Chandler Massey talks about being Will Horton again opposite a new Sonny Kiriakis on “Beyond Salem”

Three-time Emmy winner Chandler Massey steps back into the role of Will Horton this week in Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem, the limited series spinoff of Days of our Lives currently airing on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service.

Chandler spoke with Soap Opera Network about repairing the role and her are some excerpts:

On working opposite Zach Tinker who replaces Freddie Smith as Sonny: “I was a little nervous at first because Freddie… there’d been several Will’s, like six or seven over the years, [but] there’s only been one Sonny. It’s always been Freddie and he did a masterful job. I worked with him for hundreds of episodes and you get used to seeing the same face. So, I guess I was nervous because I really wanted… I didn’t want the characters to take a step back because of the two new people working together. Sometimes a dynamic takes time to build or whatever. I remember the very first scenes that we did I could tell Zach’s got it and he’s like, ‘We’re not going to lose a beat!’ Freddie left like humungous shoes to fill but I think we’ve found the exact right person to fill them. Zach’s amazing. I think we worked really well together and he’s just incredibly talented. He made it fun and he made Will and Sonny feel real.”

On Leo Stark, played by Greg Rikaart who is in Beyond Salem: “The most entertaining and the most fun experience, but also the most frustrating experience on my end because it’s so hard to keep it together when he’s in a scene. For one, the character is just written beautifully. The character himself is just larger than life but Greg really leans into it and makes him audacious and outrageous, and it’s just so… I really had to work to stay in [the scene] because every minute I want to crack and burst out laughing.”

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