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Days of Our Lives is marking it’s milestone 50th anniversary this year and at least three of it’s stars will not be there to celebrate. It has been confirmed that Freddie Smith (Sonny Kiriakis), Melissa Archer (Serena Mason) and Molly Bernett (Melanie Jonas) will be exiting the long running daytime serial.
Smith’s exit was reported today by Serial Scoop. He finished filming two weeks ago. Because of Days’ filming schedule, Smith will likely still air as Sonny through the summer.
Smith originated the role of Days supercouple Justin Kiriakis (Wally Kurth) and Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis’s (Judi Evans) son Jackson Steven “Sonny” Kiriakis in 2011. As the first openly gay male character on Days and half of the fan favorite pairing “WilSon” with Will Horton (Guy Wilson), the character had gain popularity. Smith has received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for the role. Smith’s work prior to Days included roles in television series Medium and 90210 and in the film One Wish.
The April 13, 2015 issue of Soap Digest (on sale stands now) has confirmed Daytime Confidential’s report that Archer is exiting the role of Serena Mason. Archer originate the role of Eric Brady’s (Greg Vaughn) ex-girlfirend and began airing in December 2014. Though Archer and Vaughn did have chemistry, Serena’s story line focused on an elephant statue and stolen diamonds fail to garner much fanfare. With Days’ filming schedule, expect to see Serena for about five more months.
Archer is best known for her role as Victoria Lord’s (Erika Slezak) feisty long-lost daughter Natalie Buchanan on One Life to Life. Archer played Natalie from 2001 to the series’ cancellation as well as in the online version. She also starred a trophy wife in the web series Beacon Hill and in films Excuse Me for Living and Coach of the Year.
Daytime Royalty Insider Jason47 is reporting Burnett’s Melanie Jonas will be leaving Salem once again. Burnett played the reformed bad girl from 2008 to 2012 and reprised the role in 2014. Since her return the daughter of Dr. Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian) has started a romance with Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) and rivalry with Theresa Donovan (Jen Lilley). Burnett has received two Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Younger Actress nominations for the role.
In addition to her work on Days, Burnett has starred in television series True Blood, Good Luck Chuck, CSI:NY and Jessie. She also starred as Sarah in the Emmy winning online drama Venice: The Series.
What do you think of the recent exits from Days? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
No more DAYS for me without Sonny! These new writers seem to be lost in the distant past instead of focusing on the fanbases that gave DAYS huge ratings in 2013 and till the beginning of 2014 (best in many years). The WilSon and now WilSon/PaulSon storyline is what got me hooked on the show and now they’re not even talking about them going towards the 50th anniversary. If they think they can afford to lose another hundreds of thousands of viewers, they’ll get their wish very soon!!
I’m REALLY glad to hear that Serena is leaving! The character is yucky to me! I don’t care for her or her acting! 5 more months tho is a LOT of time to still be on in a boring story line! I really like Nicole and I just want Serena to get caught so that Eric & Marlena & even Daniel will see that Nicole was right and that Sarena was nothing more than a lying slut!!
Hopefully this means more vets are coming back to DAYS for the 50th anniversary, though, this casting exodus should be happening to GH not DAYS.