Nadia Bjorlin and Shawn Christian interview by Michael Fairman http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/days-of-our...5/#comment-8549 Oh what a tangled web we weave! For months on Days of our Lives, the beguiling Chloe has been deceiving ‘hottie’ Dr. Daniel. During a drunken stupor she falls into bed with her old-ex, Phillip Kiriakis, and later she becomes pregnant. But, who is the real baby daddy? And, how many of the Salem townsfolk know of her infidelity? It seems like almost everyone except the good doctor. Then finally, on yesterday’s episode with many clinks and thuds along the way, Chloe and Daniel finally tied the knot when they said their “I Do’s” in a ceremony filled with drama, thanks in part to Daniel’s daughter Melanie, who was set to blow the lid off the proceedings. Now that the duo is legally together, how long can they have any sort of wedded bliss? DAYS, Shawn Christian (Daniel) and Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe), chatted with On-Air On-Soaps for a fantastic and fun follow-up to our last conversation with daytime’s sexiest duo over a year ago. We take a look at Danloe’s latest plight, take a look into the future to see if there is any hope for the couple, and discuss the complex set of circumstances surrounding the DNA paternity switch, which could truly change the course of their love once and for all…. or will it? When talking with Shawn and Nadia, you get two beautiful people inside and out, whose irreverent charm and wit can have fans rolling on the floor in stitches, or gazing in to their eyes on the television screen escaping into their turbulent romance. So for the Danloe nation who asked for a new feature with the sultry stars of Salem… you got it! MICHAEL: So, as we left it on-air, Chloe and Daniel got hitched, but not without a “hitch” or two. Then they quickly headed off for an exciting honeymoon! But now, we won’t see you two on-air for a bit or the honeymoon. Can you confirm this? SHAWN: The honeymoon was filmed for DVD only, and the release date is unknown. (Laughs) © JPI Studios MICHAEL: Is there a hot steamy sex romp on it? SHAWN: I cannot tell you in the interview. You should buy the DVD! (Laughs) MICHAEL: It should fly off the shelves! Nadia, I have to say in your entire run on DAYS, I don’t think I have seen you with such panicked expressions on your face, scene after scene… for almost a year now! NADIA: I need to go to therapy in real life just to deal with this. MICHAEL: Dr. Daniel is becoming a dim-wit! Can’t he figure something is going on behind his back? I know the men are often objectified hunks on the show, but Dr. Daniel has brains and sex appeal to boot! SHAWN: Just know that what you think you are going to get, you never get. NADIA: It is kind of hysterical that everybody in Salem knows about this cheating incident except Daniel, at this point. (Laughs) SHAWN: © JPI Studios It’s brutal! I am serious. I am walking down the street and people come up to me and go, “Oh, my God, Dr. Jonas! Do you know that it’s not your baby?” NADIA: At least, you’re not the one being called “whore” on twitter! (Laughs) MICHAEL: Your Danloe fan base is rabid! They love the two of you very, very much and can’t enough of this pairing, even though Chloe has been naughty. SHAWN: They cannot be satisfied, and it’s a good thing. NADIA: You know what? Chloe is not a naughty girl! She just makes bad decisions. (Laughs) She is always the one that gets stuck paying the ultimate consequences for her actions. She does not think things through realistically. With all due respect to these circumstances, she was extremely naïve and tricked by Vivian and that whole debacle. She probably did not deal with her grief in the most appropriate way possible. (Laughs) Chloe does crazy things. SHAWN: But thank God, she did not shoot me in the head! NADIA: Exactly! Kate even tried killing Chloe! Other people murder people in Salem and people forgave Kate like a week later. So the fact that she had this lousy one night stand with an old boyfriend which, if you ask me, is called “grandfathering it in,” that should not even count! (Laughs) SHAWN: Wow! MICHAEL: I think Chloe looked so pregnant so quickly! NADIA: © JPI Studios Not really. The problem was that the baby bump came on a little late. I have a close personal friend who did not even look pregnant till she was maybe seven months and she was ridiculously skinny. She never got fat. I should have started wearing one a bit earlier, but that got lost a bit in the script. I think it was kind of an honest mistake and then it was. “Oh, gosh, we better make her look pregnant.” The timeline actually makes sense from February to November. The stomach I am wearing is a real prosthetic stomach, and I have had three of them. They were molds of real womens stomachs. Everyone shows differently. This last one I am wearing is actually not the biggest one; there is a bigger one later. It just looks really big! My boobs are not as big as Shawn would like them to be. It looks a bit funny, probably because my arms should look a bit fatter. MICHAEL: I have interviewed a lot of women recently on daytime who have had to play pregnant and got to wear a baby bump. They told me they enjoyed their time on-screen with it, because that meant they didn’t have to watch their diet as much. Thus, they could eat what they wanted. NADIA: I found that myself. I was like “Ooh yeah”. I was sympathy pregnant. SHAWN: I even bought ice cream for her! MICHAEL: Carly had become to some, a true “buttinski” and thorn, in the relationship between Daniel and Chloe. But I guess she realized how her lie affected Daniel about not telling him she gave birth to his biological daughter, Melanie. So, is that what is fueling Carly wanting to do the right thing for him, and yet not hurt him in the process? SHAWN: Carly’s dilemma is pretty huge, considering she betrayed and lied to Daniel for almost 20 years, and it’s like, now you are going to go back and keep another secret from me? NADIA: How old is your kid supposed to be anyway? © JPI Studios SHAWN: Well, we never defined it! Can Melanie drink? NADIA: I think all of a sudden Melanie can drink, but she was supposed to be seventeen a year ago! Melanie has the energy of a teenager, but now she is the child bride of Phillip so… (Laughs) MICHAEL: Nadia, where do you really see Chloe’s relationship with Carly at this point…as friend or ultimate foe? NADIA: It’s nicer that at least Carly and Chloe are friends now and not that, “I hate you” stuff. I was feeling slightly juvenile for awhile just spewing venom on her. It is nice that we formed this friendship. SHAWN: From an outsider’s perspective, I think the two of them have now created something on-screen where it’s more than just adversaries. Crystal Chappell (Carly) and Nadia have now created something a little beyond that. They gave it this interesting twist and threw everyone for a loop. I think it kind of worked out great, actually. NADIA: It happened organically in a sense. I think eventually, Carly saw that Chloe’s intentions were that Chloe meant well. Chloe also realizes that she is the most honest with Carly. She tells Carly almost everything and she does not have that friendship with anybody else. She does not have that with Nicole or Daniel, (who should be her best friend), but it kind of just happened which is kind of interesting. She found herself confiding in her, and also realizing as much as she hates it, Carly does come from a good place as well, as she does not want to be involved in this whole other deception that could impact Daniel’s life greatly. MICHAEL: Seems to me, that Chloe befriends all the women who have hurt her! Look at Nicole who at one time put flesh eating bacteria on her face! (Laughs) NADIA: © JPI Studios At least Carly was horrible within reason, but Nicole I don’t understand. It sort of adds to the fact that Chloe in her last few years, was being written like such a push-over and naïve. I am trying to see that she tries to see the best in all people and everyone makes mistakes. MICHAEL: Like forgiving for attempting to permanently disfigure her face? NADIA: Exactly. SHAWN: Let bygones, be bygones! NADIA: I think it’s really Chloe and her faith and this whole religious element. She has this new found Catholicism. (Laughs) SHAWN: Ah, Father Matt! I think it is interesting that Daniel makes bad choices as well, but in his heart of hearts he is truly trying to do good, but he gets snagged by some bad decisions, and people know that. And those are the people you go to bat for you or root for you, and I think even so as a couple. You see these two people have weathered unbelievable storms and they are really trying to the right thing. What you get is a couple looking into each other’s eyes saying, “You are my soul mate.” Then off in the distance is this huge storm that is heading their way. They are oblivious to it, but the rest of the world is going, “Oh, my God, please save them!” People surround them and try to help them through. MICHAEL: In your own words, set up the wedding episode for those who missed yesterday’s nuptials! NADIA: Don’t ask Shawn, he doesn’t remember. (Laughs) Melanie pulls Chloe away, and she says, “I need to speak to you Chloe. We can do it here in public or in private” So we go off in private and it is one of those red herrings. What it turns out to be is Melanie is asking Chloe if she really did say those things about her not being a “real” part of the family, because she was not raised by Daniel or Carly. MICHAEL: © JPI Studios At one point, viewers thought Melanie came to Daniel to try to tell him the truth about his wife’s infidelity. SHAWN: I think Daniel knows more than he lets on, and he does not want to hear the big truth. He doesn’t want to hear what he probably knows, and look, this is Shawn’s thoughts on it. But also, there are people and circumstances in life, and if you look back at some of the scenes where right before someone is going to tell him, be it, Carly, Melanie, etc., he says, “Stop talking. Listen to me.” And you can see him almost pull back and think he can handle it. I think in many respects, he does not think he can handle what he may know to be true. NADIA: That is good. I don’t know if Daniel is that deep! No, just kidding. (Laughs) SHAWN: Look, clearly there are so many episodes and encounters he has had, where he goes, “Oh, my God. What is up?” NADIA: Daniel is like a genius brain surgeon! You would think he would be so smart or realize something about her is off. (Laughs) SHAWN: That is what I think he loves about her, that she is a bit off! (Laughs) MICHAEL: Speaking of off, can you tell the viewers a funny moment that happened during the taping of the wedding ceremony? I know with you two something had to have gone down. SHAWN: © JPI Studios It was the heels Nadia was wearing under her dress. NADIA: Oh, yes. I was wearing “Glenda the Good Witch,” who is Glen Allen who does my make-up on the show. He is a drag queen by night, and a fantastic one at that. He does fantastic impersonations and one of them is Lady Gaga. He had these fantastic crazy blingy hooker Lady Gaga stripper shoes, like with a seven inch heel. They were ridiculous. I was kind of impressed I could walk in them. I don’t know what that says about me. (Laughs) I decided to put them on and strut around in my wedding dress with the baby bump. SHAWN: And she wore them to the honeymoon, and that is why it is available on DVD! NADIA: I did have to take them off during actual taping so I did not look like a giant, but I liked wearing them in rehearsals. It gave me a secret thrill. (Laughs) The second thing was, I was not that good at reciting the vows for some reason. I had a hard time remembering them and everyone was laughing at me. I guess by that point, I was fried. I was messing them up. This is only my third on-screen marriage, you can’t expect me to have them memorized! (Laughs) MICHAEL: Fans were wondering if Melanie would finally rain on Chloe and Daniel’s parade. But alas, Danloe love got a stay of execution. NADIA: Yes! When Melanie pulls Chloe aside at the wedding and says, “Did you really say that about me?” She makes a point about this, because this is the reason she decided not to blow Chloe’s cover. Right before Melanie goes to interrupt the wedding, she runs into Brady and they have this short conversation, and without knowing what she is going through, he says to her, “Sometimes, you got to lie for love”. He basically said, “Honesty is not the best policy, because you may needlessly hurt people, and you live for love sometimes.” At that moment, she listened to it and made a reference to that. MICHAEL: But after Melanie let her off the hook for now, did Chloe finally feel some relief; enough to knock that constant fearful look off her face? NADIA: She finally does have a relieved look on her face. We do leave Salem fairly quickly and we don’t have a reception…..cutting costs. (Laughs) No! (Laughs) We have to leave and pack and go to our honeymoon. MICHAEL: © JPI Studios So are you telling me that what Shawn has indicated in theory is true? We would have to buy a DVD of the honeymoon because we don’t see Danloe again for awhile? NADIA: We disappear. We are not on DAYS for awhile. It was this emotional climax with this high point; well actually, it’s a high point with no climax. (Laughs) Also, I don’t know who would want to see a really big pregnant lady doing it. SHAWN: Some things are left better to the imagination, and the fans can wonder what they are doing on their honeymoon. MICHAEL: Are the two of you as confused by the DNA switching results story, as some viewers are? It has taken so many twists and turns, it’s hard to follow the bouncing baby ball! SHAWN: I agree, but they did a nice job of that “whodunit” kind of story. I think they set it up very nicely. NADIA: It was supposed to be confusing for us the actors, but we now know. But we did not know and had no idea who did it for a long time. So everybody was playing it out like they possibly did implement the DNA switch. SHAWN: Presumably, anyone could have had a hand in it, or could have, at this point. MICHAEL: But does Chloe know the results are switched? NADIA: I am going to say, ‘No, she doesn’t know.’ Chloe fully believes this child is Daniel’s and it could be! SHAWN: I don’t think so either. They both believe this is their kid. © JPI Studios MICHAEL: Chloe’s big phobia is that her one night of passion with Phillip will come out, more than this could be his biological child that she is passing off as Daniel’s, correct? NADIA: She got the relief of a lifetime when she found out the baby was Daniel’s. So she thought, “Now I am going to have my wedding. Nothing can go wrong.” Right now, she is freaking out that Nathan or Melanie will open their big mouths and spill the beans. Chloe is worried that she will be left with this child she is carrying on her own, when this guy means everything in the world to her. She would not want to lose it due to this stupid screw up. All her fears and anxiety are motivated from the fact that she had a one-night stand with somebody. Obviously, she is paranoid that if people find out they are going to start digging and trying to find out who it was. I believe I made a reference to that. If Daniel finds out I cheated on him, it’s not going to take him very long to figure out who it is. I’m assuming he would ask Chloe, and there is only so much she can deny. He is going to know it was not some stranger. MICHAEL: So it will it come as a complete shock to the fans when it is revealed who did the DNA switch? NADIA: Yes, I feel it will surprise fans. SHAWN: It is a surprise. NADIA: Shock and Awe! And it is terribly exciting… so stay tuned! (Laughs) MICHAEL: Would you say there is hope for Danloe, after everything may get blown to smithereens? I know there are some big moments to come during November sweeps! NADIA: Oh, absolutely. There is light at the end of the tunnel. How fitting I say that in lieu of this week’s events in Chile. MICHAEL: © JPI Studios Yes, and speaking of the Chilean mine rescue… how amazing! It was human emotion and drama at its most heightened level. I did not realize that the mines were so deep. They explained it on CNN as the depth of two Empire State Building and seven football fields. SHAWN: I went down into one of those types of mines. It is so amazing. You can hear your heartbeat. I went down into a mine when we did a film in Romania. We went down this huge elevator shaft, and this guy who has probably been there since the 1920’s runs the lever and everything shakes! You are there with this little cable and you think, “Oh, my God. Where am I going?” NADIA: This was like a tunnel of dirt, and that is what is so amazing. It could have collapsed in on the miners. It was unbelievable to see. MICHAEL: So now that we have come out of the ashes, do you think there is long-term hope for Danloe, Shawn? SHAWN: Yes, I do. I think what is interesting about this dynamic is that the years they have been together, it has never been pure bliss. There has always been something off into the horizon that has been ready to steer them off course. There is always something worth fighting for with these two. NADIA: They had one happy night at one point! (Laughs) MICHAEL: Nadia, you now have worked a few years with Shawn. The three of us did an interview together over a year ago… SHAWN: We were laughing about that today! MICHAEL: © JPI Studios It was a fun read! But now Nadia, after having spent more time with Shawn, what would you say about this guy? NADIA: Put in a big old, “Uch”! (Laughs) No, I feel the same way as when we first started working together. We have an incredibly good time. Shawn is passionate about the work and shockingly so sometime. In all seriousness, it’s nice to work with somebody who puts a lot of thought and effort into the story being told, and exploring all the different options of it, instead of just looking at it as words on a page. Shawn always takes his time with it, and gets you thinking. He is always challenging me and he is a pleasure to work with. MICHAEL: But Nadia, what the fans really want to know is… how is it to work with a sexy co-star? NADIA: It’s not a tough day at the office, I will tell you that. SHAWN: You are getting Christian Louboutin shoes now. I am putting these other ones back. (Laughs) MICHAEL: Shawn, what would you say about Nadia? SHAWN: I will tell you what; since we first started it was amazing and it continues to get better. This woman rises to every challenge that is put in front of her. And we do talk about these scenes. We work on them. There isn’t anything she does not back down from. Nadia takes it as a personal challenge and will rise to the occasion. And what is beautiful is; when I do a scene with her there is stuff that happens with her, where you are like, ‘I did not see that coming.’ She brings it and it’s a beautiful quality. There is something she brings out in my acting that I did not know existed, and she opened some doors for me in that way to experience. NADIA: That is a wonderful compliment. MICHAEL: When the two of you are out at fan events, the mall, a Danloe mixer, (Laughs) what do the fans say to you the most? SHAWN: “Will you guys ever get it right?” That is said a lot. They are rooting for me. But they will say, if Daniel or Chloe made a mistake in the relationship, “How could you!” They are as equally as passionate and insatiable, for a lack of a better word about these two. They don’t hold back on their comments, good or bad. NADIA: They want us to have a happy ending. They want Danloe to get married and have lots of love babies, and they want to watch the process of that. (Laughs) MICHAEL: © JPI Studios So this set-up that could destroy everything: Melanie, Daniel’s daughter, is married to Phillip. Chloe slept with her former beau, Phillip. So Shawn, what do you envision Daniel will do to Phillip once he finds out about the betrayal? SHAWN: I don’t know, but I have thought about it. ‘What would be the consequences of discovering something like this?’ There are so many layers to it. I have not read it in the scripts yet, but clearly Phillip is my daughter’s husband. Phillip then slept with my wife who was not my wife at that time, and then anytime there is a new child involved, it is thicker than a seven-layer cake. MICHAEL: This is actually pretty brilliant that the writers set this house of cards up like this. SHAWN: It is going to depend on how they choose to reveal it and how it unfolds. And it depends what layer you unearth first, and that would then depend on Daniel’s reaction. MICHAEL: Where do you think Chloe is leaving her relationship with Melanie, as she heads off for her honeymoon…in a strained place? NADIA: I think Chloe is still walking on egg shells. There is sort of a truce that has been called, that we have decided to settle this for the time being. However, Chloe cannot rely on that Melanie says she is going to let it go. She has no idea if she will change her mind. I don’t think she is going to feel really secure around Melanie or anybody for awhile. She is working so hard right now to gain everyone’s trust back from the all the people that found out about this. Chloe does not feel good about herself, certainly. Now she is working on trying to make everything OK. I think she really does want this picture perfect family. She does want to be friends with Melanie. It is going to be hard at this point obviously, because Melanie has been lied to. Chloe is on pins and needles about it. SHAWN: Now the tennis ball is in Daniel’s court, because he had heard that Melanie thinks Chloe said that she is not really “Daniel’s daughter” as much as her new child can be. I think that is how they almost pick it up after the honeymoon. NADIA: Now, it’s like Chloe trying to do damage control for something that was not said, and it is better than the ultimate truth coming out. Chloe has to sort of clean up this mess that Nicole created. So Chloe thinks that her and Daniel’s relationship isn’t as strong as it should be at this point. Chloe supposedly said something stupid about Melanie. And it probably sounds like it came out of left field, which is what Daniel is wondering and what would motivate Chloe to say something like that. MICHAEL: Nadia, you have a couple primetime guest spots coming up! This Monday, October 19th, you appear on a new episode of the CBS drama, NCIS. What are you playing? © JPI Studios NADIA: It’s a small thing, and it was really fun. I am one of the neighbors being asked questions and being interrogated about this incident that happened. I can’t even talk about the storyline there, and I can’t ruin any plot, but all I know is they were like, “Hey, would you put this bikini on?” And I was like, “What?” I had to take off the baby bump and go put on a bikini and flirt with Michael Weatherly for a little bit. It wasn’t bad! SHAWN: They put you in a bikini to throw the clues off! NADIA: I basically play a rich trophy wife to some old dude (Laughs) And, I am taping a guest-starring role on the CBS comedy, Two and Half Men this week. I am playing a trophy girl to an old dude on there, too! (Laughs)
