‘Days of Our Lives’ Emily O’Brien Teases Theresa’s Emotional Visit + Gwen’s Dramatic Return (EXCLUSIVE)
Soap opera beauty talks bad girls, loves triangles, turning 40 and that recast drama.
As Theresa returns to stand by her son Tate this week on Days of our Lives, portrayer Emily O’Brien is already back to work as her other character, Jack Deveraux’s daughter Gwen—who’s set to return for a more substantial visit starting in July.
Here, O’Brien teases what’s to come, reflects on playing troublemakers in Salem and on The Young and the Restless, and recalls what it was like to play a true soap opera moment and board a plane as one character, don a wig, and walk back onscreen as another character.
Plus, the soap opera beauty gets candid with Woman’s World about what’s so great about starring in video games and animated series like Emmy-winning Love, Death, and Robots, and why approaching 40 has inspired her to get her hands dirty and learn something new.
Soap star Emily O’Brien loves playing bad girls, but ‘Days’ Theresa was a whole new game
While Days of Our Lives’ Gwen and Theresa have each caused their share of drama, The Young and the Restless’ Jana also brought her own special brand of trouble—and that’s just how portrayer Emily O’Brien likes it.
“It’s so difficult to play the beautiful, kind woman that loves her family, makes no mistakes, and has a clean background,” the four-time Daytime Emmy-nominee admits. “I don’t know why I can play messy and confused misanthropes. It just comes naturally. Not that I live my life that way! There’s just so much more room for versatility and color, so I’m more comfortable playing somebody with an edge.”
Having never been cast as an ingénue, donning a wig to assume the role of Theresa back in 2023 turned out to be an unexpected pleasure for the Brit.
“It was my opportunity to be this frivolous, fun-loving blonde, which I would never play anywhere else, so I just soak it up,” she says. “Gwen doesn’t really show or say what she’s feeling, whereas Theresa will just say what she feels and strut off in a tight skirt. And everyone still loves her, right? I ended up having such a good time with that role, and working with Rob Scott Wilson and Eric Martsolf (who play Ben and Brady) was such a gift.”
‘Days’ star Emily O’Brien on the Gwen/Theresa casting shakeup – ‘It was so bizarre!’
When O’Brien first assumed the role of Theresa from Jen Lilley, Days of Our Lives leaned into its penchant for campy turns and had her walk into the story as her new character on the very same day Gwen walked out.
“It was so bizarre,” she admits. “I was going from Gwen into hair and makeup to get the wig on and change into Theresa. I was nervous, but after I was on camera in full Theresa hair and makeup and did the scenes, they gave me a round of applause. I thought, ‘Wow, okay, here’s the start of something interesting.’ And then I embraced it.
“In a situation like that, you just have to laugh and say, ‘How amazing that they’re trusting me with this. I get to play these two people,’” she adds. “I’m not the only one who’s done this sort of game. Stacey Haiduk gets to play Kristen and Susan, so I looked at it like that. And now, Theresa is airing, but I’m on stage as Gwen!”
Soap opera star Emily O’Brien is rolling into 40 by rolling up her sleeves and getting dirty
While this beauty is getting dolled up for the soap screen once again, she’s celebrating turning 40 this May by getting down and dirty… and working on her new 1977 MG Midget.
“I bought myself an early 40th birthday present, and it’s an old, piece of crap dump car,” O’Brien shares with a laugh. “I got it for so cheap at an auction. The thing doesn’t even run, but my dad knows a lot about MGs. We’ve already started working on it and doing it with him has been so special. Looking at little bits and bobs like a new wooden steering wheel and fixing the tires, that’s what’s important to me, now. It’s been fun. I’m enriching myself!”
She reveals this big birthday has her looking at life differently.
“Turning 40, I understand the value of time,” O’Brien explains. “Like, I can’t believe it was almost 20 years ago that I started on The Young and the Restless. That just disgusting! And as you realize time is fleeting, you want genuine quality time with the people you love—with my dad, my mother, my 18-year-old cat.
“When your idea of life shifts with health problems and all the rest that sort of seeps in with age, you also stop caring about all the excess noise,” she adds. “‘Oh, my wrinkles! Am I thin enough? Am I pretty enough? Am I good enough?’ You just sort of let that go, because there’s not even any energy or time left to think about it, and you’re forced to just be yourself.”
Soap opera star Emily O’Brien suits up to make games like ‘Starfield’ or ‘God of War’
That’s also what O’Brien appreciates about her other, much less glamorous gig in gaming and animated TV.
“I’ve been doing motion capture (mocap) and video games for 15 years,” she shares. “Mocap is a performance capture of your body, and sometimes of your voice, face, and facial movements, as well. You wear a suit, they put dots on your face and head cameras, and then they shoot you on a light stage. I was the first person they put in a head cam to test them for Avatar and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Now, things are so advanced!
“I love it, because it’s just actors on stage, performing,” she adds. “You’re not allowed to wear any makeup and don’t worry about your hair. You’re not judged on how you look, because the costumes are created by the animators.”
‘Starfield’ costars and crewEmily O’Brien/Instagram
And while games like Starfield or God of War can be in production for as long as three years, mocap offers the actress immediate gratification.
“There’s screens everywhere, so let’s say my character is a blue half-alien/half-human creature with really long legs, I get to see what I look like in real-time as I move,” she says. “It’s amazing! It’s like tapping into theater again.”
‘Days of Our Lives’ star Emily O’Brien is enjoying her return to Gwen’s world
O’Brien was actually eyeing a move to New York to get back into theater when Days of Our Lives decided to bring Gwen to Salem for another round, and she was thrilled to answer the call.
“The story is still so open-ended with her father, Leo and Dimitri, Xander, even, and all the people she’s affected,” she explains. “There’s so much more we can still play with, and I just love playing Gwen.”
O’Brien also appreciates being in Gwen’s orbit and getting back to vamping with Greg Rikaart’s Leo again.
“It’s so serendipitous because Greg played my husband on The Young and the Restless,” she explains. “I’ve known him for 20 years—which is crazy—so we’re just silly giggles all the time. We’re constantly making each other laugh, sometimes too much, because we’re on camera!
“The love triangle with Peter Portre was just glorious,” she adds, referring to the storyline that saw Gwen’s gay bestie have an affair with her husband, Dimitri. “That little banter we had was so amazing. We felt like we were doing a sitcom. It was brilliant. I hope more of that is to come.”
Emily O’Brien reveals Theresa’s ‘Days of Our Lives’ return will become a goodbye tour
With Gwen having been off canvas since October 2023, O’Brien previews Jack Deveraux’s daughter will return to Salem this summer as a bit of a new woman.
Gwen’s full-sized return to Days of Our Lives is set to begin in July. First, however, Theresa returns to Salem this week to help her son Tate deal with his baby drama… only to get some upsetting news that forces her to bid farewell to her family and Salem shortly after arriving.
“She went off to Alamania and got her hands on Dimitri’s money, and money can change a person,” says the Days of Our Lives star. “She’s just been swanning around the world, traveling and spending, and when she comes back, she’s a little more refined. She also has this newfound power, because she has money that she can use as leverage to get whatever she wants, so there’s lots of room for story there.”
Gwen’s full-sized return to Days of Our Lives is set to begin in July. First, however, Theresa returns to Salem this week to help her son Tate deal with his baby drama… only to get some upsetting news that forces her to bid farewell to her family and Salem shortly after arriving.
“It’s not a long stay, but it’s pretty emotional,” O’Brien teases to Woman’s World. “Theresa’s not going back to jail, but she’s going to tie up loose ends and say goodbye.”
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