At The 'DAYS' Set – Mark Hapka & Shelley Hennig
Soap Opera Source was also a media network invited to the “Day of Days” Fan Event and here’s their story with Mark! It wasn’t a lot – the bulk of it is Mark’s bio from NBC.com but here are his Questions & Answers which you definitely have to read.
What your take on Nathan’s relationship with both Melanie & Stephanie?
Well, when he was first introduced to Salem, he didn’t know quite what he wanted. He was keeping his options open. He was very nice about it. He wasn’t hooking up with either of them. It was going back and forth. And I think his actions are more reactions to the other two. Yeah, he cares for both of them, but if Melanie is not showing the interest that she is supposed to be showing, then it’s not bad if he goes on to talk to Stephanie.
When you first joined the show did you feel any pressure being the new, young Horton doctor?
Of course. Just knowing I’m joining a legacy of a show that’s been around for decades, and then taking on the name of somebody like Tom Horton who pretty much is Days of our Lives. Also just knowing I came on shortly after John & Marlena left and, its just like you have these fans who are so into these characters and they are taken away from them and then they are given this new guy that they don’t know or are invested in. There is a little pressure there that people won’t hate you.
Can you tell us about your audition? I hear it’s an interesting story.
It is an interesting story. Two years ago I actually played a different character on Days, I was a young Johnny DiMera at age 15 in a series of Sami’s flash forwards and I had played the role twice. Once one year, and then I came back and played it again. I had a scene that was like eight pages long and this was before I knew they did it all in one take and I go through those eight pages with the blocking and everything perfectly. And they were like, “This kid is pretty good, we should see if we can get him in a contract role.” And the role of Will, who was Bobby at the time, came up and I tested. We waited and the feedback was that they really liked me but they ended up casting Taylor [as Mia] who is much younger and the match up wouldn’t have worked. They went back and recasted and got Dylan Patton, who is doing a great job. Then the role of Nathan came around.
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