BLAKE BERRIS ON NEW DAYS ROLE

After years of playing a gamut of wild and wonderful characters on DAYS - the quirky, obsessive Nick, a Halloween zombie, and, most recently, the gatekeeper to hell Blake Berris is tackling something new and different: a bona fide leading man. And he's finally ready to embrace it.

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"I've sort of been fighting that my whole life," admits Berris. "From an early age, I've played so many different things. I played the drug addict for years. I was on BREAKING BAD, and I did this movie called Meth Head and a couple other things. In my heart, I think I'm more of a character actor. My dad is always like, 'You're more of a leading man.' And I'm like, 'No. I'm not. I like shape-shifting.' So it's been fun to lean into a more romantic side [of a character] and take on the responsibility of keeping the audience on Everett's side. I really don't want to lose that."

Berris doesn't feel pressured by the task. He's simply geared up for a "new challenge. When I was on the show before as Nick, I approached it very much from what was interesting to me," he explains. "There was some rebellious part of me that was maybe fighting the genre a bit and wanting to do something my own way, and I was younger. This time around my challenge has been how to embrace the genre of daytime and soap opera ... I'm trying to lean in rather than fight it."

Everett, the new editor-in-chief of The Spectator, presents the perfect opportunity. "He's such a brilliant character, and the storyline is so good," raves the actor. "Everett has such a warm, beautiful heart. There's some real goodness in him. He's [in Salem] to win back Stephanie, the love of his life. I'm so excited for people to see it."