John Paschal/jpistudios.com
Returning to Days of our Lives for another story arc centered around the late John Aniston and his character, Victor Kiriakis, is bittersweet for actress Louise Sorel (Vivian). After all, she’d once worked closely with the actor as one of Victor’s many wives and has fond memories of their time together.
A Walk Down Memory Lane
This is not Sorel’s first trip back to DAYS since Aniston passed away in November 2022, and when she arrived at the studio to film the arc that aired in 2023, she had to face his absence head-on. “When I came back [to film for the first time since Aniston died], I had an incredibly strange experience,” recounts Sorel. “They put me in John’s dressing room, and that was chilling for me. I’d had the room next to him, but they put me in his room, and it was emotional.”
The reasons were obvious. “That was the room that John had for years, and he was such a sweetheart,” says Sorel. “He was just so witty and gentle and lovely to work with, but gone. And you just have to deal with it. You have to put it somewhere. I’ve lost very close friends recently, and it’s a horrible loss. And then we go on.”
Before Sorel wrapped up filming that stint at DAYS, another memorable event happened. “The last day I worked, I came into my room, which had had just a couch, a table and a chair in it, and there was a bed in there,” recalls Sorel. “I thought, ‘Wait a minute. That can’t be for me. I don’t need a bed. I’ve never had a bed in my dressing room.’ Then I thought, ‘Somebody important must be coming here.’ ”
Sorel’s instincts were correct: A “somebody important” was moving into Aniston’s old dressing room next. “It was Dick Van Dyke,” reveals the actress. Van Dyke was coming on the soap to play Timothy Robicheaux, John’s father, the role for which he won a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Guest Performer. Sighs Sorel, “But I never got to meet him, because I was finished and gone before he started.”
Back in the day, Sorel had quite a memorable dressing room of her own at the DAYS studio. Not only was it exquisitely decorated, but she also hired someone to paint a wall mural of an outdoor Parisian scene. Unfortunately, the mural no longer exists. “It was erased… gone,” notes Sorel. “Actually, Suzanne [Rogers, Maggie] has that room, and she’s done a lovely job with it. It’s warm and comfortable. She’s got great taste. DAYS sometimes gives me that room when I’m there, if Suzanne’s not there.”
