‘DOOL’ Actor Dishes on What It’s Like Filming Post-COVID
Days of Our Lives is the last soap to resume production post-COVID shutdown. Unlike the other three soaps, DOOL had enough new episodes in the can to last through the quarantine. But once filming restrictions were lifted in California, the cast and crew went back to work to film again.
The soap was back on set the first week of September. Several of the show’s stars took to social media to express their gratitude to be back to work. They also shed a little insight on what it’s like to film post-COVID.
DOOL’s Eric Martsolf Calls Filming Precautions ‘Damn Impressive’
Eric Martsolf plays Brady on DOOL. His character just returned to Salem on-screen after skipping town with his fugitive love Kristen (Stacy Haiduk.) Brady came back once he found out John (Drake Hogestyn) is fighting for his life in the hospital. John had a medical emergency during an argument with Sami (Alison Sweeney.)
Of course Sami left that little nugget out of the story!
Coincidentally, Brady’s portrayer is returning to Salem in his own way this week. The DOOL cast and crew are back on set to resume filming the daytime drama. Television production has been shut down since March due to the coronavirus. However, production on the NBC soap quit long before that.
As fans recall, there was a media storm earlier this year after DOOL ceased production and released the entire cast from their contracts. This was due to the show filming six months in advance. They planned all along to resume filming, but the plan was delayed due to COVID.
But now the soap is back taping and the stars could not be happier. Eric Martsolf took to Twitter to thank the production company for making a safe working environment. He wrote that the precautions are “damn impressive.”
Shot some television today. Shout out to the production team at this award-winning program for its outstanding precautionary measures to assure a safe workplace for all. Damn impressive. Let’s roll.@nbcdays #corday @aalarr pic.twitter.com/BCI5LjoFnI
— Eric Martsolf (@ericmartsolf) September 1, 2020
Paul Telfer Reveals Differences in Taping DOOL Post-COVID
Another DOOL star, Paul Telfer seconded Eric Martsolf’s tweet. He retweeted and added how “grateful” he is to be back to work. A fan responded to the tweet, asking specifics about how filming is different. The fan asked if they had “more breaks” during filming.
Paul Telfer replied to the question that most of the changes are happening off the set. He could be referring to daily temperature checks and other measures production teams must take before filming.
Not really, most of the big changes are off set. Once we're on set it's similar to before : )
— Paul Telfer (@PaulTelfer) September 2, 2020
Other soaps are taking more drastic safety measures. CBS soap The Bold and The Beautiful is using dolls and mannequins in scenes. During love scenes, the real-life partner of the actor or actress steps in for the scene. Then the editing team works their magic to make it look like the two characters are the ones kissing.
When Will Fans See the New Episodes?
Days of Our Lives is still airing episodes taped BEFORE the coronavirus pandemic began in March. The episodes are set to run out around October. At that time, the newly shot scenes will air.
Fans can expect a lot of cast changes between October and the new episodes. For one, long-time DOOL star Kristian Alfonso is done with the show in October. She chose to leave after 37 years rather than have Hope go off-screen for six months, as the head honchos proposed.
Days of Our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Follow our social media for news on all your favorite TV shows.
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