The devil is in the details.
And it is in Dr. Marlena Evans.
More than 25 years after “Days of Our Lives” went full on “Exorcist” — in one of the most audacious TV milestones of the 1990s and what remains “one of the memorable moments in American pop culture history,” as Entertainment Weekly recently described — Satan has returned for a redo on the long-running daytime serial in an oh-oh arc still unfolding. With better effects. Most of the townsfolk in the fictional Salem still largely in the dark.
It was outrageous then, during a months-long span when the storyline became water cooler — when even audiences who weren’t soap watchers knew that Marlena, the upstanding doctor and serene diva of Salem, was levitating on occasion and turning into a panther on another — and it remains outrageous today. Even in a genre in which anything can happen — one not unused to returns from the dead and larger than large love triangles.
Even more incredible, perhaps? That, in a culture in which older women often seem to disappear from view, it is 73-year-old Deidre Hall — a great-grandmother on the show at this point — who is front burner on a series running five days a week. Who says there are no parts for women after 40? She first joined the drama in 1976, after all — when Gerald Ford was in the White House and ABBA was new! — and she generously rang me up to chat about it all recently.
Diva on line one!
“I think she has grown with American women,” Hall began to muse, explaining how when her character first appeared on “Days,” even with her own career, “women were not in every marketplace, every executive office … Marlena herself has evolved … has more agency.”
The girl who grew up in Florida dreaming of becoming a psychologist — later stumbling into commercials and then acting, initially doing a short-term stint on “The Young and the Restless” — has ironically played a psychiatrist on “Days” for four-plus decades. (This, in addition to a new, fun, five-part spinoff called “Beyond Salem” that has oodles of hype, uniting many old characters in a globe-spanning adventure story involving a jewelry heist.)
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“The show moves with the times,” she acquiesced, when pointing out that Marlena now has one grandson, Will, who is out and gay, and another granddaughter who defines herself as “fluid.” When “Days” premiered back in 1965, that would have been impossible. And when the former got married some years back to another legacy character, Sonny — in what was the first male gay wedding in daytime history — Marlena was front and centre.
“How wise for our writers to have Marlena officiate that wedding,” the timeless blond remembered. The show doubling down, in other words, on the multi-generational oomph intrinsic to the long-form narrative of soaps. For all the camptastic things her character has endured — she has plummeted from a 30-storey window (naturally, she survived), been brainwashed once or twice, and was famously even the surrogate for genetically engineered babies Rex and Cassie during a long coma — at its core “Days” is about heart and hearth. A cosmos of characters with intersecting lives.
Fans will accept even the craziest developments if they’re about characters they are long invested in. See: the “devil possession.” “That will clearly be on my headstone: ‘Deidre Hall, Marlena, possession,’” she laughed.
Did she ever have reservations about doing it? The first time, yes, she admitted, particularly as a person of faith, but she felt she was in good hands because then head writer James E. Reilly was a devout Catholic. Ultimately, she saw it as a story about salvation. This second time ’round, she shared, show proprietor Ken Corday — whose parents, Ted and Betty, together created “Days” — sent holy water to the set.
The drama has not always been on camera, however. Some might remember the groundbreaking TV movie the actress made after enduring years of infertility in her own life while two marriages collapsed, then turning to a surrogate, in which Deidre Hall played, well, Deidre Hall. The result — a quixotic ’90s artifact called “Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story” — remains something she is proudest of, largely because it wasn’t about two women fighting (the whole Baby M narrative from that era). “I wanted to give women hope, based on my experience,” she said.
Amazingly, the two twin boys she had via surrogate — “they are grown men now” — have never seen that movie. “One day,” Hall promised. Like sands through the hourglass, as the iconic opening for “Days” goes.
In her day job, she is fortunate to still be working alongside Drake Hogestyn, who plays John Black, with whom she forms one of daytime’s bona fide supercouples. Their convoluted romance was binge television before binge television. About which she explained: “We work so differently and it is gold. Drake has to know everything that happens, wants to be over-prepared … my brain does not require that as much. I like to be surprised in a scene, discover things …”
And the thing she is discovering right about now, over the phone, from her garden in L.A.? A flying little critter. “A hummingbird is joining me now,” she said, delighted as can be. “It is on my skirt!”
Beats the devil.
How long will she continue on the soap? No plans to retire. Feeling blessed for having endured as a leading lady for as long as she has in a world in which most things have an expiry date — “I never had to audition again. Thank God” — she is philosophical about where Deidre starts and Marlena ends. Except for a couple of breaks from the show, the continuity is the thing: “My phone number hasn’t changed. My dressing room hasn’t changed. My parking lot is the same. Thank God for the fans.”
Loyal viewers of ‘Days of Our Lives’ are breathing a sigh of relief now that it’s been confirmed the soap is renewed for another season. In early November, news hit that cast members would not have their contracts renewed, and it seemed like the fate of the show was up in the air. Now that NBC has greenlit the 56th season, both fans and the cast can rejoice.
That means audiences will continue to see Deidre Hall, a.k.a. Dr. Marlena Evans, survive life or death situations, live out her love story with John, and maintain her position as one of the matriarchs in Salem. Hall has been on the show since the ‘70s, but what’s her backstory and how much is her net worth?
Hall didn’t want to be an actress when she was young
Once you realize that Days of Our Lives have been on the air for five decades, you think about all the cast members who’ve graced your screens during that time. Hall joined the show in 1976 to play Marlena, but she didn’t always have her sights set on acting.
When she was younger, she wanted to be a hairdresser but changed her mind once out of high school. She originally hoped to graduate with a psychology degree but jumped into acting to earn some extra money while in school. Early in her career, she did some modeling and took on a number of television roles in shows such as Emergency!, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, and The Young and the Restless.
Her stint on Y&R led to her interest in daytime soaps and the stars aligned for an opportunity on Days of Our Lives. She almost didn’t take it. Hall told Closer Weekly she was offered the part but hesitated:
“I was so convinced that with all these recognizable faces that I had seen at the audition, they would have not chosen me. But in my logical mind I said, ‘They must’ve gone through 10 actors who turned it down, there must be something wrong with it.’ So I turned it down also and then she called me back two weeks later and said, ‘What’s wrong with this part?’ I said ‘I love this part. I just thought I wasn’t somebody they especially thought of first.’ She said, ‘You were their first choice.’ So I took it and it’s been over 40 years.”
She’s a fan favorite on and off screen
Hall has been playing Marlene for 43 years and in that time, she’s been possessed, died fake deaths, fallen in love with her soulmates, been kidnapped, and played the ultimate psychiatrist. The role has endeared her to fans so much that when they believed her character had been killed off, they overwhelmed the studio with phone calls, letters, and a protest. It was just a faux storyline, but the fan campaign proved how much she’s loved.
Even after she took a break from Days to play Jesse Witherspoon on Our House for five years, she returned to the soap and received a warm reception. Per Hall’s website bio, she’s starred in NBC movies and produced her own TV special, Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story, where she highlighted her fertility struggles and becoming a mother through surrogacy.
Hall has always been a relatable and approachable actress, and an interview with Soap Opera Digest revealed moments where she’s done phone calls with fans and sometimes given advice. One time, she helped a teenage girl seek help from a rape crisis center and the girl was able to have her abuser removed from the home. Hall is also known for interacting directly with fans on social media, calling some of them friends.
Hall does other work outside of ‘Days of Our Lives’
Although she’s shuttered her beauty business, Hall released two books: Deidre Hall’s Kitchen Closeup and Deidre Hall’s How Does She Do It? A Beauty Book. One shares recipes and the other highlights beauty and fashion secrets and tips for every woman.
In addition to these projects, Hall is very involved with charity work. She’s been an advocate for the Special Olympics, as she grew up with an older brother who had Down syndrome, and she’s also been a vocal supporter for vision awareness. Her mother was diagnosed with wet AMD, a form of macular degeneration that causes blindness. She’s given her money and time to these causes and more over the past few decades.
Hall’s earnings from ‘Days of Our Lives’ keep climbing
For the record, the 72-year-old Hall has no plans to retire from her role as Marlena anytime soon. She told Closer Weekly:
“I love what I do. We work 50 weeks a year and I work with people that I just adore and respect. I get to see them on days when I get to go to work to catch up on their lives and their adventures and their heartbreaks. I wouldn’t change that for the world. This time in my life is the best time ever — until the next time! I’m so sublimely happy and my kids are in good shape, my family’s in good shape, I’m healthy, I do a job that I love, I have people that I adore. So it doesn’t get any better and I am beyond grateful.”
As a result of her work in entertainment, Hall’s net worth is estimated to be $12 million per Celebrity Net Worth. Keep watching her on Days of Our Lives on NBC each weekday at 1 p.m. EST.