The pieces of the Tyler Christopher and Days of our Lives puzzle aren't quite falling completely into place just yet, and the subtly conflicting teases about who he'll be playing during his upcoming stint on the NBC soap are both outrageously fun and maddening.
When news first broke that the former General Hospital star was coming to Salem, viewers immediately began speculating that he was perhaps cast to take over the role of E.J. DiMera (formerly played by James Scott). But when a tease revealed Christopher's debut would be tied to the return of Louise Sorel in the role of Vivian Alamain, the buzz quickly morphed into the possibility that the actor would be taking on the role of Vivian's nephew, Nicholas.
However, DAYS' new head writer, Ron Carlivati, has stated that Christopher is playing a brand-new character when he makes his Salem debut. But most viewers are convinced there's more to the story. In fact, many speculate that the actor will be set up as a new character... but viewers will be blown away when they later learn he's someone else entirely as the story unfolds.
Though the theory may sound a little crazy, something Christopher said in a recent interview adds a little more intrigue to the already mysterious situation.
While speaking with Soap Opera Digest, the actor touched on creating a new character after playing GH's Nikolas Cassadine for 20 years. And what he says seems to hint that his Salem alter ego does, in fact, already have ties to the canvas -- even though he also swears the character is new.
"It's exciting because it's a new character and they just handed this role over to me like, 'Go do your thing.' No 'We want him to be like this' or 'We want him to be like that.' They just trusted me to create this guy, which is great. I mean, that's every actor's dream, to be able to be trusted that much," he begins.
And that's where things start to sound a bit interesting.
"I gave myself a little history lesson on everybody, made sure I asked plenty of questions, like, 'Okay, who are the Kiriakises? What's going on there? Who are the DiMeras? Okay, who are you related to? Do you like each other? Do you hate each other? Do you love each other? Is it a little bit of both?" he continues. "That's important for me to know, because the fans would go, 'Oh, my gosh, he would never be nice to her after what she did to him!'"
Though the quote doesn't give anything away in a straightforward manner, some wonder: if he's playing a brand-new character, why does he need to question the guy's past with various players on the canvas -- especially scenes that viewers would remember from the past?
Perhaps Christopher's comment was completely innocent, and he truly is playing a brand-new character through and through. But half the fun of welcoming such a talented, veteran actor to DAYS is spending time dissecting every little tease given about what is likely to be an explosive welcome to the NBC soap.
Who do you hope Christopher plays when he debuts on DAYS: E.J. DiMera, Nicholas Alamain, a brand new character, or someone else? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
