JUDI EVANS ON DAYS EXIT

It’s pretty devastating. I can’t lie,” admits Judi Evans, who makes her DAYS exit this week as Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis, a role she started playing in 1986. “You don’t know what to think ... It’s like a part of your life, a big part, is gone.”

Rumblings of Adrienne’s impending demise first surfaced on set. “I heard some rumors from a couple of people in the crew, and I was like, ‘What? What?!’” recounts Evans. “Albert [Alarr, co-executive producer] is usually on the floor during taping, so I kind of sidled over to him and said, ‘Hey. Is this true?’ He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. But let me talk to you about it.’ So that’s how I found out. It’s that whole thing where a cold shiver goes down your spine. You can’t believe it, because it’s something you just don’t think about, especially [playing] a longtime character like that.”

Evans began trying to absorb the information. “It’s just sad, because I loved working there,” she says. “And there are not a lot of roles for women my age, so that makes it a little harder. It was kind of nice knowing I had a place to go.”

Logically, Evans understood the decision. “It’s what they needed to do. It was a sacrifice for the show, a good sacrifice, and it truly makes sense,” she concedes. “It’s a really good story point, and it gave Wally [Kurth, Justin] tons of material, which I love. The work he’s been doing has been really amazing.”

This week, Adrienne’s sudden demise will play out, and her family shares poignant goodbyes, which Evans had to lie perfectly still for in the scenes. “That was maybe some of the hardest work ever, because I couldn’t move. But I could hear them, and it was tear-jerking,” explains Evans. “I just had to do my best to keep my eyes closed. I couldn’t be crying, because Adrienne was dead. Between every take I’d be like, ‘I need tissues.’

“It was hard, especially being such a reactionary person, not

to react. The scenes were so amazingly written and acted,” continues Evans, commending Kurth, Freddie Smith (Sonny), Matthew Ashford (Jack) and Mary Beth Evans’s (Kayla) performances.

Evans’s last day on set wasn’t filled with mushy, private good-byes between her and her co-stars by her own volition. “I had the day with them, but I kind of kept to myself,” she notes. “I’m a very emotional person and saying good-bye is really hard

for me. When the scenes were over, Albert said, ‘You’ve been working with these people for some 30 years. Say whatever you’d like to say.’ I’m not good at speeches. So I just tried to make it short and sweet and not blubber too much, but of course I did. I said, ‘It’s been an honor and a

pleasure.’ Then I handed out my cards and said, ‘Call me. We’ll have lunch,’ ” Evans adds with a laugh.

At the time, Evans gave little thought to the possible silver lining: She could still return to Salem as Bonnie Lockhart, the brash hell-raiser she’s also portrayed on the soap. “That’s always true, but it’s nothing we can really guarantee,” offers Evans. “I mean, it would be great if it happened, but I don’t put a lot of thought into it.”

“It’s pretty devastating. I can’t lie.”