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Interview!

Catching Up With Dan Wells

Dan Wells 734x365

Soap Opera Digest: Today you’re best known for your work as a fitness expert. When did your interest in fitness begin?
Dan Wells: Fitness has always been a big part of life for me. In essence, I opened up a couple of CrossFit gyms. Then I started getting calls to basically act as a professional on shows, such as THE DOCTORS, when they have questions in respect to fitness, nutrition and wellness. Last year I was on NBC-TV’s STRONG as one of their fitness trainers.

Digest: What inspired you to make fitness your career?
Wells: My wife, Rachelle, and I have three children Jadon, 11, Emerson, 9, and Troy, 7. As I’ve matured, I’ve taken the focus off of myself. It’s funny how you look around and you see how you can help your family, friends and community. It’s also an arena that I’ve gotten really good at, understanding the human body. The amount to which improving yourself physically, and how that can impact your life, is mind-blowing. For me, it really feels like a calling, something I can’t not do, and that I really enjoy. So it’s a win-win situation. Having the TV experience, and spending thousands of hours in front of the camera, has allowed it to bleed into a larger audience and represent fitness on a national level. It’s nice to be able to bring ideas and inspiration to folks.

Digest: What celebrities have you worked with?
Wells: James Marsden — he’s a very nice guy — Teri Hatcher [ex-Angelica, CAPITOL], Rachel Kimsey, who was on DAYS [as Meredith; ex-Mac, Y&R]. We get a lot of TV and movie folks in here, being in Studio City. It’s nice to be able to help those guys, as well. Everybody’s trying to do the best thing they can. I’m always trying to improve, but we’ve got a great method here.

Digest: What do you hear from people who remember your work as Stan, when Sami passed herself off as a man?
Wells: People find me online. They’ve usually seen me on a fitness segment and then I’ll get a message on social media, or an email on the website, saying, “I remember when you were on DAYS OF OUR LIVES.” It’s kind of crazy [laughs]. People are smart. They put two and two together. They’re very flattering. I don’t like to talk about myself, but they say that I’ve taken good care of myself and that it’s impressive. I was a lot skinnier and boyish [when I was on DAYS]. Physical fitness has allowed me to put on some man weight [laughs], although I’ve actually dropped body fat percentage. I was 150 pounds when I was on DAYS, and now I’m 170. They’re nice people, the ones who remember me from DAYS. They’re very generous and complimentary.

Digest: What memories do you have of working on DAYS?
Wells: When I was on DAYS, I sort of got thrown into the deep end of the pool, because Sami carried such a huge workload. It wasn’t like I was one guy coming in with a small storyline. So the workload for a newcomer to daytime was just tremendous. I felt like I was constantly studying and working. I remember spending a lot of time at home watching tapes of Alison Sweeney [Sami], and trying to mimic her mannerisms. That was a lot of fun. I think that’s one of the things that carried through to the fans, is that they appreciated the time that I worked on the show. I took it very seriously and I put in a lot of time. There was a lot of work to do [laughs]. Alison Sweeney was a fun one to follow.

JPI

Digest: Are you in touch with anyone that you worked with on DAYS?
Wells: Some of them will drop by [the gym]. I’m really good friends with Greg Vaughan [Eric]. We weren’t on the show at the same time. Our kids are the same age, so we hang out sometimes.

Digest: Would you be open to doing another soap stint?
Wells: I wouldn’t take a contract, but I would do a fun guest-star appearance for a few episodes, especially if my son Jadon was involved. He was on DAYS [as young Joey] and DEXTER. Acting was a good experience for him. It’s one thing to get out and play sports, or do well in school. But understanding that when you have a job to do, you bear down, and act like a professional. For him to do that, and interact and engage with adults at such a young age, I think has been really good for him. It has allowed him to be comfortable in any situation. As for myself, I get a lot of satisfaction from what I’m doing now. It brings together my skill sets, as far as being on camera, but also being able to do what I do. I also compete as an athlete. So it’s hard to find all the time in the day, especially with three kids.

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