Deidre Hall Previews Days of our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas

 

Coming off the heels of Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem, Peacock (NBC’s streaming service) is teaming up once more with DAYS to bring viewers a stand-alone movie Days of our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas. The feature, available on Peacock’s paid platform, drops on Thursday, December 16.

Deidre Hall Previews A Very Salem Christmas

The film’s story starts off with Will (Chandler Massey) having to write — in a short amount of time — a holiday film. Hoping to expedite the process, Sonny (Zach Tinker) helps out with some ideas. Will takes familiar DAYS characters, tweaks their timelines a bit, and plops them into a holiday-themed drama.

One of the many differences between Will’s movie and reality is that in the fictional film, Marlena (Deidre Hall) is widowed following Roman’s death. She and Sami (Alison Sweeney) work in the Brady Pub, hoping to make ends meet. John (Drake Hogestyn) is in a relationship with Kristen (Eileen Davidson) — but that doesn’t mean #Jarlena won’t spend the holidays together!

Deidre Hall Talks Will’s Imagination

“It took me a while to grasp [the story] because it’s not where we are right now on the show,” Deidre Hall tells Soap Hub. “I love that Ron [Carlavati, DAYS’ head writer] made the premise of the movie be Will’s movie script so he could do anything. It was insanely clever that he could write in whatever he wanted because the story was all Will’s imagination.”

John and Marlena being apart isn’t the only twist that occurs in Will’s script. The journey, of course, will be watching them (hopefully) get back together where they belong. “Somebody posted part of a scene [online],” Hall shares. “Fans went, ‘What!?’ They may not have known it’s part of a fantasy. But it got people’s ears up.”

Not even Will’s imagination can keep John and Marlena from loving one another. Though when A Very Salem Christmas begins, they’re not together. Deidre Hall says the film asks the question, “What would it be like if John and Marlena didn’t get married but still had this profound love? What if Sami [Alison Sweeney] and Marlena had to worry about paying the rent? It’s a take on It’s A Wonderful Life.”

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Daytime fans won’t be surprised to learn that Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem did well, hence A Very Salem Christmas getting the green light. “Albert Alarr [co-executive producer] came on stage [one day] and said how well Beyond Salem had done — it was a huge ratings winner for everybody. Peacock is pleased. Then, we were told we’d be doing this Christmas special. I don’t know how Ron can write two shows!”