How Deidre Hall Felt About Days Of Our Lives' Landmark LGBTQ Romance Storyline

Deidre Hall is certainly considered royalty in the daytime television world. Earlier in 2023, "Days of Our Lives" commemorated Hall's 5,000th episode, which is an accomplishment on its own. Hall became an icon thanks to her character Marlena Evans being possessed by the devil. Levitating is just something Hall can do in one take as Marlena was possessed by the devil yet again back in 2021. She told TV Insider that year, "It's wild. It's completely terrifying this time."

With all the devil talk put to the side, Marlena was also part of another very important storyline on "Days of Our Lives." Her grandson, Will Horton, came out as gay and married his boyfriend Sonny Kiriakis back in 2014. The soap's landmark LGBTQ romance storyline was just as important to Hall as the other ones that had Marlena in the spotlight. Hall said that this storyline was different from the rest because there was definitely more of an emotional attachment to it for fans of the show.

As many "Days of Our Lives" fans probably already know, Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis' relationship timeline reads like a soap opera fairytale one, but with a twist. That's because Will and Sonny made daytime television history by being the first-ever gay marriage between two men (although it's been noted that "All My Children" had the first same-sex marriage between two females back in 2009, per the New York Post). Deidre Hall's character Marlena Evans officiated Will and Sonny's wedding.

Hall says the storyline was incredibly important to her not just because Marlena's grandson was getting married, but because the wedding spoke to so many "Days of Our Lives" fans out there. Many of them even wrote touching letters to her. She told Yahoo! Life in 2023, "Just young men writing in, saying, 'Oh my gosh, when Will came and told her he was gay, I was transfixed. I was glued to the television. I wanted you to be my mother and my grandmother,' and I suddenly thought, maybe now we have a template for teaching young people how to handle that moment. It was incredibly effective for people, as well as being a fabulous storyline."

But just like any loving grandmother, Marlena knew something about her grandson Will before the rest of the world did. 

Speaking to the Advocate in 2014, Deidra Hall said that it made absolute sense for Marlena Evans to officiate Will and Sonny's wedding mostly "because she was the one who knew Will was gay before he knew he was gay." Hall also added at the time that she wasn't sure how the wedding was going to change "the way of the world" but she knew that this was a positive step in the right direction.

The actor explained, "There's so much we deny gay and lesbian couples that we freely give to straight couples and I think that's shameful. If you have someone in your life to whom you're devoted and committed and that you've promised to be there in every moment, then you need to [be allowed] to be there in every moment."

Whether she is officiating marriages or levitating out of bed, Hall always knew that Marlena was one very special character. When asked what her character has taught her the most, Hall told Soap Opera Digest back in 1986, "Marlena has taught me about the power of somebody who loves back. She really does love back a lot and she loves unconditionally." Both her grandson and everyone in Salem are sure lucky to have her.