'Days of Our Lives' casting updates: DOOL to reprise Valerie Grant character from the late '70s
There are rumours that “Days of Our Lives” is looking to reprise characters from several decades ago. Particularly, the show will bring back Valerie Grant from the late '70s.
Dena Higley and Ryan Quan, the new co-head writing team of “DOOL,” are planning to bring back very old characters to future episodes. A casting call was recently initiated for the role of Dr Valerie Grant.
According to Soap Opera Digest, the character was described as a beautiful African-American woman in her mid-50s. The show hopes to find an experienced actor to play the recurring role. Taping is set to start from mid to late May 2016.
"Courage and perseverance are two character traits that people admire her the most. And while her experiences might have hardened other people and made them cynical, Valerie has grown into a wise and compassionate person – who still occasionally gets tripped up by her own mistakes,” the casting notice stated.
Valerie appeared on the show from 1975 to 1982, with three actresses playing the character intermittently, namely, Tina Andrews, Rose Fonseca and Diane Sommerfield.
Soap Shows writes that in 1976, Valerie had a relationship with David Banning (Richard Buthrie), Julie’s (Susan Seaforth Hayes) son, which is the first time that “Days of Our Lives” featured interracial romance. However, their relationship did not gain too much momentum, since fans were not yet ready for such a story at the time.
The character last appeared on the show in 1982. If the showrunners find the right person for the role, it is also likely that they will be casting someone to play David Banning as well. Situations have changed so much since the two characters were together, and people today are more prepared for their type of relationship.
In other “DOOL” news, Soap Opera Digest also reveals that Eric Brady (Greg Vaughan) will exit the show soon. The character will appear for the final time on the April 15 episode. The actor played Eric Brady since 2012 but was released by the show recently. Other exiting cast members include Kate Mansi, Shawn Beemer, Martha Madison, Marie Wilson and Sal Stowers.
