Deidre Hall Reflects on 50 Years of as Dr. Marlena Evans ‘Days of our Lives,’ Ryan Gosling and the Magic of Salem (Exclusive)
For five decades, Dr. Marlena Evans has been a constant, comforting presence in the homes of millions. Throughout iconic romances, deep grief, and literal demonic possessions, Deidre Hall has guided Days of our Lives fans through it all.
As she celebrates her staggering 50th anniversary on the beloved soap opera, Hall admits the milestone still feels surreal. “It’s just one of those miracles that I get to enjoy,” she shared. “I still feel this little sense of relief when my keycard opens the gate at work, and I get to go in and play with people that I love, enjoy and respect, and that it’s been 50 years is… it’s just beyond.”
Despite being the undeniable face of the series for multiple generations, Hall is quick to deflect the praise onto her colleagues. “I don’t think of it that way because I think of us as a complete ensemble,” she insisted. “Nobody does it alone… If I’m off my mark, I see my cameraman move his camera over a little bit, or if I’m out of my light, I think, ‘Oh, wait, okay, I better find my light here and help them out.’ It’s such a team effort… Glad to be part of the show. So proud of it. And as for the face of, we’ve a lot of Faces of Days.”
The Ryan Gosling Connection
Marlena’s influence stretches far beyond Salem! Canadian actor Ryan Gosling recently cited Hall as his “OG acting inspiration” and enthusiastically accepted her open invitation to visit the DAYS set.
Has the Barbie star made his way to Burbank yet?
“That stinker has not been there yet,” Hall laughed, acknowledging his busy schedule filming and promoting his latest films. “Everybody is so excited to meet him and to see him. What a lovely reputation he’s got… He’s just a lovely, generous man.”
When pitching a potential storyline for Gosling – perhaps as a patient in Marlena’s psychiatric chair who believes he is actually Ken, reuniting with the first daytime icon to get her own Barbie doll – Hall was fully on board. “I’m writing this down,” she said, loving the idea of a beach-sequence crossover.
Canadian Kindness
Gosling isn’t Hall’s only fond connection to Canada. The actress elaborated on a previously shared trip to Toronto (where she filmed a guest spot on an upcoming Star Trek spin-off series) and was proud to say that the city’s famous hospitality was on full display. After getting lost while out shopping, Hall asked two teenage girls for directions to her hotel. Instead of just pointing the way, the girls insisted on walking “the lost American” back to her accommodations themselves.
“I went, ‘Oh boy, there it is. That’s what everybody talks about,’” Hall said of the warm encounter.
Surviving the Salem Stalker and Demonic Possession
Looking back at her wildest storylines, Hall discussed the iconic “Salem Stalker” arc from over 20 years ago, where Marlena was brainwashed into believing she was a serial killer. The show’s writers intentionally kept the twist a secret from her so it wouldn’t impact her day-to-day performance.
When Marlena eventually “awoke” on the mysterious island during that storyline, the first person she saw was beloved matriarch Alice Horton, played by the late Frances Reid. Hall noted Reid commanded immense respect on set. “Frances was not the person you think she is. Frances was not our little, little apron lady that made donuts,” Hall recalled. “She was a force. And boy, you didn’t show up on her stage without being prepared and honouring the system and the genre.”
The physical demands of the supernatural storyline were intensely real. For Marlena’s famous first levitation scene, the studio cleared the floor, turned off the monitors, and brought in stunt professionals. “In that moment, as the choir sang, I lifted off the bed,” Hall noted.
She also recalled being called into the producers’ office right before Christmas by producer Tom Langan and head writer Jim Reilly. “They said, ‘We wanted to tell you that you’re the person doing everything… burning up Christmas trees and going after people,” she remembered. “And then somebody said, ‘Because you’re possessed by the devil!’”
The fans’ investment in the plots was just as intense. Hall recalled the time when her character was seemingly killed off by the Salem Strangler in 1982, sparking a real-life picket line outside the NBC studios in New York. TO quell the uproar without spoiling the storyline, Hall put on a pink scarf and walked outside to meet the protestors. The victim would turn out to be Marlena’s sister, Samantha, played by Hall’s real-life sister Andrea.
A Lifetime of Fan Connections
Hall has experienced countless memorable interactions with viewers, but one penned correspondence stands out. She recalled receiving a letter from H. Weston Taylor, a fan from Chester, Pennsylvania, who shared that she reminded him of his late wife.
“We began writing letters back and forth,” Hall shared. She eventually travelled to visit him when he was 96 years old, and they spent the afternoon sitting on his porch. “We corresponded a great deal at that point,” she noted, sharing that she even spoke to him on the phone shortly before he passed away. “I have his letters and that, to me, is an extraordinary fan relationship that I will always have.”
Processing Grief On and Off Screen
The profound connection between the actors and the audience is something Hall feels deeply, especially when looking back at iconic “Jarlena” moments with her late scene partner, Drake Hogestyn (John Black).
Reflecting on the famous scene where Marlena and John (believed to be Roman at the time) reunited on the pier, Hall noted how intertwined the cast’s performances are with the viewers’ emotions. “Knowing when we shot it, what the audience would be feeling, which is a big part of what we do… I can feel the audience’s heart pounding,” Hall recalled, when [Hogestyn] did that slow turn and his look and his reach.”
As DAYS aired John’s on-screen memorial last year, the emotional weight has provided a sense of catharsis for viewers navigating their own losses – much like the comfort it brought me following the passing of my own father.
For Hall, the reality of Hogestyn’s absence is still difficult to process. “The truth is that I don’t think of him as gone,” she explained. Because the cast only works a few days a week, she approaches work with the mindset of, “Oh, Drake’s not here today.”
She noted that co-stars like Eric Martsolf (Brady), Alison Sweeney (Sami) and Christie Clark (Carrie) share in this sentiment. “How can he be gone? Drake. I mean, that’s just absolutely impossible,” she said. “So, we just say ‘Hmm,’ and we move forward.”
Stepping Outside of Salem
While she’ll forever be Marlena to us fans, Hall has been enjoying recent opportunities to step into other massive fandoms. She recently appeared on the acclaimed comedy Hacks – donning a Brady Pub apron for her first appearance – and is set to make an upcoming visit to the Star Trek universe.
Working on primetime sets has been a jarring, yet luxurious, change of pace compared to the rapid-fire world of daytime television. While DAYS shoots well over an hour of television every single day, primetime shows might spend over a week shooting a single hour.
Even with her recent ventures into other beloved shows, Hall’s heart remains firmly rooted in Salem. After 50 years of unforgettable memories, her daily joy still comes from stepping onto the DAYS set. “I love this show. I love that I get to get there every day and with the people with whom I get to play, and not just the actors, but the makeup and hair people, and my cameraman and our directors. I love them so much.”
Days of our Lives airs weekdays on W Network and streams on STACKTV in Canada. DAYS streams on Peacock in the U.S.
