Exclusive: DAYS's Billy Flynn On Chad's Search For Abigail

Chris Haston/NBC

Ever since Clyde told Chad that his “murdered” wife Abigail is alive, Billy Flynn (Chad) has found himself embarking on another resurrection storyline (Abigail previously arose from the dead in 2016, when Marci Miller took over the pivotal role, which had last been played by Kate Mansi). If Clyde’s claim proves true, it means another miracle for the lovelorn Chad. Flynn discusses the latest twist and the joy of working with his Days of our Lives adversary, James Read (Clyde).

Soap Opera Digest: What were your thoughts and expectations when you learned about this storyline and that Abigail might be alive?

Billy Flynn: I liked the idea because I like Chad and Abigail. But, personally, for me, it depends on the execution of it. From what I understand, it was the temporary writers we had during the strike that started the storyline. Then Ron [Carlivati, head writer] came in after that, after the seed was planted. So I’m just kind of going, "Okay, whatever this story is going to be, it's going to be," especially with the hand-off from the temp writers to Ron. The last time [Abigail was resurrected] there was intent. The story was planned out how Abigail was going to come back. When Marci started, I knew it was going to be a big story. This time around, I didn't know what it was going to be.

Digest: You’ve shared some powerful screen time opposite James Read. How would you describe your working dynamic with him?

Flynn: James Read is brilliant. I really enjoy working with him. I don't know how he feels about me, but I know that anytime I work with him, the stakes are raised a little bit for me. I get a little bit of nervous butterflies in the stomach because I know there's always — even if it's not necessarily in the script — a potential for something really cool to happen between us. I love James Read, and I relish the opportunity to work with him.

Digest: Actors always say that when they work with someone of high caliber, it causes them to raise their own performance level.

Digest: Yeah, you do. In one of the scenes where [Chad] went and asked Clyde for more information [about Abigail] , something changed the last minute, when we were running it. I kind of reworked the scene to where I thought it made a lot of sense. And there was one moment where he was supposed to be afraid almost, but I'm not giving him any information to be afraid. So it makes me raise my bar to go, I need to do something that either moves him enough to tell me or I need to get a reaction out of him. Because James isn’t the type of person to just lay over. He's a professional, and he's going to do what's on the page. But he'll be the first to say, "If I'm not scared, I'm not going to play scared." So it's like, "Okay, I need to give him something." So it does make me raise my game.

Digest: With the possibility of Abigail being alive comes the challenge of having to work with and mesh with a new actress. Do you worry about recreating the Chad/Abigail magic with someone new?

Flynn: You can't recreate anything. It's got to be its own thing. It's got to be different. Sometimes something evolves more than you thought it would as well. There just needs to be a spark, and then, sometimes, it can really grow into something.