Days of our Lives recently celebrated its 54th year on the air, and in celebration of the exciting moment, the NBC soap opera released an anniversary cast photo. While the picture prompted some people to start dishing on their favorite memories from the long-running soap opera, others couldn't help but dish about the new face standing alongside Drake Hogestyn (John Black) in the photo, which turns out to be former The Young and the Restless star Emily O'Brien (ex-Jana Hawkes).
Details about why O'Brien was on set remain unclear -- the NBC soap opera has yet to confirm whether or not she's been cast on the show. However, many daytime viewers hope that her inclusion in the cast photo means that she is indeed heading to Salem. After all, the talented actress quickly became a fan favorite with her 2006 to 2011 work on Y&R, where she clocked in not just one but three Daytime Emmy nominations.
As fans may recall, O'Brien played a bad, bad girl in Genoa City. Jana murdered Carmen Mesta (Marisa Ramirez); conspired to steal Nazi treasures; attempted to kill her future husband, Kevin (Greg Rikaart), and Colleen (Adrianne Leon) in a warehouse fire; faked her own murder; and kidnapped Lucy and Delia Abbott. O'Brien's reign of terror on Y&R came to an end when Jana died of an aneurysm during a fight with Chloe (Elizabeth Hendrickson), but there's no telling what kind of trouble she could bring to Salem!
In addition to her work on Y&R, O'Brien has appeared on television series like One Day at a Time and Love, Death, & Robots, and in movies like The Cloud, Iris, Pernicious, and Get Married or Die. She's also known for voicing several video games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Batman: The Enemy Within, and Death Stranding.
UPDATE (May 27, 2020): DAYS' head writer, Ron Carlivati, confirms that Emily O'Brien is, in fact, headed to Salem and will make her debut as Gwen on Friday, June 5. The character will be introduced as Claire's (Olivia Rose Keegan) Bayview friend, but she'll have other ties to the canvas, including Jake (Brandon Barash), whom she once dated.
"In order to put an end to this situation with the people who are after him, Jake has to track down his ex, the mischievous Gwen," Carlivati teases to Soap Opera Digest. "I don't want to give too much away. She is kind of the key to him resolving the issues with these bad people. It will also be interesting to see how Gabi [Camila Banus] reacts when she finds out that Jake has an ex-girlfriend."
What do you think about Emily O'Brien potentially joining the cast of Days of our Lives? Who can you see her playing in Salem? 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.
