As the iconic Days of our Lives celebrates its monumental 60th anniversary, The TV Watercooler had the pleasure of sitting down with two of its young compelling stars: Abigail Klein, who portrays the dynamic Stephanie Johnson, and AnnaLynne McCord, who masterfully embodies the intriguing Cat Greene.
This landmark year sees the long-running soap opera not only marking six decades of drama, romance, and supercouples but also earning a prestigious induction into the Broadcasting + Cable Hall of Fame – a thrilling achievement that both actress are excited to share in.
During our conversation, we explore what it feels like to be part of DAYS during this historic moment, the fun of connecting with its legacy, and the unique, fast-paced world of daytime drama.
Abigail, I know you guest starred on 90210 but did you an AnnaLynne work together on it?
Abigail: Yes! I did – but I didn’t meet AnnaLynne…
AnnaLynne: We didn’t work together, no!
Abigail: It was a quick scene! On the beach. Surprise, surprise. But yeah, how funny! It would have been cool if we had met.
AnnaLynne: We would have come full circle! Actually, we don’t really work together [right now either].
Abigail: I loved our [few scenes] because we were talking about EJ – what a mess he is, and about how [my character] used to be a race car driver and Cat was like “Oh, Uh, Okay…”
AnnaLynne: It was very early on that we got to do scenes together. We’ll see each other in the Horton Town Square or at the hospital sometimes. But it’s nice to see her in the hallways. She’s a bright light on the show.
You both got to travel to New York together!
Abigail: It’s been so much fun. It’s so great.
Days of our Lives is celebrating its 60th anniversary! Congratulations. How does it feel to not just celebrate that huge milestone but to attend the show’s induction into the Broadcasting + Cable Hall of Fame?
Abigail: It’s epic! We’re in the company of some amazing and incredible people. It’s pretty awesome.
AnnaLynne: It’s really exciting to be part of this time in the show as it’s creating its mark. So, to be able to come aboard fairly recently but be able to share in all the fun-ness is awesome!
How familiar were you with DAYS or soaps in general while growing up?
Abigail: She was!
AnnaLynne: My grandmother! These were on all day in her house. We would have to drive an hour across town to change out the VHS tapes in the VCR so that “Mimi” wouldn’t miss her soaps when she was out of town! So, she had all the VCRs in each room – and she had three – going. She had all the tapes and were all labeled and marked. “I can’t miss my story!” so we would drive over just to change the tapes out.
It was very exciting for my grandmother when I got the offer to do the show!
Abigail: That’s the coolest thing, ever!
AnnaLynne: It was so cute.
She has an archive on VHS of “all the days of everyone’s lives!”
Abigail: You could digitize them if Sony wanted to archive them!
Put it on streaming or donate it to a museum.
AnnaLynne: It’s museum worthy at this point, yeah!
I used to tape it for my grandma too if she away as well.
AnnaLynne: You get it!
And all the Soap Opera Digest magazines!
AnnaLynne: Yes, she had them all over the house. Or the back of the toilet! [Laughs]
Abigail, what’s it like playing the daughter of a supercouple (Patch and Kayla) and how welcoming were Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans when you first joined the show?
Abigail: There’s no one word… I feel so lucky to have been set up with them and to play their daughter. I remember when I first got the job, my agent said, “You’re playing this role and all we know is that you are the daughter of a supercouple.” And I said, “What’s a supercouple?” I didn’t know what that term was!
But I soon came to find out what it meant and how they put the “super” in supercouple. They’re just phenomenal people on their own, but together they are just magic. I say their chemistry is like watching lightning in a bottle. It’s very unique and beautiful.
I first met Stephen when he asked me out for coffee before the show started so that he could give me the lowdown on things. That was so kind. I remember Mary Beth was stuck at jury duty, but she would have been there too! That was so nice to get a feel of how the day works and what the routine is like. He was just so kind and sweet. Ever since that day, we have just grown as a TV family and now we have such a sweet rhythm that, right when “action” is called, we’re just “in it.” There’s so much love there.
I just feel like I’m the luckiest. Truly.
AnnaLynne, how much did you know about your role when you first came on? Back then it was teased that you could be a very-much alive Abigail Deveraux DiMera. But now you’ve made Cat Greene your own character.
AnnaLynne: Thank you, I’ve tried! I knew less than nothing! Which is difficult to accomplish, but I did succeed because I wasn’t actually sure if I was really Abigail or not Abigail. That was true for me and the audience, so we all got to live that together.
And then once I did find out that I was someone else, I didn’t know who she was. [Laughs]
So, then Billy Flynn, who played Chad, was like, “This is what I think…” He had been on the show for ten years, so he’s telling me all this stuff and I’m going, “Uh, huh? Uh, huh? That happened to Not-Me? And to my mom? Who’s my mom?”
I was literally just pushed off the cliff. “Fly baby bird, fly!”
But I think it’s part of the magic of it. I had no idea.
Abigail: You hid it well because nobody would think otherwise. Everyone thought, “Oh, she’s got this!
AnnaLynne: I hope so. “She didn’t though!” [Laughs]
Abigail: You rocked not knowing!
AnnaLynne: You know, it was true to life. Sometimes you don’t know what’s happening in your life. I didn’t know what was happening in my life as Cat Greene. I didn’t even know I was Cat Greene!
At least you had Billy.
AnnaLynne: Oh, yes – “Archives Billy.”
He did help me with a lot of my backstory.
His character has been the only character who has been nice to you in Salem. Everyone else has been very adversarial, especially Susan Hayes’ Julie. What has it been like getting so much attitude from an OG like that?
AnnaLynne: I love it because the first thing she says is, “I’m going to come at you and I’m going to come at you hard!” I was like, “Okay – I love it.”
But she’s this big [points how much shorter she is compared to her], but she’s super-packed with extra fire power.
Missy [Melissa Reeves], plays Jennifer, would come over and hug me and be like, “I’m sorry I’m so mean to you!”
It’s interesting. I’m noticing that I’m at a different place in my life now. This role and this job feels like a really reflective experience of getting to a space in my life where I value the people that I get to work with every single day or share the stages with. Even if we only cross paths in the corridors. I’ve noticed that it’s made me even more sensitive. I’m an artist, so I’m naturally sensitive. I’m a cancer, so I’m naturally sensitive. But now I feel like my sensitivity of that sensibility is even more expanded.
So, when those scenes happen, I feel them in my chest! Now in my career, I’m much more settled in the Meisner technique that I went to school for. “Finally! I get it now, Meisner.” I’m really taking it in, so I feel like as a human being, my time on Days of our Lives is making me a better person. These experiences that my character is having, I’m feeling a deeper connection to “Where am I showing up like that?” “Where do I feel the shame hit like that?” “How can I feel that further or a wider birth and be able to hold more?”
So, it’s an interesting experience. Like a science experiment. I’m a complete nerd if you get to know me. I’m kind of titrating AnnaLynne and Cat and letting these moments land fully in my body. Even though [the show] is so fast paced, when we’re in the moment, I feel that all the actors on the show expand exponentially for that one take that we get.
Does it feel that way to you, Abigail?
Abigail: 100% because you feel that your empathy has been expanded. I will say too, that same thing or that feeling, because of how fast we shoot (scene to scene), where it’s building and building, I do feel like I’m in a place where I carry it from scene to scene and it’s there, and it’s bubbling.
No spoilers, but I had the other day where I couldn’t stop the emotions welling in my tears. I was like, “Turn it off! Turn it off! Turn it off!” I need to release this. It worked for the scene but it was really bizarre that I didn’t have control of stopping it. It has never before happened to me.
AnnaLynne: I think it’s the deep bond that is built off camera. There is a lot of connection. Everyone is really sincere and genuine.
Abigail: You’re also bonding with your character, like AnnaLynne was saying – kind of like titrating. That deepening – you can’t turn it off, the longer we do this.
AnnaLynne: We’re growing as people!
Jeremy (Michael Roark) is back in Salem. How will this impact Stephanie?
Abigail: He comes back and it’s a real shocker because our characters haven’t been seen together in over 15 years. Jeremy is one of the last people that Stephanie would have expected to show up at her door. Michael is wonderful and super talented.
AnnaLynne: Very handsome.
Abigail: And even kinder. He has beautiful eyes. So kind. Truly, just a generous actor and human. He’s wonderful!
So, talk about being adversarial with someone you like! That was not easy, but he is a wonderful actor.
Is there a triangle coming between Alex, Stephanie and Jeremy?
Abigail: It’s not in the way that you would maybe imagine. Definitely stay tuned because it’s not at all what you expect and I’m really happy about that. I think it was a really interesting direction that the writers ended up taking with Stephanie’s relationship with Jeremy… And you’ll see why… But it makes sense. I’m trying not to spoil anything, but it’s so hard! It’ll all make sense on how their relationship ends up being the way that it is. I think it was a smart choice.
It’s not what you expect!
AnnaLynne, what was it like developing the chemistry with Billy Flynn and then transitioning that with Conner Floyd who will be taking over the role of Chad DiMera?
AnnaLynne: You know, no one is Billy. Billy will always be Billy. [Laughs]
It’s so funny because when we did the screen test with Conner, he walked in, and I was like, “Okay, Texas! What’s up?” He just had that masculine swagger.
What’s so special with Billy is that he was a good buy but he wasn’t soft. Sometimes there’s a mistake that the good guy is a “beta man,” but he was still very much an alpha. He was just in a family of people who take that to this dominance versus power. I think there’s a difference. So, Billy played Chad powerfully, in my opinion. Energetically, he leads from the heart. He’s a powerful person. Whereas the EJ character has to be dominating. It’s all about dominance, but it actually comes from insecurity.
So, when Conner came in, he just … Maybe it’s who he is, maybe it’s because he’s an incredible actor, maybe it’s because all of the above – he got that very specific detail that was really beautifully portrayed by Billy. It’s portrayed differently by Conner, but he was able to step into that vibration.
Abigail: That nuance.
AnnaLynne: He had that nuance and that’s what I think actually made me go, “Okay, I can play with him. I can roll with him. Let’s go!”
He actually told me the other day, “You know, you were so generous during the test.”
I didn’t know! Billy and I talked about how he gets more nervous during a screen test than anything else. He doesn’t want to mess it up for anyone else and that’s how I felt! I don’t want to mess up their moment, you know?
Conner said he had done tests before and that I really showed up, which made him even more comfortable to show up.
So, the chemistry really was immediate.
And, reading with the other actors that came in, they were all really good actors. But the magic wasn’t really there with me, personally. Conner and I had a flow that could fall in line with what Billy and I had.
But Billy will always be my first Chad!
There was a teased involvement between Cat and the ISA and a possible connection to Sami (Alison Sweeney) when she saw the photo at Marlena’s (Deidre Hall). What can you tell us about that?
AnnaLynne: Oh my goodness! You’re a highly observant gentleman. [Laughs]
I can tell you absolutely nothing about that! [Laughs]
But here’s what I think I can tell you! The aspect of the recognition of Sami that you picked up on and maybe not everyone got the importance of that moment – I will tell you that it is an extremely important moment and it will have a callback. Pay attention!
It plays a role in what could come between a potential Cat and Chad moment. I think I can tease that! I’ll sprinkle that in and give you nothing else!
I’ll take it!
Abigail: What a tease!
Do you find that there are shades of Naomi from 90210 in Cat Greene?
AnnaLynne: I think shades of Naomi follow me everywhere I go because Naomi is an absolute rendition of my sister, Rachel. Rachel still wants her royalties, by the way, from my five years on 90210. She goes, “You ripped me off and made money for it and I got nothing to show for it!” [Laughs]
Which sounds just like Naomi! In my defense, I didn’t know I was doing it. I was just mimicking my sister and it came just naturally. Then, one day, three years in, someone comes up to me and asked “What’s your inspiration for Naomi?” I was like, “I don’t really have one… Oh my God, I do! My little sister!”
Rachel would need an extra chair for her Louis Vuitton! “Can we have a chair for my Louis?” So, everywhere I go, I think that there is a sprinkle of Naomi because Naomi is a sprinkle of Rachel. So, if I’m bringing Rachel with me, then my heart is always on my sleeve because I love my little sister so much!
I wanted to have some fun with Cat. I wanted her to have some Goldie Hawn energy. I think that Naomi kind of morphed into that in the second season of 90210 as well. You kind of saw her morph into a rambling comedic mess at times. I definitely love physicality. The Lucille Ball of it all. So those sprinkles, I definitely added in Naomi and I think I have in Cat also. You’ll see it pop up!
If you could tease a storyline between Cat and Stephanie, what would it be?
Abigail: Oh, maybe I do publicity! Do you need publicity?
AnnaLynne: Well, you do work with EJ! Do you work with EJ?
Abigail: On and off… But that’s true!
AnnaLynne: Maybe we get trapped somewhere together? And we’re an unlikely friendship duo!
Abigail: Uh! Maybe there’s a bottle of wine there and we crack it open. There’s wine and nothing else to do!
AnnaLynne: Then I tell you, “Now I understand why you and Abigail were so close and although I pretended to be her, I’m not here but I would love to be a version of her and be your friend!”
Abigail: I love it! And then we become fast besties!
AnnaLynne: But! Someone thinks there’s something wrong…
Julie probably thinks there’s something wrong!
AnnaLynne: It would create some drama. Something we could stretch out, but we really like the friendship. We’re deeply bonded when we find out the drama wasn’t really true!
Maybe there’s another blackout and you two are stuck in the DiMera wine cellar.
Abigail: Another blackout! Perfect!
AnnaLynne: We always have blackouts in Salem.
Days of our Lives airs weekdays on W Network in Canada and streams on Peacock in the U.S. Canadian viewers can catch up on demand, on the Global app, STACKTV and on GlobalTV.com the next day
