Peter Reckell Reflects On DAYS Return, ‘Deep Relationship’ With Kristian Alfonso (Exclusive)

After Bo Brady spent two years in a coma, Peter Reckell returned to Days of Our Lives to usher the popular hero back to the land of the living (and Hope’s loving arms!), much to the delight of viewers. Reckell opened up to Soap Opera Digest about the long break between his character’s shooting and miraculous recovery, his thoughts on Bo’s return to the show, and reviving the strong connection that’s “always there” between him and leading lady Kristian Alfonso (Hope).

Soap Opera Digest: When we last saw Bo back in 2023, he’d been shot in the head and was in a coma. What were your thoughts on that storyline and Bo’s future at that time?

Peter Reckell: Working as long as I have, you know the circle that storylines take. To represent [that idea], I think the easiest one is Princess Gina. Kristian came back, and she was this different personality. Actually, that storyline took quite a while, and there was this buildup and frustration of trying to reach her and make sure she was Hope again. So [the 2023] return, to me, felt like that, where Bo came back with something that I thought was pretty cool. We’d never really dealt with the Kiriakis side of Bo’s DNA. It was fun for me to do that cycle. And I felt, especially for the audience, that [the real] Bo would be back pretty soon, so that the audience could have, basically, what they’re getting now. It’s just sad for the audience that they had to wait two years for this to happen. But that’s how I felt at the time: “Oh good, I’m coming back soon to finish out this cycle.”

Digest: Well, he’s finally alive and well, albeit two years later. How did you enjoy the story and being back at DAYS?

Reckell: Daytime is intense. There was an awful lot of work to do in the short time I was there, and it was all very powerful — dealing with my son and my wife and my new grandchildren… It was very impactful and the kind of stuff that I love jumping into.

Digest: The return was a blend of happiness, like Bo reuniting with his family, and sadness, like learning that several people close to him had died. What was it like having to evoke all of those emotions so quickly?

Reckell: Well, having missed those moments as I looked on [social media app] X and saw things happening without me, it was difficult during those two years. So much had happened and being on the sidelines watching it happen… DAYS is my family, and it was kind of heartbreaking to watch it happen and not be there, especially for people that I loved so dearly like John [Aniston, ex-Victor] and Bill [Hayes, ex-Doug] and Peggy [McCay, ex-Caroline]. There were people that didn’t come up in this short time that I was there, but the writers really did an excellent job of bringing up the things that were important in those particular relationships with my father [Victor] and Doug. It was the kind of work you really want to do, but the fact that it was about people that I loved… There was that double-edged thing where as an actor I felt, “Wow, this is good material.” But as a person, it was just heartbreaking.

Digest: Were there any particular scenes you were really looking forward to playing, like Shawn’s apology to his father for shooting him?

Reckell: That was really powerful stuff dealing with my son and his guilt. And [Brandon Beemer, Shawn] is just such a great actor. It was great to look into his eyes, [to] see his guilt, and [to] try to make him feel better. To let him know that it wasn’t his fault and that he was actually walking in my footsteps, doing exactly what Bo would’ve done. Pretty much everything I had to do was an actor’s dream, having to say goodbye to your character relationships as well as your personal relationships [like] with Drake [Hogestyn, ex-John]. It really takes a lot out of you.

Digest: What was it like working with Victoria Konefal [Ciara] for the first time? Because your previous scenes as a spirit, who saved her ailing newborn son, were not actually filmed together.

Reckell: The first time I came back to the show, Albert [Alarr, former co-executive producer] called me when I was in New Zealand [where he used to reside] and said, “Hey, can we just record you saying these things so we have your voice?” And then it just happened very quickly that Kelly [Reckell’s wife] and I decided to move back [to the United States]. The next step was, “Well, I can be [in the scenes].” They had already done those scenes with Victoria and a stand-in for me. And for some reason she couldn’t come in and do them when I was there. So I did them with a stand in. The crazy thing was when people said, “Your chemistry is so on.” To answer your question, she’s just a powerful young actor. I just loved working with her. It was no problem looking in her eyes and seeing my daughter, although our first scenes [were] just her wanting me to wake up. I was laying there listening to her, and it was breaking my heart. I almost had tears running down my face, which probably wouldn’t have worked.

Digest: Of course, the biggest moment for fans was seeing Bo and Hope together again. What can you share about the ease of reconnecting with Kristian Alfonso?

Reckell: For some reason it is just always there. I’ve said this before, that it’s just like family when you’ve been through so much together. She and I have done an incredible amount of work together and had fun together. I don’t think you come up with a circumstance that we haven’t already done together as far as our characters are concerned. So that relationship is just in your mettle. You don’t really have to do much homework on it. It’s just there.

Digest: Does it surprise you that it’s still there or does it just feel very natural?

Reckell: That is not a circumstance that I ever get concerned about being [at DAYS]. I learn my lines and then we go into it. And, as always, the two of us work it together, especially these days since you don’t have any rehearsals or anything. So we just did what we used to do and fell right into our rhythm. Hopefully, that’s what the audience sees — that deep relationship.