WILLIAM CHRISTIAN ON JOINING DAYS
William Christian’s (ex-derek, ALL MY CHILDREN) initial reaction to the role of Paulina’s much-maligned ex, TR, on DAYS wasn’t exactly love at first sight. “Albert Alarr [coexecutive producer] presented it to me,” recounts Christian, referring to his longtime friend of over three decades. “He said, ‘I know you’ve moved, but we have this character.’ He explained him to me, and I said, ‘Who would want to play that?’ Then I asked my wife and kids, because we live in the Boston area now. They said, ‘You should do this. It’s quintessential daytime.’ ”
Christian accepted the gig and hasn’t regretted it for a second. “It’s been an awesome experience,” he raves. “I would do it in a heartbeat again and again. When do I get to play the bad guy? It’s not all that often. Early on in my career, I played the flawed guys, the antagonists. I was the guy being chased or hung or shot down in a prison cell on stage. Somewhere it morphed into I wear beige a lot. Now I get to wear black again.”
His new gig has definitely been worth the long commute, Christian reports. “It’s not something I hadn’t done before,” notes the actor. “When I was working on ALL MY CHILDREN, I had moved out to California to see what was happening. I was traveling for my first five years, going back and forth to New York and doing the show.”
Christian was “excited and nervous” about re-entering the daytime genre, something he hadn’t tackled since his last stint on DAYS. Back in 2018, he played an antagonist in a four-day story arc. “It was fun for me,” Christian recalls.
“I got to wear leather, carry a gun and have stage fights. It was with Drake’s [Hogestyn’s] character, John. It was juicy without all the backstory TR has.”
The added elements make TR, a prominent studio executive, that much more interesting to play. “I’m a lot more scared than this guy is,” says Christian of the character. “He has less fear in the world than I do. He is successful. He is Richard III, Shakespeare’s version of Richard III. He’s manipulative, but you can have empathy for him.”
Getting back into the daytime groove took a little time. “DAYS OF OUR LIVES works really quickly, quicker than any other of the daytime shows I’ve worked on,” he explains. “But that’s great. If you know your stuff, you get on [set] and you do it. It’s intimidating, but kind of exciting.”
Adding Covid protocols to the mix makes it a little tougher. “I’m the kind of guy who likes to get on set and walk around, after you get your blocking and stuff done, and just go over the scene,” Christian relays. “But I couldn’t do that because they wouldn’t let you [back] on set. So that was more of a challenge. In the beginning, I was a little bit nervous, but Albert has a way of giving me direction that is always the right direction. I have this relationship with him. I really trust him. He’s a really good director and a really good daytime director.”
Christian has also forged some new relationships with the co-stars he’s been working with most closely, namely, Jackée Harry (Paulina) and Sal Stowers (Lani). “Sal is very talented — and tall,” he delivers with a laugh. “I love coming to the set and working with her. She’s lovely, and she has this really great emotional life. The last scenes we did, they had to write some [new] scenes that hadn’t been incorporated. Sal had to learn two scenes in the 10 minutes we were on a break. I said, ‘How do you do that?’ She was beautiful in them.”
As for TR’S former paramour Paulina, Christian quips, “Who doesn’t know Jackée? It’s funny. Her apartment on the show is 227 which, of course, is the television show she had. When I walked up to the door for the first time, I just burst out laughing. Jackée was like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ Jackée is the queen. She’s the queen on the set, and everybody loves working with Jackée. I can’t tell you how many people said, ‘Oh, you’re going to love this.’ And I do. I love working with her.”
Christian says that he has respect for all the actors he works with, and that’s why he strives to show up on set like the late David Canary [ex-adam/stuart, AMC] did each day. “I worked with David for many years, and he was kind of inspiring to me,” he recounts. “David Canary, as a professional, was just extraordinary. I loved working with him. He was one of the nicest guys and more professional than you could ever hope to work with. So I show up and I try to be David Canary every day. I try to give my fellow actors something to play with in me.”
The combination of Christian’s attitude and the boldness of TR is likely to be a bright addition to DAYS. “Everything about this character is exciting,” enthuses Christian. “He’s rich. He’s meaty. He’s got this wicked past. There’s nothing that I don’t love about playing him. I just hope I do the role justice.”