Freddie Smith, Chandler Massey leaving Days of Our Lives; why?
In a new post on social media today, Freddie Smith (Sonny) confirmed that he and his longtime co-star Chandler Massey (Will) are going to be departing the series. In the full video, Smith indicates that it was not his decision to depart the series, and the more the process has started to develop, the more it became clear that he may not be in the show’s long-term plans. He’s had a little bit of time in order to process and handle the news, but for a lot of viewers, the wound may be a little bit more fresh.
So why cut out popular actors from the show? It’s likely for the same reason as some of the negotiations — cutting costs. The entire soap industry have struggled for years to compete against an increase in competition from streaming providers and DVRs, and even though Days of Our Lives is one of the most popular shows of its kind, it’s not immune to some of that. Still, we like to think there could’ve been another option beyond cutting out cast members.
This move is sad on a number of different levels — it’s a dent in LGBTQ+ representation in a genre that surely needs some, as the WilSon pairing was one of the more popular ones out there. It’s also just add to see actors out of a gig when they’ve performed there for hundreds upon hundreds of episodes.
The only silver lining here is this — because of the way that Days of Our Lives films new episodes, you’re going to be seeing these two characters for many more months. It’ll be late summer/early fall before Sonny and Will depart the onscreen world for good.
What do you think about the latest Days of Our Lives departures?
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