SHOCKING STORY TWISTS ON DAYS:
Patch and Kayla Return to Days
Soap Opera Digest – June 13, 2006
“The information about where Steve has been is sketchy at best,” begins Stephen Nichols of his return to DAYS this Friday after a 16-year absence. “My take is that he has not changed. In fact, due to circumstances out of his control, he is more Patch than he was at the end of the first run.”
The audience first sees Steve in the clinic where Jack is undergoing treatment. For Nichols, it was a happy reunion with on-screen brother Matthew Ashford (Jack). “He is great in that he is not stuck in a rut. He is available to explore and find new levels; that is so important,” praises Nichols. “You can’t survive in this medium and feel good about what you’re doing without a willingness to dig a little deeper.”
Returning to the set was “Like I died and crossed over and all my old friends were there waiting to greet me with open arms,” reports the actor. “And then the ritual of getting back into the groove of working was like a celebration.” One thing did take some getting used to, however. “The thing that caused the most aggravation was the patch; getting acclimated to half sight again. I had forgotten how clumsy that felt initially,” he remarks.
Also coming home to Salem is Mary Beth Evans’ Kayla, now a doctor, who first appears on June 12. Evans hasn’t been in town since 1992, but has appeared as GH’s Katherine and ATWT’s Sierra in between DAYS stints. Her return to DAYS came as somewhat of a shock.
“I never set out to do soap operas,” she laughs. “When I was on DAYS, I thought, ‘I’ll just stay here,’ and it just didn’t work out that way. Then wherever I went, I sort of wanted to go back to DAYS. But they were all such great experiences. I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”
Evans admits to some trepidation about her return. “I was excited, but I really didn’t know what to expect or how people would feel about us coming back,” she explains. Not to worry: “Everyone was so incredibly sweet and so nice. I left on Friday just so happy.” She says that she and Nichols are looking forward to chapter two of their characters’ tale. “Stephen and I have always wanted to tell the next part of the story. Some fans sent us some DVDs of memorable scenes. I didn’t watch it because I thought, ‘Oh, God, I’m older now. Is it good to see or not?’ Stephen and I watched like, one or two scenes and we were intimidated and thought, ‘Would we be able to be that good?’ It inspired us to be there again, to be connected, and try to be true to the character and story. It’s interesting now because in 15 years, a lot has happened in people’s lives. They’re older and different. It’s not so bright-eyed. It will be an interesting journey.”
So what’s going on with Kayla? “I think she’s been silently suffering,” explains Evans. “She hasn’t been able to go on with her life for whatever reason. She’s put herself in work and school and her daughter. She stayed away from Salem because it was too much for her.” And yes, the show will address Kayla moving on to Shane so soon after Steve’s death. “That was one of the biggest problems with me when Patch died. He was the love of Kayla’s life and she never went back to the house. She went to Shane’s house because he was half of a supercouple and now Kayla was unattached, and they just threw us together and it bothered me so much. I love Charles [Shaughnessy, ex-Shane] and we both love each other as friends, but we both thought that was just so wrong.”
no comments