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Scene & Heard

"Days of our Lives" Set
Kyler Pettis, Sal Stowers, James Reynolds "Days of our Lives" Set NBC Studios Burbank 12/16/15 © Howard Wise/jpistudios.com 310-657-9661 Credit: JPI

HEY, GOOD LOOKING

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Amelia Heinle (Victoria, Y&R) continues to be impressed with how Jason Thompson plays the character of Billy. “Jason is such a talented actor,” praises the actress. “He came in and just owned this role, he really has. I’m very proud of him and he’s so good. Everything he turns in is so natural and subtle. He takes even the hardest things to say and makes them digestible, you know? I’ll think, ‘Oh, that sounds good coming out of his mouth!’ ” While Heinle can appreciate her co-star’s good looks — “Whenever I watch him working, I’m like, ‘Gosh, he’s such a handsome leading man!’ ” — she shares, “I feel like he’s my brother. When we’re hanging out on the set between takes, we don’t really discuss our characters or the scenes. We pretty much talk about his adorable family.”

THE FAMILY WAY

Steven Bergman

GH’s Maura West is always glad when her script calls for Ava to interact with on-screen daughter Hayley Erin (Kiki). “She’s a great scene partner and a delightful human being,” West proclaims. “She’s been my ‘daughter’ for a while now and there’s a real ease between us. Within our scenes, we’ve found a real groove, and have created what — to me, anyway — is a really believable mother and daughter. Being a mother of young adults is hard [laughs]! I can say this from my own experience and I think the writers really get that and she really gets that. I always look forward to our scenes together. We keep each other laughing, but she’s also so professional, very prepared and super-pleasant. She’s just kind of a joy to be around, really. I mean, I can’t say enough about her without making everybody want to vomit, but it’s all true. I love her. She’s a really sweet woman.”

BACK TO REALITY

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When DAYS’s Sal Stowers picked up her script and read that Lani’s on-screen brother, Theo (Kyler Pettis), was going to be shot, it sent her into a whirlwind of emotions. “I cried,” she shares. “I have such a close bond with Kyler. Whenever I work with him, he brings out so much emotion in me. So knowing that this was happening to his character was hard.” Her feelings for Pettis aside, Stowers thought about what it would mean if something like this happened to her in life. She recounts, “It really broke me down. But at the same time, I was so excited to have this storyline because I knew that it would pull at the audience’s heartstrings. I remember shooting the scenes when Theo was shot. It felt so real. I looked into his eyes, and he was so expressive with his pain and tears.” Stowers also understood the ramifications for her character. “I allowed myself to go into a dark place and be vulnerable with these three important men in Lani’s life: her dad, her brother and her boyfriend. I knew that my heart would be pulled in so many different directions, because Lani has a distinct relationship with each one of them.” After shooting the scenes, Stowers drew upon advice from a former acting coach. “She told me, ‘No matter what type of work you’re doing, whether it’s a dark story, or a happy one, always make sure you bring yourself back down, with your feet on the ground,’ ” Stowers relates. “So after sitting with the emotions that came up in the scene, I listened to a happy song and called a friend. It brought me out of Lani’s world and back into my own.”

SAINT PATRICK

B&B’s Patrika Darbo would love to see her Spectra matriarch Shirley land a man, and if the actress had her druthers, he’d be Patrick Duffy (ex-Stephen; ex-Bobby, DALLAS). “I know he was on B&B before, and I had the best time working with him on STEP BY STEP,” she relays of their ’90s family sitcom. “When Peggy Rea, may she rest in peace, and I were written off the show after the first season, Patrick was so wonderful. He was gracious enough to call and say, ‘This is the best thing that could happen to you. You’re too good for us.’ He really made me feel better. Such a gentleman! Most people, at the time anyway, only thought of him as doing the serious stuff, but he is a very funny man. We had the best time goofing around together. We would work on bits together, like there was one thing when I screamed, ‘Eek! A mouse!’ and leapt into his arms and he was trying to hold on to me and this was one of the times when I think I was at my heaviest! No matter what, I can’t wait to work with him again someday, because he is just so terrific.”

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