The following article was written by Suzy Byrne for Yahoo! Entertainment. To view the original article on Yahoo!, click here.
The “Days of Our Lives” icon talks Marlena’s pop culture influence, Ryan Gosling’s admiration and why she still loves coming to work 50 years later.
Fifty years after joining Days of Our Lives as Salem’s resident psychiatrist and heroine Marlena Evans, Deidre Hall isn’t just a daytime television legend — she’s also influencing pop culture.
If you’ve tuned into the new Legally Blonde prequel Elle, you’ve already seen it. Set in 1995, the series features Marlena’s infamous devil-possession storyline as a subplot, introducing one of the decade’s defining TV moments to a new generation.
Hall is still wrapping her head around it.
“How could I ever have imagined all these years later that a storyline would remain as popular and riveting as it was the day it hit the air 30 years ago?” Hall tells Yahoo. “Especially one like possession. Who knew? I’m beyond flattered and delighted. So happy to be levitating for Elle.”
It’s not the first recent reminder that Hall’s work has endured well beyond daytime. Earlier this year, Ryan Gosling called her his “OG acting inspiration,” praising the Daytime Emmy-nominated actor’s performance as “an incredible acting class.”
“We’ve gotta get this boy a job,” she jokes of the Project Hail Mary star. “Poor thing. He’s cute and he’s a nice actor, but, man, we have to find work for this boy.”
What struck Hall most wasn’t simply the praise, but how specifically Gosling remembered the possession storyline — and how well he understood the demands of daytime television. Soap operas are notorious for their fast pace and year-round schedules.
“Yes, he did know. Counting on my fingers, he was in his teens when Marlena was possessed, so he’s been watching since he was a kid,” she says.
In a public back-and-forth, which included Gosling sending her flowers, Hall extended an offer for him to visit the Burbank, Calif., set where the Peacock show tapes.
“He has not done it, silly boy,” she reports. “I should carry around a gate pass for him. We’re ready when he is.”
Someone like Gosling spends a few months playing one of his movie characters, then moves on to the next thing. By contrast, Hall, who was 28 when she first took on the role, has spent five decades with Marlena. The perk of that is “the time to see her through changes.”
Hall says Marlena has remained “consistent and reliable” at her core, but credits the show’s writers for continually reinventing her — from giving her a long-lost twin (played by Hall’s real-life twin, Andrea Hall) to the now-iconic devil possession storyline. But when asked which storyline would be hardest to explain to someone who’s never watched Days, Hall offers a deep cut.
“Elaine Bromka played Stella. Her husband was one of Marlena’s patients and had kind of a crush on me,” Hall recalls. “Stella decided that was not good, so she kidnapped me and put me in a pit. Then, for Thanksgiving, she threw me a turkey. I mean, to me, that’s great writing.”