Washington : Actress Kristian Alfonso, who is all set to return to Peacock's 'Days of Our Lives', will pay tribute by bidding farewell to the character played by Bill Hayes, who died in January at 98.
Alfonso, whose DOOL character, Hope Brady, was the daughter of Hayes' Doug Williams, was on set April 22 to shoot the tribute, as Deadline quoted the report by TV Insider. Her episode will air on November 29.
"My return is very bittersweet, because it is the end of an era with Bill gone. So to return to Days is very sad. I am appreciative that they came to me to include me in their series of shows honoring Doug and I'm very happy to see everyone, but I'm entering the studio with a heavy heart," she told the outlet.
She added, "I remember my first scenes with him. He was very loving, very welcoming. That he was very talented and an incredible actor and an icon, that all goes without saying, but my personal relationship and my working relationship with Bill, it was home. Doing the scenes with Bill, I felt like I was with my dad because there was so much warmth and reality."
After making appearances on DOOL since 1983, Alfonso departed the show in 2020. In 2022, she briefly returned to the role for Days, the Peacock spinoff Beyond Salem.
Deadline quoted, "I feel incredibly grateful that I ever had the opportunity to be a part of such an incredible show and the legacy that it holds. I'm very blessed. I'll always be very blessed, regardless if I ever return to do more shows or finish the storyline or not. I will always be eternally grateful and so appreciative to Days of our Lives and to Ken Corday [executive producer] and the fans that kept me going," she said to TV Insider.
Hayes played Doug Williams on 'Days of Our Lives,' the husband of Julie Williams who is played on the show by his real-life wife Seaforth Hayes.
His also played the father of 'Hope Williams' (Kristian Alfonso), one-half of the famed 'Days of Our Lives' duo Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope. Hayes made his debut on the daytime soap opera in February 1970, and went on to feature in more than 2,100 episodes.