“Project Hail Mary” star Ryan Gosling has reportedly accepted an ‘open invitation’ to visit the set of legendary soap opera “Days of Our Lives” following an exchange between him and soap icon Deidre Hall.
Hall has played psychiatrist Marlena Evans on the series since joining the series fifty years ago, way back in 1976. Aside from a brief four-year departure in the late 1980s and a one-year one in 2010, she has been with the show throughout.
As a result, some of her most famous storylines have become embedded in pop culture from being brainwashed into believing she’s a serial killer, to the most notable one in the mid-1990s where she became possessed by the devil.
Gosling, speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast recently and shouted out his love for Hall’s work:
“Soap opera actors in general — they do not get the love they deserve. [They have to] memorize, the night before, like 10 pages of dialogue. They get one take, and it’s impossible scenarios — like when Marlena, Deidre Hall, gets possessed … by the Devil. Deidre Hall has to suddenly, after playing a normal person [be possessed] … What’s amazing is I remember thinking, like, ‘God, Deidre Hall’s a great actress ’cause she’s having to act possessed right now. That just seems like a lot to ask of her.'”
Hall responded with a video on Instagram, speaking on behalf of herself and her castmates: “We’re just thrilled to be acknowledged and to be so well spoken of because we work really hard, as you acknowledged.” She then asked him to “come over and see what we do in our neck of the woods,” adding that “nobody will be possessed. And if they are, I’ll keep an eye on you.”
Gosling then quickly responded on Instagram:
“Deidre Hall, are you kidding me? Yes. This is a very enthusiastic yes to a very cordial invitation to visit you on set. I will be there to thank you in person for being my OG acting inspiration. It wasn’t Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. It wasn’t [Robert] De Niro in Taxi Driver. It was you. Any time, anywhere, I’ll be there. I’m not worried about the possession; I’ll say a Hail Mary before I get there. It’ll be fine and I’ll see you on set.”
Funnily enough, Hall isn’t the longest serving actor on the show either, that would be Suzanne Rogers, who has been with the show since 1973 as Maggie Horton – playing the role over a span of more than 3300 episodes.
