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The Fall Guy: Alex (Robert Scott Wilson) figures out that he’s genuinely falling for Theresa (Emily O’Brien).
Former playboy Alex comes to a stunning realization during an emergency late-night counseling session with Marlena.
After he and Theresa nearly parts ways, Alex contacts his psychiatrist. “Alex just needs to speak to somebody, and he turns to his therapist,” notes Robert Scott Wilson (Alex). “This is somebody who he’s starting to trust and he feels like it’s okay to talk to, even though he’s very uncomfortable. He is not a seasoned vet at therapy, but he is open to it and knows that he needs to turn to somebody that will not judge him and will be unbiased. So Marlena is the best choice.”
During their conversation, Marlena gently probes Alex about what’s going on inside his mind. “It’s a therapy session, so Marlena’s going to try to get in there,” says Wilson. “But at the same time, she has this way of getting to the nucleus of the issue. It’s piece by piece, and he kind of puts it together. She makes it dawn on him that he’s falling in love with Theresa.”
The epiphany catches Alex off-guard. “He’s like, ‘Wow. That’s what it is,’ ” recounts Wilson. “Then it’s like, ‘Well, if that’s the case, I have to move differently with her. I must be with her. I must do all these things.’ It’s all these new feelings for him.”
Feelings Alex wasn’t sure he would ever experience. “He didn’t think he was capable, because of what he thought was his love at first sight with Stephanie,” explains Wilson. “Since that went the way it did, he kind of wrote off the ability to love again. This is a very profound thing that Marlena helps him get to, this realization.”
After leaving Marlena’s office, Alex comes face-to-face with Theresa in the hospital elevator. However, he’s nowhere near ready to express his feelings to her. “Not at that moment,” asserts Wilson. “I don’t think he has [what he would say] prepared. It’s dawning on him, and he’s putting it all together. He sees Theresa in a whole new light, and he’s like, ‘I have to protect this. I have to treat this at the level which my heart seems to know.’ He’s figuring it out.”
Given the recent vicissitudes of his love life, Alex has a lot to process. “He slowed it down once with Stephanie, and after that kind of blew up in his face, he wasn’t really looking to get back into the playboy game,” assesses Wilson. “He wanted to start working on himself and investing in himself. So when Theresa came along, this whirlwind of her, he kind of got swept up in it and now he really cares for her.”
For Wilson, transitioning to an Alex who is more in touch with his feelings has been a welcome acting endeavor. “He’s getting there,” says Wilson. “It’s nice, because it’s not like this flip-of-a-switch new guy who’s just this bleeding heart romantic. It’s still Alex Kiriakis. He’s still a badass dude with a business sense and a little chip on his shoulder. And now he’s got this whole new [attitude] where it’s like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to treat women the way that I have for a long time. I’m going to take my time and understand myself and understand them and try to be better for everybody.’ So it’s been nice. It’s been a nice change for him, and it’s been nice to be able to play it. We’re peeling back the layers of this guy; we’re figuring out who he is and it’s been amazing.”
