“Days of Our Lives” is turning up the drama on-screen and off-screen this fall. The long-running soap opera has fans in a complete tizzy after they cut one beloved actress and recast her with an already established cast member. The photos have been released, and fans are not letting this shocking recast go over quietly.
Days of Our Lives fans get first look at Emily O’Brien as Theresa Donovan
“Days of Our Lives” fans have really only ever seen Jen Lilley in the role of legacy character Theresa Donovan. The actress is the only person to ever play an adult version of the character. That is, until now. After bringing Lilley back for a short stint, the sudser opted to recast the character. While recasts aren’t out of the norm for soap operas, the show decided to take actress Emily O’Brien out of the role of Gwen and shift her immediately to the role of Theresa. This has left fans stunned and confused.
To make matters worse, “DOOL” fans got a bit of a jumpscare when they saw the photos of O’Brien, who was put in a long, blond wig in order to portray the role of Theresa. While viewers have no ill will against O’Brien. They did have plenty to say about why production would make such a controversial casting choice, and they weren’t the only ones who did like how things went down.
OMG the wig. Is Emily as brunette Gwen going to get on the plane, and the last scene is Emily as blonde Theresa getting off the plane? #Days https://t.co/qCD7C1iohg pic.twitter.com/ftgq6P1Ple
— Daysfan (@Joeiscool1981) October 5, 2023
Fans recast to the Theresa Donovan recast on DOOL
In addition to being controversial with the recast, the way in which it was played out on the show is also a bit surprising. Emily O’Brien aired as both Theresa and Gwen in the same episode, and fans didn’t like the call.
“That was just a dumb call – they could have wrapped the Gwen story a few weeks ago or delayed Theresa returning by a couple weeks. It’s ridiculous to have her air as both in the same episode,” one fan tweeted. “Omg the wig. I like EOB so much but I struggle with her airing as both Gwen and Theresa at the same time – that will be jarring and was the wrong call,” another stated. “How is it that my broke community theater has better wigs than Days!” another commented. “Yeahhhhh. It’s a lottttt,” another agreed.
https://twitter.com/abetterlizard/status/1709906204049211706
Jen Lilley reacts to shocking Theresa recast
Meanwhile, Jen Lilley also admitted that she didn’t like the way that “Days of Our Lives” handled the recast. “That’s not cool to do to Emily,” Lilley told People. “I think Emily drew the shortest straw, honestly. I was like, ‘That is the worst thing you could possibly do to a recast is be like, we’re going to wig you and make you just walk through fire for eight weeks.’” Lilley added, “I don’t know whether it was a budgetary thing or a scheduling thing where they just couldn’t work the schedule out so everybody could do it. It’s a little befuddling, but I still am really grateful that I got to go back,” she told the outlet.
“Days of Our Lives” fans will now have to get used to seeing Emily O’Brien in the role of Theresa Donovan. It may take a while, but at least the actress gets to stick around Salem.
Image Credits: YouTube, YouTube.
Kendra Quinn