Emily O’Brien departing ‘Days of Our Lives’ after 5 years and 2 characters

Emily O’Brien is officially saying goodbye to Days of Our Lives.

After playing two characters over the span of five years, the daytime soap veteran is hanging up her hat. 

“I was in tears, and I faced everybody on stage and I looked at the cameras,” she told Soap Opera Digest. “Then I just told everyone how incredibly lucky I am.”

O’Brien recalled that her tenure on Days far outlasted her initial expectations. “I wasn’t supposed to be on the show for as long as I was. I never thought that daytime would be something that was accessible to me again,” she said.

Soap stans were thrilled to see O’Brien’s ever-energetic face on their screens again in 2020. She played series regular Jana Hawkes on The Young and the Restless from 2006-2011. Like the character she’d go on to play on Days, Jana was a bit mysterious, a bit unpredictable, and extremely fun to watch.

O’Brien was out of the soap world for close to a decade, during which time her voice appeared in films likeThe Bad Batch and Dangerous Matrimony. She also voiced characters in animated film The Sea Beast, series like Constantine: City of Demons and Love, Death & Robots, and video games including The Elder Scrolls Online, Death Stranding and Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series.

In her interview with Soap Opera Digest, O’Brien alluded to a memorable incident that occurred part way into her time at Days. “I not only got to play one amazing role,” she said, “but I played two amazing roles.”

In what was called at the time the “most insane recasting ever,” O’Brien exited the show as the character she’d played since 2020, Gwen Rizczech, and returned to replace Jen Lilley as as Theresa Donovan — in the same episode. Donovan has been a regular character on the show since 1990 and was played by Lilley from 2013 until 2023.

“I ended up falling in love with Theresa and who she is and the circle that she’s involved in,” O’Brien said. “The fact that [Days producers] put their trust in me to play both of these roles … I just feel so grateful for that experience.” O’Brien was honored with an Emmy nomination this year for her performance as Gwen.

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In other Days of Our Lives news, the queen of the days set herself, Diedre Hall, who has played Marlena Evans for more than 45 years, has entered the streaming age with a role as herself on the Max hit Hacks. Bill Hayes, who played Doug Williams for more than 2,000 episodes, passed away in January at the age of 98.

Alison Sweeney is returning to Salem as the deliciously wicked Sami Brady for “a few episodes” in the upcoming season. Finally, Days alum Lisa Rinna has joined the call for the removal of longtime co-executive producer–director Albert Alarr after dozens of allegations led to an internal misconduct investigation.