I wasn't sure where to put this article--in the general section or the spoiler section. It contains minor spoilers about the direction of Lucas' character, so in Spoiler Island it is....

Don't Call This Days of our Lives Hunk a "Punk"

Days of our Lives star Bryan Dattilo is starting an exciting new chapter in his daytime suds career. Yeah, the NBC soap hunk is still playing Lucas Roberts, the role he's filled in the fictional town of Salem since 1993. But thanks to the new regime at Days — Hogan Sheffer has replaced James E. Reilly as head writer — Lucas is becoming a much more interesting guy to play. This TVGuide.com reporter recently sat down with Dattilo in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was taping a guest appearance on SOAPnet's Soap Talk in Paradise (airs Thursday, October 19). We think you'll enjoy the 35-year-old actor's candid comments about his past and future Days.

TVGuide.com: You grew your hair out all long and lovely, but then you cut it, which made me sad. Now it's long again. I approve!

Bryan Dattilo: [Laughs] Thank you. I've been told by the hair people at Days that I have to keep it long. They say the way my face is shaped, short hair is not as flattering as longer hair on me. Eh, I don't care. Less haircuts for me!

TVGuide.com: I had to give you props in my book, The Q Guide to Soap Operas. It just bugs me that Lucas always loses women to his big bro, Austin (Austin Peck). You're hot, too!

Dattilo: Cool, thank you. That's awesome. It was hard playing the "have not" and getting stepped on all the time. You can take that to heart, even between your scenes. I used to think that if my job was to be the victim, I should just get stepped on. I didn't make conscious choices to make my character stronger. Now, I take more liberty to do little things that change the way Lucas is perceived.

TVGuide.com: I doubt I'm the first Days fan to express frustration about the shabby treatment of Lucas.

Dattilo: Believe me, I've heard it all through my travels over the years. "Why is Lucas such a punk? Doesn't he wanna punch Austin? Why don't you stop whining about Sami and go with another girl?" They think I have a say about the storyline. I go, "I'll think about that, thanks." [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Fortunately, your scenes are improving with Hogan Sheffer in charge.

Dattilo: He's a keeper, that guy. Hogan Sheffer makes my job 10 times easier. The dialogue is 10 times better, the scenes are more extensive and detailed, and there's more depth to it. I'm not just playing one note, yelling at Sami (Alison Sweeney) and pointing my finger at her. He really humanizes our characters and makes us explore the feelings that we have for each other.

TVGuide.com: I can already see Days becoming less cartoonish under Sheffer. The show's plot no longer hinges on all the characters being stupid.

Dattilo: We do have a talented cast and I don't think they were utilized to their fullest in the past. It made the audience frustrated, because they are not stupid. Hogan has definitely given me the opportunity to play things more emotional and more real. The storyline is more real. I don't have to try to sell something that's impossible for the audience to understand. There were scenes with Christie Clark (Carrie) where I didn't believe the lines I was saying to her. How could I be so in love with Carrie when I just broke it off with her sister, Sami, five minutes ago? Do I love this girl or that girl?

TVGuide.com: Carrie's choice to marry Lucas instead of Austin — based on Dr. Lexie Carver's fake medical information — was absurd!

Dattilo: [Grins] Yeah, I agree. We're clearing the plate for a better meal. Lucas does walk out on Sami after he finds out this latest rotten thing she did with Lexie. So Lucas and Will go live with his mother, Kate. I'm hoping that doesn't last too long. I love working with Lauren Koslow. She's amazing. But I think that at this point in his life, Lucas could afford his own house or an apartment. He is the head of a company! Isn't he the second in command at Titan [industries], just under Victor Kiriakis?

TVGuide.com: So true! How did you feel about Austin Peck and Christie Clark being written off the show?

Dattilo: That was hard news because it came out of nowhere. But I do think Sami and Lucas were regressing with Austin and Carrie back. They were being looked down on [by their older siblings] like it was years ago, even though our characters had both grown since then. I was like, "I'm a punk again?!" I think that Austin and Christie are both great actors and they'll do whatever they want. They both have good attitudes. I could see Austin doing another soap. Christie's very professional, too, but acting is more of a side thing for her. She lives in San Francisco, where she has a restaurant with her husband.

TVGuide.com: On a lighter note, it's still funny to me how Lucas suddenly became a muscle dude a few years ago. In my book, Ali Sweeney points out how Lucas awoke from a year-long coma all buff.

Dattilo: It's the Salem water. [Laughs] No, I was off the show for a year! I had nothing to do but go to acting classes and work out and try to get back on the show. Soap-opera guys need to have that shirtless card available to play if the show needs it. I stopped eating late at night. I also stayed away from dark chocolate —that's my favorite! — and I hit the gym. So it was weird to come back and have people teasing me. "Dude, you're buff, what happened?" I'd say, "I got fired, man. I was unemployed. That's what happened!"

http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Soaps/QA...5-2B5634B71673}

Ademption: It's good to see Bry happy about the direction that Hogie is taking his character...

Oh, here's another Bryan interview from CBS' Soaps in Depth that I found over at 2nd Chances:

With a new headwriter in charge of things at DOOL, Bryan Dattilo says his alter ego, Lucas, may finally get the girl!

The In Depth Story: "It's totally different," says Dattilo of the scripts he has been seeing under new headwriter Hogan Sheffer, who recently took over the reins from longtime scribe James E. Reilly. "A lot more meaty, a lot more substance. There are really good exchanges that are relationship-focused. They are about people and what people want, and each scene paints a clear picture of who the characters are," he explains.

The change can also be seen in Lucas, which makes Dattilo extremely happy. "Sheffer's giving Lucas more strength, letting him be more assertive and giving him more respect, which is something I've been dying for," the actor admits. "Lucas has been a doormat for years, and it's been really hard to play that. I've done my time in punkland!"

And just what does the future hold in store for Lucas? A whole lot more Sami! "They're definitely going to explore the family dynamic between Lucas, Sami, and Will," he previews. "They've got to be one of the most dysfunctional families in Salem!"

And what of the mysterious EJ, who has been spending a whole lot of time with Sami as of late? "Once they get into the truth about where EJ comes from and what he's about, this storyline will really take off!"

http://groups.msn.com/SecondChancesTheLUMI...593977221792913

It's interesting to see how more and more of the cast are coming out and talking about how they felt their characters were shafted under JER. I think Bryan is totally right about how Lucas and Sami regressed under the previous writing. It was disappointing to see not only Lucas and Sami, but Austin and Carrie go right back like it was 1994 all over again. I really hope there will be some serious growth for him and Sami, together or apart. I'm also glad he's talking about Lucas wanting to get away from Kate. He's much more likeable when he's not playing the momma's boy.

I love Bryan. Sounds like he is on the Hogan bandwagon as well. Glad to see some changes are coming to his character. But I will always root for Lumi.

Ditto for me. I love Bryan and his character, Lucas Roberts. It is very encouraging to learn how the actors are rallying around Sheffer.

He sounds excited, as am I!

The last year and a half have really made Lucas and Datillo unbearable for me. I'm looking forward to liking him again.

Bree, I couldn't agree more. It always bugged me to see actors like Deidre and Peter sing the praises of Reilly when his stuff was so bad. Then again, a lot of actors praise Bob Guza to high heaven on GH and I know he's detested by a lot of fans on that show.

I'm sick of the actors bashing Jim. What ungrateful asses.

The actors bashing Jim is justified. He ruined practically every single character and the writing was subpar and sometimes utter trash for most of his run.

I like the actors coming out now and they seemed to be feeling the same way as many. I too look forward to what is in store and I am happy for Bryan. I can't wait to see what is in store for Lucas and many others.

I think when the actors praised him, it was deserved. Most of it was during the SSK, which I still love.

The actors bashing Jim is justified. He ruined practically every single character and the writing was subpar and sometimes utter trash for most of his run.

I like the actors coming out now and they seemed to be feeling the same way as many. I too look forward to what is in store and I am happy for Bryan. I can't wait to see what is in store for Lucas and many others.

I love the fact that the truth about their opinions are coming out now that they don't have to fear for their jobs. If I had to hear Deidre Hall call Reilly a "genius" one more time, I was gonna drive to Burbank and slap her silly.

I may be wrong, but I don't believe that Bryan Dattilo EVER sang the praises of Reilly in past interviews. He didn't criticize JER openly but if you read b/w the lines, I think you could see that he wasn't happy with JER's writing.

I think Bryan didn't come out openly against JER's writing b/c of what happened to him with Langan, when he criticized his work and then was subsequently fired. I guess after going through that experience, he didn't want to make the same mistake twice....

I really appreciate BD's bluntness. Always have. I just hope that it doesn't get him into any trouble like it did under the Langan regime....

Ademption is right. Bryan has never really kept quiet when he was unhappy. I do think when he criticizes he makes sure not to be direct. Reading between the lines you can see he was very unhappy. He is like Matt Ashford who handles things similarly.

I know Ali wasn't happy either. I remember reading something where she said she feels like she went from playing a woman in her late 20's to playing a teenager. Can't remember when she said that but it sticks in my mind that she said something about Sami's regression in behavior under JER.

Nevertheless, the praise was justified under the SSK. That was an awesome plot, as KR said. The actors love the material then but after that everything just came apart and was very inconsistent. I think the point here is the actors had to work harder to make the scenes and stories work because the writing was so bad and actually worked against the character they were playing at times. The new writing is true to character and they only have to focus on giving a good performance and not so much on making it work for the character and scene.

As someone who hated, hated, HATED the SSK story, I'll pass on commenting.

Then again, maybe I just did with that above line.

Yeah, I thought the SSK sucked as well. The story was nothing but a succession of gimmicky stunts designed to bring about short-term ratings gains. It was typical of Reilly's other stories...a decent enough concept but no real attempt to develop a coherent plot. The whole thing reeked of him making stuff up as he went along. The "motives" of the "suspects" were laughable at times.

As for the actors praising him, I would chalk that down to self-preservation. Alot of sources said that morale on the set was very low during the SSK with everyone walking on eggshells.

Most of the actors tried to avoid directly commenting on JER's writing while he was in charge. It was only really Deidre Hall who went over the top with her praise.

The morale was down during the SSK Ponz because no one knew who was next. The actors praised the storytelling and said they couldn't wait to get their scripts. They admitted it was an exciting time story-wise but a worrisome time because they saw who was being killed and they worried for their jobs since no one knew it was hoax so I wouldn't say the SSK story ties in with the discontent with the writing that followed. The actors clearny enjoyed the story and a good deal of them even liked the island story, despite how lame it was, because it was an adventure and some actors like Kristian Alfonso love stunts and that kind of thing.

It seems the climax of the island story and beyond is one the actors felt the writing became dismal. That is when the ratings saw record lows after all and there would be little digs here or there concerning the writing in some actor's comments. Deidre Hall was justified in her praise though. JER always wrote well for Marlena until after the SSK. He always gave her great material but the island/castle and everything else but the beginning of the amnesia story when she miscarried was nowhere close to the stuff he gave her in the past. Kristian Alfonso and Peter Reckell also praised him too, moreso in the beginning during the SSK. I think they gave him a little praise for giving them a challenging story with Zack's death. I don't remember but I am sure Drake praised the writing a little too, which again is no surprise because JER was good to his character as well during the first run and early on in his second run.

Whatever-JER is history and the show is in a better place so let the actors keep commenting. It is good to hear how they feel and how happy they are.