Soap Opera Digest: You’re back! Pretty
soon you’re going to be rivaling Joe
Mascolo (ex-Stefano) for most returns.
Thaao Penghlis (laughs):I’ve died more
times than he has.
Digest: The last time you were killed off,
did you think, “That’s the end”?
Penghlis:That’s a good question. The last
time was so sudden, the death with Abigail.
But when I got back upstairs, to be told that
they’re going to kill Andre, I said, “Well, how
many more times do you think I’ve got?” And
you count the nine lives. Suddenly, you’re
taking that seriously. But I was told just to
hold off and I was going to be fine. It was a
very slow comeback.
Digest: How did your return come about?
Penghlis: [Co-Executive Producer] Greg
Meng called me. I said, “Oh, let me sit down.”
The good part is, I left well. I’m not one of
these actors that leaves with drama. I look at
it this way: It’s all about the writer’s story and
who gets into it.
Digest: What did Greg say?
Penghlis: He said to me, “Thaao, are you
going to be free at this particular time?” And
I said, “Yeah, why?” And he said, “Ron’s
[Carlivati, head writer] written this story and
he wants you to come back. We’re bring-
ing Tony back.” And I thought, “Oh, okay.”
Somehow I was expecting it because I heard
there were actors coming back from the dead.
I don’t know if it’s from the dead; I look at it
as making a transition, coming from that part
of life that hasn’t yet gotten to heaven.Digest: Right. They’d been kind of in
limbo.
Penghlis: Yeah, looking at how they lived
and how they could have done it better.
Digest: So you told him that you were free
and happy to come back?
Penghlis: I was slightly hesitant because
after being killed this many times ... I mean,
if I was an actor who didn’t know his lines
and you’re creating problems and no one
can work with you, I get it. But I’ve never
been better as far as myself as a human being
because of where I’ve been and where I’ve
gone with it.
Digest: You wanted to come back?
Penghlis: Yes, I wanted to come back as
Tony. I thought that would be interesting
because I was so used to playing Andre, so
how do I tap into that source? And then I
go, “Well, both of them are diabolical char-
acters, but Tony had more heart.” I thought,
“You can’t find Andre’s heart but Tony, you
can see him wearing it. There’s somethingBy Janet Di Lauro
Thaao Penghlis
resurrects Tony
DiMera once
again on DAYS
CHRIS HASTON/NBC