Nelson Branco interviews Peter Reckell

Good interview from PR. He seems to be really invested in the show and I like the way he speaks directly and, seemingly, from the heart.

This part of the interview stuck out for me, because he's talking about the need for soaps to become relevant again to its audience. They should be able to gain something different from Daytime than they get in Primetime:

TVG: Having been an integral part of the golden age of soaps, does the future of daytime depress you?

PR: When I came back to the show 13 years ago, I was surprised Days was still here because the industry hadn’t moved with the times in terms of writing and production. I thought for many years we should accommodate our audiences because they have other choices. Back then, we had four networks and no computers. It’s much harder to grab our audiences. We need to be edgier and get them talking to bring ‘em back.

Is one way to do this to court the gay viewer?

TVG: You and Drake Hogestyn [John] bookmark a special moment in my life. Days was the first soap I ever watched, and my crushes on the characters made me realize I was gay at just 12 years old. At the time, it was a scary realization, but you were important in my coming-of-age.

PR: Wow. Some of my best fans are gay. And I don’t think the industry really realized how many gay men watched soaps until the Internet came along. Actually, I have a gay fan from Canada — he’s a dancer, I believe — and he’s always online defending Bo and me. It’s sweet how loyal our fans are because the Internet can be harsh. Sometimes I have to pry myself away from it.

Thanks for the link. Loved the interview. Peter seems so real, and DAYS is lucky to have an actor like that who feels the way he does about the show.

Edited August 7, 200817 yr by Cheyenne