Eli comes home for the holidays, which means Lamon Archey is reprising his role as Julie’s beloved grandson.
“It’s a Christmas surprise to bring Eli and the twins back to Salem,” begins the actor. “It has been a while since Eli had seen his family and vice versa. It is a good time to get everyone together, and what better time to do it than Christmas?”
Walking into the Horton living room and reuniting with Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) and Bill Hayes (Doug) was a welcome treat, reports Archey. “It was great,” he says. “I hadn’t seen them since I left. I think I maybe emailed them once or twice during the time I was gone. It was really good seeing them and the other faces that I hadn’t seen in a while. It was really good reconnecting with my co-workers.”
Among them, Archey cites Billy Flynn (Chad), Robert Scott Wilson (Alex), Jackée Harry (Paulina) and James Reynolds (Abe). “James always texts me on holidays and things like that. He wished me a Happy Thanksgiving,” shares Archey. “I always say he was one of the people that I looked up to while I was there and someone I could always go to and talk to. So I was definitely looking forward to seeing James.”
While he’s in town, Eli will provide an update on his wife, Lani, who’s currently in the slammer for shooting and killing her biological father. “Everyone wants to know how Lani is holding up in prison,” recounts Archey. “I believe Eli says she’s doing the best she can under the circumstances. She’s pulling through, but definitely misses being with her family, especially during the holidays.”
Since leaving DAYS, Archey has worked on a few projects. “I’m still shooting ALL AMERICAN,” he notes, referring to The CW series. “I’ll be going over there in the next couple of weeks. I have an episode I have to shoot. I also shot a movie for Hallmark or Lifetime that I think is coming out in January. It’s called LOVE ME TO DEATH and is starring Brian White, Pamela Jones and Tisha Campbell.”
Still, Archey remains open to future visits to DAYS. “I talked to Albert [Alarr, co-executive producer] before I left,” he confides. “He had asked me if I wanted to come back and do some more episodes. I said we can definitely talk and figure it out. Recently, they did reach out to me and asked if I’d stop by again and help out with some stories they have going on. So, of course, I’m down to pop in and lend a helping hand.”
