MEET DAYS'S ELIA CANTU

Elia Cantu was already familiar with DAYS before she was tapped to play Detective Jada Hunter, who makes her debut on July 19.

"I was a watcher from back in the day," she reports. "I watched with my sister. It started, though, with my cheer squad. I used to be a cheerleader. I was the new cheerleader on the squad and all the older cheerleaders were already watching DAYS OF OUR LIVES. They were sophisticated and grown-up [laughs].

So I started watching it. I would watch it during summer break. Then I got my sister hooked, and we would watch it together. But then when school started, I would record it and then watch it." So it was a full-circle moment for the actress when she got a callback after she sent in her selftape audition. "I went through a chemistry test and a network testing," she recalls. "There was quite a bit of back and forth. Then I received a call the next day from my agent [that I got the part]. I was super-excited. I celebrated with my dog, who was with me at the time. I was really happy in that moment. I screamed. He barked. We were jumping around in circles. He's used to my antics. He's been with me for 10 years. He's my baby. His name is Danny. I have to give him a shout-out. I don't hold my breath. I don't count my chickens before they hatch. I'm really in the moment. I don't take anything for granted or assume anything is going to happen. So I wanted to make sure this was mine. This is my role. I got it."