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Shawn Christian: Man in the Middle

As Doctor Daniel, DAYS OF OUR LIVES’ Shawn Christian is in a major quandary: He’s interested in a future with young Chelsea, while obviously having shared a mysterious past with her sexy grandmother, Kate. Christian finds himself at the heart of the controversial storyline and enjoying every minute of it.

Soap Opera Weekly: The show is being so mysterious about Daniel and Kate. What is going on between them?
Shawn Christian: There’s definitely something bubbling beneath the surface.

Weekly: How long has this “bubbling” been going on?
Christian: That has yet to be determined. Lauren (Koslow, Kate) and I had scenes yesterday. We were trying to figure out how long, how many times, and when did this and that happen. I’m not sure if it’s been clearly defined yet.

Weekly: What are your thoughts on the surprise storyline?
Christian: As an actor, you love the adventure. You want to figure out the unintended consequences of something like this happening. Daniel’s felt for a while that Kate’s been retreating from whatever experience they shared. She’s completely closing herself off from him, probably as a means of protecting Chelsea. Daniel is perplexed, truly, and frustrated that Kate has been closing him out.

Weekly: As an actor, is it hard to justify playing someone who’s had a past with one woman and then starts dating her granddaughter?
Christian: There’s one thing Lauren and I have been trying to work on. This is not a conspiratorial, behind-Chelsea’s-back scenario. It feels like whatever happened happened when Daniel completely let Chelsea go, when he was no longer her doctor and he was done with that whole chapter. We’re going back to there, when Kate clearly knew Daniel had taken himself off Chelsea’s case. Up until that point, Daniel had denied any feelings for Chelsea, anyway.

Weekly: Under the circumstances, how would you assess Daniel?
Christian: He’s a mess. (Laughs.) Actually, there is something exciting and flawed about Daniel. He has an insatiable appetite for living on the edge.

Weekly: Do you think this has the makings of an interesting triangle?
Christian: Yes. What do you do when you have an experience that was organic and beautiful, like Kate and Daniel did, and now you have these unintended consequences down the line? Now it’s, “Oh, my God! I’m actually falling for your granddaughter.” Daniel had no idea that could happen back then. Both he and Kate were free and single. They had no attachments. How duplicitous is that? That’s what we need to explore as we go along. I really hope there’s another interesting twist that makes the story different from two people cheating behind someone else’s back.

Weekly: Meanwhile, you are working with two very different leading ladies. What has that been like?
Christian: They are both a lot of fun. Rachel [Melvin, Chelsea] likes to figure out these little puzzles. She likes to see how we can make this our own and create these experiences together. Lauren is great, too. We’re trying to create something interesting, too, and she is very open to all sorts of ideas.

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