Days of Our Lives spoilers reveal that Deidre Hall, who plays Marlena Evans, recently discussed on the new podcast, “Soapy,” why she almost turned down her iconic role.
‘Days Of Our Lives’ Spoilers: Marlena And John’s Epic Romance Was Four Decades Long
The podcast is hosted by Greg Rikaart, who plays Leo Stark on Days of Our Lives, and Rebecca Budig, who plays Taylor Hayes on The Bold and the Beautiful.
Can anyone even imagine Days without Marlena? We didn’t think so. Marlena was the first character on Days who was possessed by the devil.
Life imitated art when Hall had a storyline in which her real-life twin sister, Andrea Hall, played Marlena’s twin sister, Samantha Evans, in 1977.
Samantha was murdered in 1982 when the Salem Strangler mistakenly killed Samantha, believing she was Marlena.
Andrea later returned to the soap to play Hattie Adams,a woman who resembled Marlena but wasn’t related to her. Hall’s sister eventually decided to return to her life as a teacher. Deidre took over the role of Hattie Adams in 2004.
Naturally, you can’t talk about Marlena Evans without mentioning her epic romance with John Black (Drake Hogestyn).
Image Credit: JPI Studios
Their love story spanned four decades on the show. Many fans refer to theirs as “an eternal love.” John and Marlena’s romance began in 1986and lasted until John died in an explosion in June 2025.
“My personal experience is once you drink the Kool-Aid of getting to work every day and just the character evolvement of what happens when we’re getting script after script, I just love it.“
Image Credit: JPI Studios
He continued,
“And I think once I started, I was like, ‘Oh, I will stay at this job or in this genre for as long as they will have me.”
In 1976, when Hall was offered the role that would catapult her soap career to legendary status, she ended up turning it down.
The actress explained that while producers try not to have the same people in the room during screen testing, she did happen to see a couple of women.
‘Days Of Our Lives’ Spoilers: Hall Initially Thought There Was Something Wrong With The Part
Hall tested, and the part was hers. Due to the fierce competition she faced auditioning for the role, she assumed that since she was the producer’s first choice, the others must have turned it down first.
She thought that for that reason, there must be something wrong with the part, and she said no. Her agent called her and asked why she turned it down.
Image Credit: JPI Studios
“Tell me what’s going on here,”
Her agent said.
“You said you wanted to do a soap.”
Hall responded,
“But there’s something wrong with it.”
He exclaimed, “No.” Hall told him that she wasn’t their first choice. Her agent responded back to her with,
“Yes, you were.”
Hall called it a
“You like me, you really like me moment.”
Hall no longer had any doubt. She was destined to become Marlena Evans. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Jennifer graduated high school with honors, went to Delaware Community College, and earned an AA degree in Communications and Journalism. When not writing for Daily Soap Dish, she has a pet website at www.pawsomepets.info. Jennie also authors articles for veterinarian offices. She volunteers at a cat rescue called Cat Angel Network and has two beautiful Ragdoll cats named Columbus and Sassafras. Jennie adores General Hospital and loves to write spoilers and predict what characters will do next. She has been watching GH since the days of Sonny and Brenda in the ninety’s and watches it faithfully to this day. She is happiest when she is writing and creating.
