Gripping WWII drama Waiting for Anya stars Days of our Lives' Gilles Marini

Gilles Marini (ex-Ted Laurent, Days of our Lives) joins Anjelica Huston and Noah Schnapp in Waiting for Anya, a harrowing WWII film based on War Horse writer Michael Morpurgo's book of the same name.

His run as Ted Laurent came to a tragic end on Days of our Lives, but Gilles Marini hasn't disappeared like his Salem alter ego. In fact, fans of the actor can catch him next in an emotional WWII film called Waiting for Anya.

Expected to be released later this year, the movie tells the story of a young shepherd named Jo (Noah Schnapp) who, together with his grandfather (Jean Reno) and a widow (Anjelica Huston), helps smuggle Jewish children across France's border into Spain during WWII. When German soldiers move into town, things become even more dangerous for those involved. Jo and his family members stage one last daring effort to get all of the children across the border to safety, but if they are caught, it's not only the end for the children, but also for Jo and his family.

The film, which is based on War Horse author Michael Morpurgo's 1990 British novel of the same name, also stars Sadie Frost, Tomas Lemarquis, Thomas Kretschmann, Frederick Schmidt, and Elsa Zylberstein.

Marini shared a behind-the-scenes photo of himself filming with Jean Reno in France last year. He captioned the pic, "Good times with my 'pretend Dad' #jeanreno on set of @waitingforanya. I for sure learned at lot about olive oil and wine. A pretty cool time in my life as an actor."

Said Morpurgo about his story coming to life on the screen, "Whilst you are writing your story, it becomes precious to you. When someone creates a play or a film from your story, what you care about most is that it means as much to them; that they catch the spirit of it, that they grow the story with integrity and love and skill, and do it their own way, in their own voice. I have no doubt that the team making the film of Waiting For Anya will do all that and more. I wish them all, actors, crew, writers and producers and director, all the success they deserve."

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Marini made his DAYS debut in June of 2018 and exited the series earlier this summer. Some of his other acting credits include Devious Maids, 2 Broke Girls, Switched at Birth, Brothers & Sisters, and Sex and the City.

What do you think about Gilles Marini being featured in Waiting for Anya? What do you think about the premise of the WWII film? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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