Exclusive: DAYS's Deidre Hall On Reviving Hattie And Her 'Delicious' Scenes With Leo

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Whenever Deidre Hall, best known for playing the prim and proper Marlena on Days of our Lives , gets a script indicating that the irreverent Hattie will be resurfacing, she’s absolutely thrilled. “I love Hattie,” enthuses Hall. “I love playing her because it's such a break from — I’m trying to search for the right words — the appropriate, competent, predictable part of Marlena gets flung aside, and here comes Hattie. So I get to do all the things that I would never ever consider doing as Marlena because they would be too disturbing.”

Hattie Returns

The character’s latest return to the canvas immediately got Hall thinking about memorable Hattie moments from the past. “The scenes with Hattie and Bonnie… Oh my gosh, what fun,” says Hall, recalling the two women “getting drunk together. Those were great [scenes] to play, and the silliness was great to play.”

This time around Hattie has a new partner in crime: Leo. “There's so much depth in the Leo relationship because he was in therapy with Marlena,” notes Hall. “And, of course, he didn’t know she had a doppelganger. Then he bumped into Hattie.”

Loving Leo

Hall has enjoyed collaborating with Greg Rikaart (Leo). “I adore him. I absolutely adore him,” she raves. “In fact, we had lunch a couple of times before we started our storyline together just to sit down and talk about it, get to know each other and carve out a separate relationship. We were both very excited to be playing together. So we started early. We met up early.”

And, according to Hall, Hattie and Leo’s shenanigans will be fun for viewers to watch. “It's so delicious. And, of course, the more Hattie flirts with him, the more appalled he is,” says Hall. “The joy about working with Greg is that he's so naturally hilarious, and he finds any sort of joke in any sort of moment.”