The newly committed Harris runs into a familiar face at Bayview — Eve Donovan — paving the way for Kassie DePaiva’s quick return to the DAYS role she left in 2020 and, quite frankly, didn’t think she’d ever be resurrecting.
“I was sitting up in the Catskills last winter when the phone rang. I looked over and saw that it was Marnie [Saitta, DAYS’s casting director],” recalls DePaiva. “I was like, ‘Marnie? Oh, my gosh.’ We talked for about 20 minutes and then she said, ‘They’re writing a quick little story arc. It’s one episode. Would you be interested?’ I was like, ‘Well, yeah. What am I doing? I’m sitting here watching it snow.’ ”
Saitta gave DePaiva, who thought her character was in prison and might be busting out, a quick refresher course on Eve. Namely, reminding her that her alter ego had been deemed criminally insane and was in a mental institution. “I said, ‘Perfect. I’ve gone from the aging slut to criminally insane,’ ” chuckles the actress, who remembered why after her last stint on DAYS. “I was in that red sequined dress trying to brainwash Ben after blowing up his wedding.”
This time around, things are less volatile. “It was fun. I got to work with Mr. [Steve] Burton [Harris], which was nice,” says DePaiva. “I knew him from ABC times down at Super Soap Weekend, and I actually had a group scene with him when I first came on GENERAL HOSPITAL as Blair.”
The pair’s scenes will focus on Harris apologizing to Eve for how he treated her in high school. “Back then, Charlotte Ross played the part,” notes DePaiva. “So I watched those old scenes, and he was mean to her. He was this bully jock and not a kind soul. I just tried to stay true to the history.” And Eve tells Harris what led to her being institutionalized. “She shares about Paige and how [her murder] really messed with her and destroyed her world,” recounts DePaiva. “But being in Bayview helped her change for the better and she really worked hard on herself.”
Short, but sweet, DePaiva found the scenes and her quick visit to DAYS “wonderful. It’s like going to a family reunion,” she notes. “I was off and on there for eight years. It was great to see people, to work with people. Sonia Blangiardo [-Goins] was directing. The Covid protocols were still happening, so that was different. You pretty much had to just hang out in your dressing room.”
Since filming her previous DAYS run, DePaiva “got through Covid, caught Covid once, but very light, and moved from New York to the Catskills full-time,” she rattles off. “We [DePaiva is married to James DePaiva, ex-Max, ONE LIFE TO LIVE et al] sold our New York City apartment last January. I spend my time in the winter skiing and in the summer gardening and playing house. I’ve also been painting. There’s an artisans guild in Margaretville, NY, my little community, and I have a booth in there. I also volunteer one day a month to work it. I’ve been doing that for a year, and that’s a good creative outlet. I’ve been enjoying my life. Would I rather be working doing soap operas? Yeah. But I’ve been pretty blessed.”
DePaiva also shot a movie with Wally Kurth (Justin, DAYS; Ned, GH) in October 2022. “It’s a little short film called Common As Red Hair, where we play husband and wife,” she says. “It’s been put up for a few short film competitions and has already won a couple of awards.”
Although she’s enjoying her time in the Catskills, DePaiva is always up for another run at DAYS. “It’s not my world anymore, but I love to play when they call me,” she shares. “So it’s all good.”
And, if not Eve, she’d also welcome a return to GH as Blair. “You bet,” declares the actress. “There’s a lot of history there, a lot of time, a lot of water under that bridge. But I guess Todd is not Todd, right? So if I was to go back on that show, he probably wouldn’t recognize me. But I could go, ‘You’re hot. You look like somebody I used to know.’ ”
