Before actor Drake Hogestyn died following a pancreatic cancer battle, he reportedly approved of his Days of Our Lives character also dying.
“We were rolling the dice because it’s difficult to tell a story of someone’s death or a character’s death while the actor is still alive; albeit [Drake] was fighting, like a tiger, a very difficult disease,” executive producer Ken Corday told Soap Opera Digest in an interview published on Thursday, November 7. “And I made the choice to, ‘OK, let’s tell the story.’ He hadn’t been on in nine months. We needed a reason [for John’s absence].”
Corday, 74, reached out to Hogestyn before writing the script.
“I wanted to make sure Drake signed off on this, and he was totally in favor of it,” Corday recalled. “He trusted me. Had Drake, God willing, beaten this, he would’ve come back, and it would’ve been something different. But [the story] had to be told.”
He added, “It was extremely difficult and painful for us to tell it — for the cast, for everybody. Drake was a big part of the show. The consummate actor. Always a team player and pretty good-looking, too.”
Hogestyn died on September 28, one day before his 71st birthday, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“He was thrown the curve ball of his life when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but he faced the challenge with incredible strength and determination,” his family said in a statement. “After putting up an unbelievable fight, he passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones. He was the most amazing husband, father, papa and actor.”
The statement added, “He loved performing for the Days audience and sharing the stage with the greatest cast, crew, and production team in the business. We love him and we will miss him all the Days of Our Lives.”
Hogestyn made his Days debut in 1986, going on to appear in more than 4,200 episodes. Filming John’s funeral, which will air in an upcoming episode, was particularly difficult for Deidre Hall, who stars on the soap opera as Marlena. (The two characters were in a decades-long relationship.)
“I wouldn’t touch that with a 10-foot pole. Drake was still with us. I know Ken had promised him a place to come back,” Hall, 77, told Soap Opera Digest. “He was looking forward to coming back, and he was fighting the good fight. So we had not said goodbye to him yet. And we weren’t thinking goodbye to him at that point.”
