“It was a tall order,” actor Brandon Barash admitted to Soap Opera Digest about taking over the role of Stefan DiMera on “Days of Our Lives.” Stefan had been played by Tyler Christopher, who joined the cast in 2017 but left last fall. Since the series tapes so far in advance, his last episodes didn’t air until March, after which Barash made his first on-screen appearance on March 22.
Barash is no stranger to soaps. He played Johnny Zacchara on “General Hospital” for nearly a decade (2007-2016), but coming on-board at “Days” was still a “shock.” He explained, “I’m used to doing at most six to eight pages a day. I think my first day I had about, I don’t know, between 20 and 30. It was a lot, but the cast and crew here are just incredible. It’s really a special family. They got a good soup cooking over here, so they made it very easy.”
Christopher tweeted his support for Barash on March 19: “My time on @daysofourlives was nothing short of pure fun. Such a great group of people to work for and be around every day. Please welcome @BrandonBarash into the role. Such a solid actor and an even better person.” But Christopher isn’t done with Stefan just yet. He just earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Best Actor for the role; the winners will be presented on May 5.
Christopher and Barash were actually co-stars on “GH.” Before “Days” Christopher was best known for playing Nikolas Cassadine in Port Charles on-and-off from 1996 to 2016, and during his tenure he earned four Emmy nominations, including a Best Actor victory in 2016. Now they don’t just have a show in common, they have a character in common too.
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