“It was like when Genie Francis (Diana Colville) and I were stealing icons out of museums,” Hogestyn tells Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “Then Deborah Moore (Danielle Stevens), Roger Moore’s daughter came in, and we were doing a lot of James Bond espionage stuff. I always liked those storylines.” It was also the perfect opportunity for Hogestyn to reunite with some of his old castmates, including Shaughnessy, whom he teamed up with for many storylines back in the day. “Charlie came in and we started working the first day right together and it was like an old shoe,” Hogestyn says. “It was like old home week, like he had never left, and we were back in the ISA. We turned the page in the chapter, but it was like yeah, we went back 35 years in a heartbeat. We didn’t skip a beat.” Hogestyn also got to work with Lisa Rinna, who was reprising her role as Billie Reed. The two didn’t have as much history as he did with Shaughnessy because Billie’s original storyline was with Bo Brady (Robert Kelker Kelly and Peter Reckell). “We were holding up our guns and getting ready to go in and bust the bad guys, and so that was fun,” Hogestyn says. “Lisa, she has such a free instrument. I remember when she first came on, I just said, ‘You’re going to be here till the cows come home, if you want to be.’” Hogestyn has also been enjoying the return of Eileen Davidson. “She has me, let’s just say, a captive audience,” Hogestyn says of Davidson’s work. “It’s very powerful, very fun to work with her. And once again, we fall back into the same rhythm even though it’s a whole different flavor.” Days of our Lives will also be doing another homage to one of its major storylines when the devil returns to Salem today! “I dust off the box out of the closet, open it up, and pull out my priest collar and the Bible, because we’re going back into the possession storyline again,” Hogestyn says. “The devil’s voice booms out, ‘You didn’t really think I was ever going to forget about you, did you?’ And we’re off and running.” Back when Days originally did the story, the production office phone rang off the hook with viewers calling threatening, “I am never going to watch again!” Times are different now, so it remains to be seen if it will have the same effect on fans, or with all the supernatural shows on TV these days, they are more accepting. “Boy, I tell you, it rattled a lot of cages that’s for sure,” Hogestyn recalls of the story about good vs evil. Hogestyn began his run on Days of our Lives in January 1986 and for most of those 35 years—there have been a few brief hiatuses—he has played the role consistently, even though the role itself has changed. “At one time he referred to himself as 13 different people,” Hogestyn says. “Everybody from John Robicheaux to Forrest Alamain to The Pawn to Roman Brady and John Stevens. It goes on and on and on. But right now, after all these years, John Black has settled into who he is as John Black in Salem with Marlena, their kids, and their grandkids, and now, that is his anchor. The only thing that’s important to him is his family, and that’s it. And, of course, fighting for truth and justice, and the American way worldwide with the ISA!” Beyond Salem is currently streaming on Peacock. Days of our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Next, Days of our Lives Star Chrishell Hartley on Going from Homeless to Selling Multi-Million-Dollar Homes
