Jen Lilley chats about new 'Days of our Lives' role - Exclusive Interview

By Trey ·

Jen Lilley chats about new 'Days of our Lives' role - Exclusive Interview
Photo: NBC

I had a chance to interview soap star Jen Lilley, formerly of General Hospital - who has now stepped into the role of Theresa on Days of our Lives.

Ms. Lilley absolutely was a pleasure to talk to! As we both hail from the southern United States, she picked up on my accent and said she loved it! We realized that we didn't grow up too far apart.

I talked to Jen about the direction she and her character are going on DAYS, as well as her stint on General Hospital.

Me: Can you tell me more about your character on Days of our Lives?

JL: Yes! Theresa as we just found out, is Jeannie Donovan, Shane and Kimberly's daughter - which is super exciting for me on a personal note because I think Patsy Pease is amazing and The Nanny is my favortie show of all time. The fact that Mr. Sheffield is my dad freaks me out! I was having a little bit of a fan girl moment when they told me that. But she's got daddy issues because anyone who knows the storyline of Shane & Kimberly knows that Shane is a spy and he wasn't around when Theresa was growing up. So she has daddy issues and is very promiscuous because of it and I think the writers have done a really great job as far as grounding the character in psychologic reality because that is really common with girls who don't have father figures. So she's on the wrong side of the track and the whole family is trying to help her. Of course, often people who need help don't want to be helped. She's super fun, she's a piece of work. She's delectable, a little bit evil and she's sassy. I've never played a character like that, so I'm having a lot of fun!

Casey Moss (J.J., DAYS)
Photo: Casey Moss

Me: I know you've said you're going to be interacting with her family, are there any other characters and actors that you have shot with so far?

JL: You know I've been working a lot with Shawn Christian, who plays Dr. Daniel and I adore him. He's a such talented actor and he has a great sense of humor and I really have enjoyed working with him & Casey Moss, who plays J.J. This is his [Moss's] first role and I think he's doing a phenomenal job. I'm having so much fun. I was on set yesterday running lines with Shawn Christian and I started laughing, and it was a very serious scene. We were just running it in the dressing room. I started smilng and he was like "Why are you smiling?" and I was like "Because I'm having so much fun, this is the best job ever!"

Me: That's awesome! How does it feel that DAYS took the top honor at the Emmys?

JL: It's incredible! I feel so blessed and honestly, I'm from Virginia. Roanoke is not that big of a town - you get it from being from North Carolina. If I have another actor friend thats on the commercial I'm like oh my God, I know them! There is not a day that I wake up and I'm not completely grateful that I'm working on a soap and I'm a working actress. I feel incredibly blessed.

Kirsten Storms as Maxie Jones
Photo: ABC

Me: Now I'm going to switch gears toward General Hospital. First of all, I want to tell you that I appreciated your version of Maxie Jones because I felt that you and Kirsten Storms brought different energies to the character. When you first stepped into the role, did you try to go for a different Maxie, or how did you go about that?

JL: First of all, I was scared to death. The morning of I literally almost went up to casting and said I can't do this because I got hired 12 hours before I started shooting, which was insane! Well, 12 hours before I had to be there. I think I started shooting 15 hours later. The day before I started shooting right after my callback, they ran me through wardrobe fitting and all this business and Jill Farren Phelps (the executive producer at the time) whom I adore, I mean she's much loved in the industry - she sits me down in her office and says, "Everybody that works in daytime is always scared before there first day because it's more work than any other TV show, so I know you're nervous and I don't watn to put more pressure on you but this is the most crtiical time in this character's life and the show's history & we are possibly facing cancellation so I need you to pull this off!" So I'm like cool, no pressure.

I was only supposed to be there 2 weeks to a month, so she told me they wanted me to play Kirsten's Maxie the best I can. So I was like great, how am I supposed to do that having 12 hours to memorize 40 pages and sleep and drive and eat. So I watched some of her clips. Luckily I was a fan of her from Zenon, so I studied some of her facial expressions and went in the next day. When it became a long term thing and they didn't think Kirsten was coming back, they said you can make Maxie your own and you can take on the task of making Maxie more mature and relatable. A lot of my performance or the way I made choices was dictated by the higher-ups, but they gave me a lot of freedom if that makes sense.

Me: That does make sense! So, if you could work with any soap star, it doesn't matter which show - any soap star in the industry, who would it be?

JL: Oh my gosh. I hope to work with Deidre Hall, because she's an icon. I'd have to say Deidre Hall or..[laughs] that's a great question! Yeah, Deidre Hall! Or Susan Lucci.

Me: Speaking of Susan Lucci, what do you think of All My Children and One Life to Lie coming back?

JL: I think it's brilliant. I'm so glad that Hulu gave them a change because the fan base is amazing. I don't think that daytime is going out of style. There are so many people that still watch. It's just one of those things like are we going to change everything? Nothing is like it was and I think it's charming that they brought it back. I think it gives me hope. Obviously DAYS is doing very well but should we ever face cancellation, I think it's very hopeful for actors in soaps to know that the fans are still speaking their mind and getting us jobs, whether on the web or not.

Me: Wrapping things up with this final question, what do you expect to happen to your character over the course of the rest of the year.

JL: I know this is a horrible answer, but I honestly have no expectations because the writers are so genius and I have always unfortunately not been able to say that about previous jobs. Every time I get a script...I got 2 scripts last night and I was so tired but read both of them which was like 200 pages. I couldn't put them down and I was like "You're kidding me!? Now what's going to happen?" I never know what's going to happen to my character but I trust the writers. I have no idea where they are taking me, but the sky is the limit with Theresa and I am enjoying the ride.

Me: Thank you for talking with me today Jen, I enjoyed this!

JL: Aww, same! Thanks so much and good luck!

You can catch Jen Lilley as Theresa on Days of our Lives which airs weekdays at 1PM ET on NBC. 
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