Days Of Our Lives1Peter Reckell Gets Emotional as He Remembers His DAYS Co-Stars Drake Hogestyn and Wayne Northrop
Photos: JPI
It has been a rough six months for the cast of Days of our Lives with the the loss of legacy cast members Wayne Northrup (ex-Roman Brady and Alex North) and Drake Hogestyn (John Black). Both men who played “Roman” at different times in their DAYS run; both passed away within two months of each other. Hogestyn died on September 28, 2024 at age 70, followed by Northrop on November 29, 2024 at age 77. Both actors also shared a close bond with Peter Reckell (Bo Brady).
Peter made a return visit to the Michael Fairman Channel for a live chat where he shared his remembrances of the two iconic stars and other such as: Bill Hayes (Doug Williams), Frances Reid (Alice Horton), John Aniston (Victor Kiriakis) and Peggy McCay (Caroline Brady), all of which were involved in story with Reckell through the years.
Meanwhile, DAYS fans are counting down to Peter’s next return on the Peacock streaming soap opera along with Kristian Alfonso (Hope) when Bo and Hope come back to Salem. They are expected to be on-screen as previously reported early this summer. Until then, Peter shared many behind the scenes memories and stories of his enduring career as one of the most popular characters in soap history while chatting with his fans.
Photo: NBC
MEETING WAYNE
On his remembrances of working with Wayne Northrop, who played Bo’s big brother, Reckell recalled, “People remember Bo and Hope. But there were so many strong relationships like that with Bo’s older brother, Roman, and his mom, Caroline. All those relationships had all the dynamics that were just so amazing. I remember that first day with Deidre Hall (Marlena), Jim Reynolds (Abe) and Wayne. I remember that day so well more than 42 years ago. The three of them were the powerhouses of daytime TV and there was no ego there. They just put their arms around me and let me do what I do.”
Peter also mentioned what so many did before him. He confirmed that Wayne was definitely the on-set prankster at DAYS. “We hit it off from the very beginning. I mean, he was always like my big brother. I looked up to him. Wayne was such a prankster all the time,” said Reckell. “The one prank I remember is when Roman was in prison and Mrs. H and Bo were getting him out, and he would have to go into an ambulance. I had a hiding place in the ambulance. There was a box above the wheel well that I hid in and it had a top to it. When I appeared from the box, I knocked the person out in the scene and grabbed Wayne. However, when we were rehearsing it, I was just listening for my cue, and Wayne had gotten out of the bed and sat on top of the box. I was like, ‘I’m stuck in this little thing.” That’s when I noticed I was really kind of claustrophobic. He wouldn’t let me out!” (Laughs)
BO CRADLES HIS BROTHER ROMAN IN HIS ARMS ON THE BEACH
In the history of DAYS, one moment that is never forgotten is after his struggle with Stefano on a cliff, Roman apparently falls to his death and is washed up on the beach. Bo finds him and is wracked with guilt. “You’ve got to thank the writers and producers in seeing those relationships and really fleshing them out so that when that moment happened, the audience was so invested in these brothers, and in this family that really hit him hard,” said Peter of the moment. “Yeah, I did my part. But, the writers really gave us some powerful stuff.”
Photo: JPI
DRAKE HOGESTYN AND THE FIGHT GONE WRONG
As the years went by, Peter would wind up working much longer with Drake Hogestyn. In tribute, he recalled this moment. “The story with Drake happened early on for him. We did that remote at Kern River with all the river-rafting and stuff. Drake and I had to do a fight scene. This was before they started hiring stunt coordinators. He and I were working out this fight. It was quite a long fight. We got about halfway through it, and I thought I had to do this and he thought he had to do that. His elbow met my lip and blew it open. I had to go to some doctor in the small rural town where we were filming, and they sewed it up. We were on location for around three days. The thing about is, he and I had maybe a dozen fights or more after that. For some reason the writers liked to see us fight.”
Drake never forgot the injury Peter sustained. “So, every time we did a fight, Drake would go, ‘You can go ahead and kick me hard.’ I was like, ‘Drake, it was an accident.’ He felt so bad about (the lip incident) forever,” recalled Reckell. “That was the kind of person he was. He just had the biggest heart you could ever have and that’s the energy he had. Drake would walk on a set and the impact he had for Days of our Lives and everybody he met has left a big hole in the cast for sure.”
Everyone at the set loved Drake’s stories and the way he would tell them so full of life and with great storytelling skills. Peter also experienced it, sharing, “At a young age, Drake made the best grandfather ever. He had these stories, I’m sure, you know. You’ve heard plenty of his stories. Drake had this memory that remembers every detail of the story. So. you just sit there, like, ‘What? And then what happened?”‘
Photo: JPI
LOOKING BACK AT THIS CO-STARS THAT ARE NO LONGER WITH US
It is hard to believe how many of Peter’s Days of our Lives co-stars are no longer with us, but we don’t think anyone else in soaps got to work with such extraordinary people as Reckell, and he is very well aware of it. Choking back tears, Peter shared, “I have been just so incredibly lucky to have worked with people of the stature of: Bill Hayes, John Aniston, Peggy McCay Frances Reid … all of them. I got to experience every kind of emotion that you can have as an actor, or as a person for that matter from: your kid passing away, to marrying a beautiful woman, and having a grandmother like Francis Reid. All these relationships were so powerful and with these astounding people that I got to do the scenes with.”
