DAYS: Ben And Claire Kiss
■ Ben is taken aback when he receives divorce papers from Ciara in
South Africa. “He’s shocked,” nods his portrayer, Robert Scott Wilson. “He goes back to the cabin and goes over his time with her. He has this mental, spiritual connection with her and he’s trying everything to dial back into that. He’s going to the places where it would be most effective, so to speak. He takes the divorce papers up there and, long story short, he burns them.”
Claire is there to comfort him, and when a desperate Ben resolves to fly to South Africa to talk to Ciara, Claire urges him to sit tight. “She talks him down and is like, ‘If you do that, you’re just going to freak her out even more because it is kind of a lot,’ ” notes Wilson. “But for Ben, nothing is too much because he would go to any length for his wife and to get back what he lost. But she talks him down and he’s very vulnerable and she’s there to lean on.”
Claire then surprises him with a kiss. “Because he’s so vulnerable, he allows it for a split second, but he then realizes what’s happening and stops her and understands the situation,” previews Wilson. “When you’re that hurt — and both of them are really kind of experiencing the same thing — you need a hug, you need a kiss, you need affection, you need all that attention, so he leans into it but then quickly pumps the brakes. He stops it and she apologizes for kissing him.”
The duo moves forward as though nothing happened. “They smooth it over and they’re still close; there’s no awkward relationship after that,” says the actor. “They talk it out and that’s it. He realizes he’s not in the state of mind to be doing that just yet.” Or at all, notes Wilson. “Too much has been left undone with Ciara,” he points out. “It’s too shocking to think that somebody that you’re this connected to can completely forget about you and look at you the way they look at you now and treat you the way they do. He’d do anything to fight for that back. He wants to make sure every rock is overturned and he’s tried everything he can to get her back before it is even a possibility for him to move on. That’s all that’s on his mind.”
Wilson is aware that this plot twist might not be a favorite for “Cin” fans. “I was like, ‘Here we go,’ ” he chuckles of seeing the kiss in the script. “There’s going to be a lot of backlash for this one. I just prepared myself. I know people are already seeing it and they’re not really on board with any of that, but I hope they understand the situation and why it happens.”