Will Days of our Lives' Stephen Schnetzer return to Salem again?

Days of our Lives fans got quite a treat this week when fan favorite Stephen Schnetzer made his way back to daytime soaps after nearly two decades.

Stephen Schnetzer's soap opera comeback

Schnetzer made a name for himself on NBC daytime in 1982 when he originated the role of Cass Winthrop on Another World. After AW was canceled in 1999, he took the character to both As the World Turns and Guiding Light. However, his soap career began on DAYS in 1978 when he landed the role of Steven Olson, Julie Williams' scoundrel brother.

While he only played Steven for a year, Schnetzer made such a memorable impression on fans that he was asked back more than four decades later when DAYS prepared for its 15,000th episode, which coincided with a memorial for Doug Williams. As Julie's brother, it only made sense that Steven would return to Salem to support his sister.

When Schnetzer got the call to fly out to Los Angeles and get his feet wet in soaps again, he didn't hesitate.

"I was very enthusiastic about it," Schnetzer told TV Insider. “They had reached out on a couple of occasions to see if I’d be interested in doing limited roles and stuff and it just didn’t work out. But this time, I was really excited to go back and it was just great to see how many people were still there from when I was there."

The actor also had nothing but praise for Susan Seaforth Hayes, whose Julie gave almost the same eulogy for Doug as Hayes had given months earlier when she lost her beloved husband, Bill Hayes, in January.

"Susan gave such a great eulogy at Bill’s real memorial that they asked if they could build an episode around that and she gave the same eulogy [on camera], with minor tweaks, and she killed it," Schnetzer said. “I mean, that woman has a mind like a steel trap. Totally impressed. One-take Seaforth Hayes."

Is there a future for Steven on Days of our Lives?

Fans learned that Steven tried to turn his life around in India but couldn't stay away from his conman ways, which means there could be more of his story to come.

"These two episodes will still have question marks about him and it will demonstrate people’s suspicions about him," Schnetzer hinted in the interview. "Julie will remain steadfast in her feelings about his integrity. I don’t want to get any more specific than that."

Schnetzer, who now lives in Florida and has mostly been doing theater for the last eight years, admitted that being in front of the camera again took some getting used to.

"That was the first time I did camera work and they were very gentle, kind, and supportive," he explained. "It took me longer than any actor I’ve seen to get used to working in front of the camera."

However, if DAYS comes calling again, he does not rule out another return to Salem.

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"I would certainly be interested in doing it," he said. “A 3-to-6-month story would be a lot of fun and I definitely would do that."

Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives weekdays on Peacock.

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