DAYS’s Lamon Archey and Sal Stowers discuss their characters’ long road to romance
Soap Opera Digest: Your characters were initially thrown into bed together for a one-night stand. Did you think anything would come of it?
Lamon Archey: I didn’t think it was going to go further.
Sal Stowers: I was completely shocked when the whole baby thing came up. I didn’t see [Lani’s pregnancy] coming.
Archey: I don’t think either of us thought we would end up in a relationship.
Digest: Did you know each other before you started working on DAYS?
Stowers: Yes, we knew each other through modeling, but we weren’t like BFFs.
Archey: It was about 10 years.
Digest: Did that make it easier or harder to connect on camera?
Archey: It was easier for me having already known her. There was more of a comfort factor.
Stowers: There was more of a trust there, for sure. But it was also, “Oh, I’ve got to figure out this relationship playing this character with him.”
Digest: Was there anything you were surprised to learn about each another?
Archey: I pretty much always knew she was a goofball, but she’s also very sweet and nice and loving. Sal’s got a little motherly-type vibe to her.
Digest: Can you share an example?
Archey: I posted a blooper of Matthew Ashford [Jack] running into a planter on set. It really does say so much about who she is and who I am, as well. Sal wanted to make sure that he was okay. She was really worried about him. That’s who she is all the time.
Digest: And Lamon, you were laughing?
Stowers: Honestly, you could fall down the stairs and bust your face open, and Lamon would laugh at you first.
Archey: Well, if you bust your face, I might wait.
Stowers: No, he’ll laugh first. Then he’ll come and help you. Actually, Lamon is amazing. He is a wonderful guy, really funny and a big goofball. If you follow him on social media, you’ll see that. But he’s a chicken.
Digest: In what way?
Stowers: We were just doing some photos, and we wanted him to slide down a railing.
Archey: Oh, I’m a scaredy-cat.
Stowers: He doesn’t want to try things. He was like, “I don’t know.” And I was saying, “Just do it.”
Archey: I like to laugh at others. I don’t want anybody laughing at me.
Digest: Speaking of laughs, you two had a cute New Year’s Eve scene in the square, where Lamon busted a dance move. Was that in the script or off the cuff?
Stowers: He did that on his own.
Archey: I just kind of threw that in and compared myself to the young whippersnappers.
Stowers: That is one thing I adore about Lamon. His personality is so fun. When he throws things in, it’s so charming. It always makes me laugh and makes for a sweet little moment.
Digest: Were there any other moments like that?
Stowers: He flexed his little boobies [in the recent scenes at Doug’s Place].
Digest: So, Lamon, you can make your pecs dance?
Archey: Yeah [laughs]. I put that in. There’s always so much serious stuff going on. I like to lighten it up whenever I can.
Digest: Do you have to get permission for something like that?
Archey: I just do it. Then, if they say I can’t do it, I don’t do it. I don’t ask.
Stowers: He needs to do it more. It brings a fun, lighthearted side to Lani and Eli’s relationship that people want to see. All those laughs are real. Lamon’s always doing something to make me laugh and loosen things up.
Digest: Is this a welcome change after the heaviness of Lani and Eli losing their baby?
Stowers: We were in that storyline for so long, and it was definitely heavy. I also lost my grandmother last year. Between that and dealing with the loss of baby David Abraham here, it was sometimes not easy to come to work, knowing we had to put ourselves in such dark places.
Digest: Did you try to support each other through it?
Stowers: Yeah, we did have each other to lean on and to talk things out. We also tried to make it as light as we could when we were not filming, because it’s hard to be in that dark place.
Archey: For the most part, I wanted to make sure Sal was okay, just like Eli was with Lani, helping her through the process. I’ve said many times I was definitely glad when that was over. I wanted that dark cloud that was hovering over us to [go away]. That storyline lasted for so long, and when you’re doing something that’s such a downer, you kind of take it home with you.
Stowers: And it affects your whole life.
Digest: Once that storyline wrapped, where you like, “Hallelujah!” your next day on set?
Stowers: Absolutely. To finally see Lani in a lighter space was so wonderful. Playing that, now I really feel I’m getting to develop her more as one of the women of Salem. And now, with Eli, so much more of who she is is coming out. Before I had to deal with the grieving vs. showing more of who she is, what she likes and how she is when she’s really in love.
Archey: I love it. Like I said, so much stuff is so serious. There’s always some big huge drama that’s going on. Anytime I can go out there and act the fool, I’m all for it.
Digest: Were you ready for Eli and Lani to finally be a couple?
Archey: Just like the fans, we, the actors, get caught up in the story and wonder what’s going to happen next. After everything that had been going on between Eli and Lani, we both started rooting for them as a couple and for them to work out their differences. They have come a long way from the beginning.
Stowers: I think we both knew it was coming, and I honestly loved it. I thought it was time. They deserve to be a power couple.
Digest: Do you think these characters are right for each other?
Archey: I think they are. There are a lot of [similar] things that have gone on in their past — Eli not having his dad around, Lani not having her dad around. They lost a child together. They have lot of things to bond over. There’s so much they’ve been through and can talk to each other about.
Stowers: They kind of get each other on a different level, vs. when Lani was with JJ. There’s a deeper connection there, and they’ve experienced so much together.
Digest: Do you hang out together when you’re at the studio?
Stowers: We’ll do lunch. He’ll come and see if I’m hungry, and then we’ll go get food together. Sometimes we’ll sit down, mostly in his room, and chat for a little bit.
Digest: Does Lamon have the better dressing room?
Stowers: No, he doesn’t. And it always smells in there.
Archey: It’s a guy’s room.
Stowers: I have a diffuser in mine.
Archey: I’ve always got food in the trash.
Digest: What are your favorite scenes together so far?
Archey: I would say the ones that just aired … the Miami ones.
Stowers: Eli turned Doug’s Place into Miami, because that’s where Lani is from. She walked in, and he’s in swim trunks. He has mojitos and the whole place is decorated with palm trees. You really see Lani and Eli getting to know each other more, their relationship starting to blossom. And it’s a sweet, intimate moment outside the detective area. For some reason most of their personal, intimate conversations have always been in the detective area.
Digest: What was it like filming those scenes?
Stowers: They were fun, easy and light. We’re both in swimwear inside of Doug’s Place. That was a little awkward. Lamon didn’t like his legs being shown.
Digest: So women aren’t the only ones who have anxiety about wearing bathing suits on camera?
Archey: Nope. I’ve got skinny legs. As soon as I saw they had me in shorts, I ran up to wardrobe and was like, “Where are the sweatpants? I need sweatpants.”
Digest: And there’s no quick fix for pumping up your legs…
Archey: No. That’s a wrap. That is what it is. It’s over [laughs].
Stowers: He would need to hit the gym — a lot.
Archey: Maybe Sal can give me some of her calves.
Stowers: I gotcha. I got enough for you.
