‘Days of Our Lives’: Christopher Sean Previews Paul and Sonny’s New Year’s Eve Kiss
Pop the bubbly! NBC’s Days of Our Lives will kick off 2017 with a New Year’s Eve kiss that finally reunites that hot-mess duo Paul (Christopher Sean) and Sonny (Freddie Smith). The guys were together years ago but split because Paul, then a budding pro baseball star, wouldn’t come out of the closet. Later, Paul bedded Sonny’s husband, Will (Guy Wilson), who was subsequently killed by a serial strangler. So there’s still much forgiving and healing to do. But things are looking up! Sean gave us the dish on the guys’ long-awaited smooch—airing Friday, Dec. 30—and what it means for their future. Will Grandma Marlena (Deidre Hall) approve? And what if Will comes back from the dead? After all, this is Salem!
Paul and Sonny nearly kissed under the mistletoe before Christmas but were kinda c-blocked by Derrick (Spencer Neville). Wasn’t it better that they waited until New Year’s Eve anyway?
Definitely! The kiss is a really beautiful, magical moment. New Year’s Eve is all about a new beginning, right? It’s a great metaphor. But the question is: How can this relationship work when Will remains such a strong part of their history?
Happy New Year!
So this kiss doesn’t cement Paul and Sonny as a couple?
In soap operas nothing is ever cemented, but it does solidify the fact that they love each other. There is still that passion and that fire but they still have to talk and figure out the past.
Word is, Paul even goes to Marlena for permission to pursue this relationship. Seriously? He needs his step-mommy’s OK?
Paul is a very honorable person. There have been many opportunities for the writers to write him another way but they’ve always stayed true to Paul being a very genuine and decent person. He goes to Marlena and says, “I love Sonny. I want to be with him. Are you comfortable with that?” He needs her to tell him yes so he can properly make this a real relationship.
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Paul really thinks Marlena might have a problem with this?
Absolutely. She’s Will’s grandmother and she was really angry at Paul when things went down between him and Sonny and Will. It even put a damper on her relationship with John Black [Drake Hogestyn]. It’s a very touchy subject for her. She knew Paul was innocent—that he unknowingly slept with a man who was Sonny’s husband and untied their knot—but she still blamed him. Paul is the reason it all happened. She had all this anger and she didn’t know how to place it. It took time for her to warm up to Paul, and he hasn’t forgotten that.
So where does this leave Paul and Derrick? Are they an actual couple? Or just friends with benefits? The writers have kept this super vague.
Paul is with Derrick to fill the void. Derrick is the rebound relationship. They’re together, off camera, living a life outside of what’s happening. But we don’t talk about it on the show. Nothing is shown on camera.
And why is that exactly?
It’s always been less about Derrick and Paul being together and more about Paul and Sonny eventually becoming a power couple. I don’t think the writers were looking to build a triangle. The fans are tired of waiting for PaulSon to happen. They’re ready to move forward with this thing. Actually, Derrick is the catalyst here. He’s the one who sees what’s going on between Paul and Sonny and urges Sonny—who is really nervous about making a commitment after he kisses Paul—to follow his heart.
And now Derrick is just SOL? Because there seems to be no other gays in town.
Well, he’s not without hope. When he lets Paul go it’s like that old saying, “If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it was meant to be.” And, if not, you’ll find something better. [Laughs] I guess that’s poor Derrick’s storyline.
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Paul and Sonny became closer when Sonny’s mom, Adrienne (Judi Evans), learned her cancer had returned. Did they need that extra emotional nudge, or would this have happened anyway?
[Headwriters] Ryan Quan and Dena Higley wanted this to happen whether or not Adrienne’s cancer came back, but it certainly added another layer that connects the guys more deeply. Any kind of family tragedy shakes you to the core and makes you see what’s truly important, so it does play a major factor in awakening Sonny and making him realize what it is he wants and needs in life.
The off-camera stuff with Derrick aside, you’ve gone a long time without any real romance on Days, which is very often death for a character. Were you worried about your fate on the show? Has it been frustrating?
It’s been a challenge for the writers to be on the edge of what’s new and to push the boundaries. The fact that people want to see Paul and Sonny together and are talking a lot about it is a good thing. If the audience didn’t want it, the writers would be, like, “Let’s get rid of them. Let’s get it over with.” My job, in the interim, has been to interpret the material the best way I can, as the writers have changed, making sure I put my print on the character. I’m not the type to get frustrated. Being a member of the Days cast is like being on a baseball team. Even if you’re the water boy, you’re still a part of the team, right? So you take the highs and lows as they come. If I wasn’t going to have a love interest and just be an exposition character, then I was determined to be the best dang exposition character I could be and support the other actors, giving them as much as possible to work with so that their characters flourish and the audience falls in love with them. My job is to do my job. Sure, on a personal level, I wished for more time on screen, but everyone goes through it. That’s the industry. I’m just grateful to still have a part on this iconic show.
This will be the first time Sonny and Paul are together with Paul out of the closet. That’s a plus right there, no?
Absolutely. Paul used to be extremely selfish. He wanted his cake and wanted to eat it, too. He wanted his career. He wanted the perfect relationship.
He was also quite the indiscriminant slut, trolling Salem for anonymous sex. What the heck happened to that guy?
[Laughs] Exactly! What did happen to that guy? That was never the real Paul. He was hiding his true self and trying to fill a void with empty, non-connecting sex. And, man, he did a lot of it. But he no longer felt the need to do that once he faced his truth. He’s grown. He’s evolved. Sonny was his first and true love. He’s all Paul ever really wanted.
There’s a big—or at least loud—contingent of fans on social media who want to see Will come back from the dead. Would you be up for that?
I absolutely love the idea of bringing Will back. His wedding to Sonny was daytime TV history. He’s such a legacy character. Obviously, the writers can find a way to make it happen—people are always coming back from the dead in Salem—and I’d say kudos to that. It would be an incredible storyline for all three characters but, if it doesn’t happen, we will still be able to show a loving gay couple on television, portraying them in a light the LGBTQ community can be really proud of. Either way, it’s a big win.
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Gosh Christopher Sean doesn't seem to get it and thinks that because Paul and Sonny get together that it absolves the show of its pandering to bigots and using bury your gays in murdering Will Horton because it doesn't. I don't think Christopher Sean gets how important Will Horton was to many lgbt fans and lgbt allies and what his hate filled murder did to fans and lgbt representation by giving into the tiny base of trolls and bigots who wanted him dead.
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Lol. Sands of time is that you or are you another sands of time.
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It's me. How have you been, PQ77? It's so tiresome to see those same posters posting the same smack about DAYS gays. They never give it a rest.
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Cool. I been doing great. I agree with you about the posters talking smack about Days gays. They are being so mean to them.
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You do realize people of all types die everyday regardless of bias'. Sorry your fictional character died. Hope you get through it.
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Will was killed because he found out Ben was the killer..plain and simple. No different than Ben's other victims.
Why try to make this into gay bashing when it isn't.
How many people --NOT just gay people--LOVED Will ( Chandler) and Sonny together.
It was them bringing in Guy that ruined part of it and the rest was from a poor story of Will cheating on Sonny twice.
They ruined the character and had a poor actor and that was the problem.
If they didn't want a gay couple, they never would of had that longing between Paul and Sonny and people so falling in LOVE with them.
Did you ever watch One Life To Live?
Remember the gay couple on there? People LOVED them..and when their storyline was over , people fussed so much they had to bring them back for awhile to have a good ending for them, for the people to accept.
Not everyone is Anti - gay!
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No thank you. Idk where Christopher Sean got the idea that fans want PaulSon, but majority of us don't. I would rather see Will and Sonny make it work instead of Sonny forgetting his daughter, spitting on Will's grave, etc. I like Christopher as an actor but he clearly doesn't know how soaps work. Will was a legacy character who helped the LGBTQ community and inspired them with his coming out and the WilSon love story. Plus Will always kept things interesting and had chemistry with Sonny and Paul. Paul and Sonny together is boring and there's no chemistry between them. They're more like brothers than lovers.
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Will's return will be when Sonny and Paul are ready to get married.
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Actually Will coming back is very likely especially with Christopher Sean most likely not being there anymore. You obviously have nothing better to do than argue about a nonexistent couple. YES nonexistent.
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I thought these writers said the NO ONE who has died from now on will ever return. That means NO Will..unless they expect us to believe that was NOT Will and no one in PC recognized that. Too unbelievable. Beside Will cheated on Sonny twice. People forget that.
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PAul and Sonny are HOT together! Lot more than with the new Will. You can feel the chemistry just when they are in the same room together, they don;t have to talk or even be close together to feel it and see it. They are 2 great actors who will bring a lot to the storyline and make it interesting. Days needs a boost in ratings and they can help!
New Will and Sonny were the brothers type.
Besides Will cheated on Sonny - is he really supposed to just over look that, plus all the blackmailing Will did?
I like Sonny and original Will, but this new character just ruined everything about Will and what made the relationship.
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When Sonny stood on his husband's grave and made eyes at Paul, it showed exactly what the show was doing. Will was garbage, and the landmark marriage meant nothing. Sonny abandoned his daughter without a care in the world. So much anti gay messaging was embedded in Will's death that you can't even list the number of examples. Bringing back Sonny and pairing him with Paul is just a band-aid on the wound they have created and will not be good enough. It is a real shame that the writers and producers who cooked up Will's death to please haters and bigots have made the cast bear the brunt of the criticism and not addressed it themselves. Shame on them. Honestly, they could bring Will back and it wouldn't make up for the deliberately cruelty of Will's death and the complete confidence they had in the audience's hatred. Shame on you for putting Christopher Sean into the position where he has to gloss over and defend that.
For those of you who argue that soaps kill off characters, they do, but Will's death was different. It was filled with hateful subtext, led to no story and was a complete pander. No fan of LGBT storytelling should support the show until Dena Higley, one of the architects of this is fired.
It is a shame, because Christopher Sean gave a fine performance before the new writers turned him into a token to shield against criticism.
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You're garbage for spreading your hate!
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You're.
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Were we watching the same show??? NONE of what you said ever crossed my mind. Paul and Sonny had a relationship before Sonny ever met Will and Days showed that part of it ( sex scenes and all). Their first meeting was a kiss greeting.You could feel the love they had shared in the past...and you knew it was still there. Sonny was staying faithful to his marriage...which I would think the gay community would appreciate them doing that way and Paul respected their marriage--even thought the feeling were still there.
Will's death had nothing to do with him being gay.
Yes he was a legacy character and people hate to loose them..but I also think the writers may have used this Ben story to get rid of an actor people were complaining about
a lot and didn't like one bit. It was NOT the Will character , but the actor they didn't care for.
The writers totally ruined the character of Will with his cheating twice on Sonny ( who people love, both character and actor). I think if Chandler had still been on , things would of gone differently and people would of felt differently..but it just all fell apart. Christopher is a great actor and there is chemistry between him and Freddie that carries onto the screen and that was missing with Guy.
This was not a gay bashing storyline. It was just a badly written, badly thought out story, that cost the show a legacy character.
People just hate when Legacy characters are killed off...on ANY Soap, not just Days.
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I really wish the show would directly address the backlash against Will's death rather than make an actor try and defend it. Christopher Sean at least seems to understand that Will's death was an anti-gay pander, and I think probably knows that Paul and Sonny are nothing but tokens to shield the show from it's self-destructive nastiness. How many times did they show Will's death? How many times did they all but invite the audience to enjoy his suffering? How long did it take for Sonny to walk out on his daughter, leaving her behind to be raised by a mentally unstable murderer? We all know what the message was when Will's picture blew away.
TV Guide, please make the show address this and stop letting them try and cover it up. Paul and Sonny are innocuous enough, but that is why they are on the show and Will is not.
The creator of the 100 immediately addressed the backlash when they killed off their bisexual female character. Days has remained cold and silent about the backlash against Will's death, and I think it's because they still stand by the anti-gay family message and think audiences only accept perfect gays. No doubt that they received a lot of backlash over Will and Will's behavior, but GLAAD doesn't give awards out because it is easy to tell gay stories. I don't want gays ghettoized to gay-only shows. They should be where they are in real life, part of life and able to make mistakes and be forgiven just like straights.
Nothing at all against Christopher Sean.
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Thank you for sharing this. I loved Will and Sonny and now I look forward to loving Sonny and Paul. It's about time these two get their act together! They both deserve some happiness.
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I can't even watch THE SHOW without feeling sick for Will, and the ghastly anti-gay messaging that accompanied his extermination! If the Will, Sonny, Paul & Derrick story had continued with WILL ALIVE, I would have loved to have watched all the actors (and Christopher Sean is a great actor), but after what Days did, NO THANK YOU!!
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There was no anti gay message in Will's death. Ben did not care that he was gay; only that Will figured out that he was the killer.
It's a longstanding tradition on soaps that the first person to figure out the real killer's identity becomes the next victim; before they can tell anyone.
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Absolutely, there was anti-gay messaging in Will's death. They all but invited the audience to enjoy his suffering, played the death over and again. The picture blowing off his grave - was a clear message to the anti-gay family audience that had complained that there would be no more gays raising babies on Days. Even now, as they have brought back Sonny and now Paul as tokens, Sonny is not portrayed as Arianna's father but rather an occasional babysitter. Remember, Will was never even allowed to hold his daughter after the new writers took over, but a convicted murderer like Gabi was granted forgiveness and was allowed to raise her. This is important in the context of the argument that the audience could never forgive Will for his cheating and mild forgiveness. Classic Bury Your Gays/Punish Your Gays.
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Most viewers were sick of Guy, but not as sick as many are of you!
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These so called posters are trying to make viewers anti-gay.
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Have we met?
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Most viewers were sick of nasty trolls like you tbh
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It's really inappropriate to make Christopher Sean defend this show after what they did to Will. Whatever anyone thinks, there was a huge backlash to Will's death and lots of people saw it as a pander to anti-gay audiences. Any respectful or responsible show would have had its writers or producers address that backlash. Ken Corday responded to the backlash about Bo's death and the darkness of the show, but he pointedly left Will's death out of it. That says to me that the anti-gay message was deliberate and they aren't sorry.
They may well bring Will back, but it doesn't matter. Certainly, Paul and Sonny having no story and standing around supporting straight characters while being boring is not going to fix what the show did.
The show needs to apologize for offending one of its key fanbases. Paul and Sonny are not a substitute for Will, his story and his relationship with his daughter. Of course, Rafe is no substitute for Bo, but they also think the audience is stupid & easy to placate. That means they don't know the first thing about soap audiences.
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What makes you think DAYS made Christopher Sean do the interview? Are you hoping if you say it a thousand times that people will believe it's fact? You are a faker, but you don't rule!
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You forget Sonny LOVED Paul before he ever met Will and he still has feelings of love for him to this day. PAul and Sonny are meant to be together..and if any 2 actors can help make great a gay storyline, these 2 can.
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I still want them to bring Will back! I do not want Sonny and Paul together. There is no chemistry there. I do think there is something there between Paul and Derrick. I as a gay man do not think ther was an Anti gay message in Will's death/murder. I just think it was a mistake. That were positive role models and one of the most accurate representation of what gay life is like that I have seen to date on daytime tv. Besides the fact that Will Horton was a core character. If that can bring Stefano back over and over and even now that Joeseph's passing rumors that he is alive they can find a way to bring Will back! Just my opinion but I sure there are others out there who feel the same way!
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Paul and Sonny's chemistry shows just by the way they look at each other. No words are needed and they are HOT! I see nothing between Paul and Derek.
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I am absolutely thrilled that Sonny and Paul are finally going to get their shot! I have been waiting literal years for that to happen lol. Contrary to what some of the above comments suggest, I know I'm not alone in that. Yay for Paulson!
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I LOVE PAULSON!!! And A whole lot of other people do too!
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I would rather see Paul with Will. They were a truly interesting couple. I wish the show would find somebody new for Sonny.
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Agreed. Paul and Will had great chemistry.
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They were horrible together. Will was horrible.Their relationship was based on a lie.Will never told him he was married.
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Sonny the first time in the morning and evening of the day
after day and night and day out the door and the other hand is
April and may contain information that is the most important thing is that
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Unfortunately, a full month later and this kiss led to ... nothing! .. Paul's been in Prague hanging with the Old Spies, and Sonny's doing the business thing with Titan. .. If this is supposed to be a "story," it's one big YAWN.
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