Emily O’Brien On Gwen’s Return To Days of Our Lives: ‘She Has Everything Except For Love’
A familiar face returned to Salem when Emily O’Brien appeared on Days of Our Lives as Gwen Rizczech at the end of the Monday, July 7, episode. The actress originally played the character from June 2020 until October 2023, when the actress exited a scene as Gwen and then reentered it as a recast of Theresa Donovan. After Theresa was sent to prison in the summer of 2024, O’Brien did not expect the show to summon her back to duty, she admitted to TV Insider in a new interview. “I thought that was it,” she told the outlet. “I was very emotional on the last day; I said my goodbyes.”
But before long, O’Brien was contacted by DAYS to reprise the role of Theresa for a brief run in March 2025, and also to bring Gwen back onto the canvas a few months down the line — and the actress didn’t hesitate to say yes. “I’ve always loved playing Gwen, so it was an easy answer for me,” she confided.
A Changed Woman
The last time viewers saw Gwen, she was still stinging from marrying Dimitri Von Leuschner (who she had initially targeted for his fortune, but came to truly love) only to find out he really loved her best friend, Leo Stark. She decided to soothe her broken heart by stealing some of Dimitri’s money and leaving Salem to collect the rest of it. “Gwen has always been scrappy and always trying to find someone to love her, someone to use,” O’Brien reported in her interview. But her change in financial circumstances have changed that, too. “Now, she has everything except for love, so she’s sort of back to where she was, but with a full wallet,” the actress summed up.
Of course, Gwen may still be painfully single, but now that she’s incredibly wealthy, she’s looking at the world with new eyes and a new attitude. “The new writers have refined her,” the actress teased. “She went away and spent time with the elite, and now she has knowledge and status, so that’s been a different twist to come back and play her. She’s spending time with new characters, and it’s been fun to discover where everything is going with her now.”
Having been away from the set for almost a year, O’Brien admitted that she was actually a little nervous going back to work, but once she was among the other cast and crew in her DAYS family, she felt right at home. One co-star in particular she was excited to share scenes with again was Greg Rikaart (Leo), with whom she had previously worked on Young and Restless from 2006-11, where they played Jana Hawkes and Kevin Fisher. “We looked like we had slept with hangers in our mouths after those scenes because we could not stop laughing,” she shared.
How do you feel about having Gwen back in Salem, and what kind of drama would you like to see her stir up on DAYS this time around? Let us know in the comments below!
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