to Soap Opera Digest about the onset of the emotional storyline that will ultimately lead to the demise of the beloved character, who was portrayed by the late Drake Hogestyn, and Marlena’s mission to track down the man she loves.
Soap Opera Digest: What leads Marlena to come clean with Brady and Belle about the situation with their father?
Deidre Hall: She can’t reach John, and she can’t get any [information about him] out of Shane. She just can’t get a straight answer, but she’s somehow led to understand that John is off the radar.
Digest: Does Marlena fear that something might have happened to John at this point?
Hall: I think she knows of John’s work. She knows that he does very serious work and very private work, and he does have to fly under the radar. So she’s slightly accustomed to him being out of sight and not in touch with her, but then it just starts to get concerning.
Digest: How does Marlena approach her conversations with Brady and Belle? Is she stoic? Hopeful?
Hall: She’s hopeful. Always hopeful. She’s gentle. Always gentle. They’re a family, and they’re in this together. As the matriarch, she thinks it’s her job to hold it all together. She’s trying to be brave and strong and to hold it together for the children.
Digest: What can you share about filming these scenes opposite Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Martha Madison (Belle)?
Hall: You know what? We have all been in such a place of trying to survive this terrible loss, trying to absorb what it means to Drake’s family, to our family, to the show, to the audience… It’s been a big ask for everybody, and we are not in the habit of talking about losing Drake to each other. We’re just trying so hard to carry on and complete the job at hand. I do know what we all do as castmates is just pull together and get through it.
Digest: This was all taped when Drake was alive, but very ill. Were you playing these scenes with mixed emotions, with part of you hoping he might come back to the show and part of you realizing that he might not and that you had to proceed with the story?
Hall: I understand that Ken [Corday, executive producer] had [spoken to Drake] and that the door was wide open for him. Ken had said, “The minute you’re ready to come back, you’re back.” I think all of us that loved him so much were just braced for whichever [outcome it might be]. “Please come back. We would love to have you be able to come back.” Drake loved working. He loved being there. He loved everyone from the night crew to [the people who worked in] the commissary. He was close to everybody. Our greatest wish was that he would rally enough to come back. I’m sure that you could tell when he was still on air that he was getting thinner. The wardrobe department was doing a lot to try to ameliorate that. It was a tough one. But we wanted him there so much, and he wanted to be there so much, so we were all pulling in the same direction to hopefully make that happen.
Digest: Did you put in extra time with Eric and Martha prior to tackling these scenes or did you just trust yourself to be able to access your emotions and deliver on the spot?
Hall: We didn’t talk about it, and we didn’t especially run the scenes very much. We did say the words, as we say, “Mark them.” We made sure we all knew the dialogue so it didn’t have to be done more than once. Then we stepped in and [did the scenes]. There may have been a hand squeeze. We’re big on no words, and just eye contact and a hand squeeze.
Digest: I imagine it was easy to convey emotions based on the reality of the situation off camera, that they were right there at the surface and ready to come out.
Hall: It’s hard to find the balance. You don’t want to tap into it deeply, because then there you are or you’re out of control.
Digest: How do you feel the scenes turned out opposite Eric and Martha?
Hall: Everything was good. Everybody did their best and pulled together. I also think the writers were having an enormous struggle with how to play it all out – how to have him there if he wanted to be there and how to position ourselves in the show if he were not to be there again. So it was a tough one. I think the writers had a bigger challenge than we did. We just had to get through it. They had to create it.
Digest: Ultimately, Marlena decides she’s going to investigate things, and Steve insists on going with her. What’s her hope in all this?
Hall: Marlena decides, “I’m going to D.C. I’m going to go find John or find out what’s going on.” She wants a confrontation. She’s going to demand answers and demand to know as much as she possibly can about where John was, who saw him last, what the mission was, what was going on, when was their last contact with him? She wants everything she can get from Shane.
Digest: Is Marlena receptive to Steve going with her on this journey for answers?
Hall: Yes. He truly doesn’t know anything [about what’s happened to John] either, and when he doesn’t know, then it’s alarming. Marlena and Steve are so in tandem on this. They are in agreement and mutually supportive, and they carry each other.
XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
Lean On Me: Marlena is grateful for Steve’s (Stephen Nichols) support as they embark on a search for John.