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INTERVIEW

Zach Tinker On His DAYS Return

When Zach Tinker (ex-Fen, Y&R) was hired to play Sonny in the Peacock miniseries DAYS OF OUR LIVES: BEYOND SALEM, he didn’t know what the future would hold for the character. Now, he has not only appeared in A VERY SALEM CHRISTMAS but will make his debut on the NBC network show on March 10. “I didn’t have any preconceived notion that they were going to bring me on,” Tinker admits. “Honestly. I thought that was wishful thinking, and then I got a call that they wanted to put me on the show.”

The actor reports that he and Chandler Massey (Will) picked up right where they left off. “He is just an awesome dude,” Tinker raves. “I mean, I really couldn’t have asked for a better guy to work with. He’s very similar to me in our interests. He’s just a genuinely good guy. So we didn’t skip a beat. Every time we work together, it feels like we saw each other the other day.”

Tinker was also happy to reconnect with Greg Rikaart (Leo; Kevin, Y&R), who played his uncle in Genoa City. “I see Greg sometimes outside of here when he manages to pull me from my cave that I lock myself in, a.k.a., my home,” Tinker chuckles. “But I love Greg and I really love this storyline, too, because it’s really informed me about Sonny as a character. With BEYOND SALEM, I was kind of thrown into it so quickly that I was like, ‘Oh, okay,’ and just did it. But now I’m getting some more context of who Sonny was before I came along, and what he went through with Leo previously. It’s been helping me, as the season progresses, to try to figure out who I want Sonny to be, but also, I think, shapes who he was before I came along. Now I’m like, ‘Oh, I understand why he’s this way because this happened to him and that happened to him.’ So I think Leo coming back into town has taught me a lot, just about the character in general.”

Joining the NBC soap has also allowed Tinker to take a deeper dive into his new alter ego. “We get scripts maybe a week before we film and I have a certain number of episodes under my belt where I feel I can pinpoint more who this guy is,” he explains. “Outside of filming, I work on it and on the day of shooting, work on how he would naturally respond to a situation or what his feelings are or where he stands on certain issues or what sets him off or what insecurities he has. I really think I’m getting a much clearer idea of where this guy is the longer the show goes on and it’s fun.”

As is meeting his new soap family, namely Wally Kurth, who plays Sonny’s father, Justin, and Judi Evans, who plays stepmom Bonnie. “Everyone is so stand-up here,” Tinker enthuses. “It’s just actors who are fun and really enjoy their jobs and will play with you, and make the experience exciting. That’s great.”

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