Q What were two of your most fave moments from when you played Will the last time? –Willy G.
A There was some young get-together or something at Maggie’s house with Gabi, Will, Chad and Melanie. This was when Will didn’t realize he was gay, but he felt like something was wrong with him because for some reason he wasn’t really attracted to Gabi, but he didn’t want her to know. So she broke up with him at Maggie’s house and I remember that as really the first time an unplanned emotion kind of swept me up. Before, I would break down the scene and think, “This is what Will feels and this is what he thinks and this is how he reacts.” But that was the first time when I was kind of caught off-guard, maybe I let myself be caught off-guard, and I really liked those scenes. Afterward, I was like, “Whoa, this is just part of what I can do.” And then of course my second-favorite moment would be with Freddie [Smith]. We were dressed up for Halloween and we were wearing costumes and these funny glasses with the big nose and the big bushy eyebrows and spraying each other with Silly String and it was just a real moment. It was so playful and you kind of just get lost in it. That was something that stuck with me.
Q When you’re not working, what do you like to do in your spare time? Do you still play the piano? –Christine M.
A Yes, I still play the piano. I do a lot of stuff in my spare time. I play a lot of sports, in leagues and just casually. I read. I play Dungeons & Dragons and sometimes just veg out, sit on the couch and watch LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS.
Q How long and how often do you typically rehearse and practice your lines? Your acting is so natural and effortless. –Erika L.
A Oh, that’s nice of you to say. I usually break down the script the day before and memorize the words without attaching any meaning to them. And then I get to set and I rehearse and see where it goes. The general strategy is once you have the lines completely memorized, you have the freedom to live in the scene and not really choose the direction of it prior to going in and shooting it.
Q Do Freddie and you hang outside the set? –Alex E.
A Yeah, we do, and we have a jolly old time when we do. Freddie just moved, though, which puts him an hour and 15 minutes away from where I live, so it’s going to be a little more difficult in the future.
Q How was it connecting with Deidre Hall [Marlena] again? –Sue D.
A It was amazing. I feel because Deidre is so magnetic and she has such a presence, we were able to pick up right where we left off. It was great to see her personally and it was great for Will to see Marlena.
Q What was it like seeing Sydnee and Harper Udell [Arianna] again with how they have grown since you were last on? –Lisa M.
A It was so amazing because usually for young kids, they age ’em up really quickly, so to see Sydnee and Harper, they’ve grown so much. They make me a proud TV dad.
Q What are your top three cities you’d want to live other than L.A.? What’s your favorite Disney movie? Favorite Disney song? –Lizzy K.
A Vancouver would be No. 1, Tokyo and Dublin the others. I think Disney song is “Go the Distance” fro Hercules. It’s actually the song that I sang to myself in the bathroom before I first auditioned at DAYS. And then my favorite Disney movie would have to be Mulan.
Q Three questions here: Who in the cast that you do not currently work with would you love to share scenes with? Will Horton is a hugely important character for both DAYS fans and the LGBT community. How do you handle this pressure? Would you say Will is more like Sami or more like Lucas in how he handles people and situations? Thank you, SOD! –Daniel T.
A Billy [Flynn, Chad] has a reputation for spontaneity and I really like that, so I would like to have some scenes with him. I don’t really feel much pressure because all I’ve really received is support from everybody. It is a responsibility, and one that I hope to meet, but it seems kind of more like an opportunity to show the viewers something that they may be unfamiliar with and may not have seen before, to humanize a movement, in a way. Sami for sure. He has all the self-righteousness of Lucas, but then all the impulsiveness and scheming tendencies of Sami. He’s the king of throwing rocks from a glass house.
Q Do you have a favorite DAYS character? –Stella M.
A I’d say EJ [laughs]. I’m kind of trying to stir the pot and hopefully get EJ back on-screen. Stefano was the villain of the show for so long and I think you need a classic villain and there was something so interesting about EJ, the way they wrote him. He was so gray. So intelligent, so flawed, and then James Scott [ex-EJ] played all those things almost to perfection that it really made him fascinating.
Q I’m a huge fan of yours from the UK, you’re my favorite actor and I’m so glad you’re back on DAYS. When you first read the script for Will’s return, how did you feel? Would you have changed any of the storyline or were you pleasantly surprised? –Thank you, Leanne
A I was pleasantly surprised because I thought Will was going to show up at the wedding, but they really took their time with it and made it like a “is he or isn’t he?” kind of thing. I loved that they were able to bring Alison back to play Sami. The story wouldn’t have been the same without that. So I couldn’t have improved it in the least. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
