Key Points
Today host Craig Melvin asked Deidre Hall to slap him on Friday — and the soap star obliged.
Hall’s character, Dr. Marlena Evans, is “a great slapper,” Melvin noted.
Hall, who is celebrating 50 years on the NBC soap opera, initially turned down the role in 1976.
After three decades in broadcasting, Craig Melvin achieved “one of the greatest professional honors of my life” on Friday: getting slapped by Deidre Hall.
The Days of Our Lives star stopped by Today to celebrate 50 years as Dr. Marlena Evans on the NBC soap opera. And in addition to memorable arcs like Marlena’s demonic possession and her multiple comas, Melvin pointed out another character quirk.
“Of all of the storylines that you’ve been a part of over the years, what I’ve always enjoyed is your ability to slap,” he told Hall. “You’re a great slapper.”
As a montage of Marlena’s iconic whacks played onscreen, Hall remarked she “couldn’t begin to imagine” how many she’s handed out over her five decades. But Melvin wanted to be the latest recipient.
“It would be one of the greatest professional honors of my life if you could slap me,” he confessed to the soap star.
“I would be privileged to slap you,” she obliged.
To keep it authentic — and painless — Hall gave Melvin some acting advice, after first making sure they had the right camera angle to save his “money maker” from a second take.
Hall winds up to slap Melvin on ‘Today’
Credit: TODAY/NBC
“I’m going to draw my hand back and I’m going to come very close to your face,” she explained. “And when you feel that happen, you’re going to snap your head.”
Right on cue, Melvin whipped his head as Hall followed through with an open-handed smack, and really sold it with some fake crying. The person in charge of the “slap” sound effect, however, missed their mark.
Melvin reacts to being slapped by Hall on ‘Today’
Credit: TODAY/NBC
Hall, 78, auditioned for Days of Our Lives in 1976 and initially turned down the role of Marlena because she assumed she had been cast as a last resort.
“Everybody else must have turned it down,” she recalled to Melvin. When producers called her a second time, she admitted, “I desperately want to do it.”
Hall as Dr. Marlena Evans on ‘Days of Our Lives’
Credit: Peacock
Over the 50 years since, Marlena has been killed off a number of times, yet she always finds her way back to Salem.
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Hall hopes that will always remain the case. “As long as my keycard opens the gate, I’m there,” she joked on Today. “It’s my family. Love that place.”
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