User:Livelikemusic/Theresa Donovan

Theresa Donovan is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. Currently portrayed by Jen Lilley, the role of Theresa was introduced in September 1990 by then-executive producers Ken Corday and Al Rabin. Theresa was portrayed by several child actors until the character left the series in 1992, with further guest appearances in both 1996 and 1997. Lilley made her first appearance on July 3, 2013.

Theresa is the daughter of supercouple Shane Donovan and Kimberly Brady (Charles Shaughnessy and Patsy Pease. With the casting of Lilley in the role, the character was aged and entered into her first major storyline, opposite Casey Moss who portrays JJ Deveraux. Theresa also develops a relationship with Brady Black (Eric Martsolf), which results in the birth of their son, Tate. In 2015, she pursues her dream of fashion design and teams up with Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow) and Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker) in the prospect of re-launching Basic Black.

Backstory
Jeannie Theresa Donovan was introduced on September 3, 1990, to Kimberly Brady (Patsy Pease) and was originally believed to be the daughter of Cal Winter. However, paternity tests and a confession from Cal proved her father to be Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy). She grew up with her parents in Salem, before relocating to Los Angeles.

2013–2016
In July 2013, Jeannie returns to Salem, this time going by her middle name, Theresa. Initially, she strikes up a connection with resident bad boy JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss) while trying to secure some pot. During a confrontation with JJ and his mother Jennifer Horton (Melissa Reeves) in her office, her aunt Kayla confirms that Theresa is in fact Jeannie and that Jen promised to hire her as her assistant, a promise she reluctantly agrees to. Kayla reminds Theresa it is her last chance at a fresh start. Theresa also strikes up a bad first impression with Jennifer's daughter Abigail Deveraux (Kate Mansi) when Abigail smells pot on Theresa in her mother's office. To continue to battle against Jennifer, she teams up with Anne Milbauer (Meredith Scott Lynn) in hopes of exacting her perfect revenge. In a ploy, Theresa reveals her intentions to hopefully woo Dr. Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian). After sleeping with JJ, Theresa overdoses on marijuana and GHB. Upon hearing of their daughter's overdose and continuing problems, Shane and Kimberly return to town in the hopes of handling their daughter's problem, together. After believing that Theresa has a handle on her addictions, Shane and Kimberly leave town together. Theresa then teams up with hospital co-worker Anne Milbauer (Meredith Scott Lynn) to conspire against Jennifer, using Daniel as a way to hurt their relationship. In early 2014, following a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting, she begins a sexual and drugged-fused relationship with Brady Black (Eric Martsolf). In 2015, after it is found that Kristen DiMera (Eileen Davidson) stole Theresa's embryo and carried it to term, Brady and Melanie Jonas return her son, Christopher, to her and Brady, and the pair rename him Tate. When Theresa moves into the Kiriakis mansion, tensions arise between her and Victor. She eventually expresses her interest in purchasing Basic Black and running it as her own fashion company, with financial backing from Maggie Horton (Suzanne Rogers). In the hopes of finding the right partner, she teams up with Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow) and Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker) to achieve the goal of purchasing Basic Black, with Kate and Nicole's business background and her own interest in fashion design. As she and Brady share several instances of rekindling their romance, she is kicked out of the mansion by Victor; as a result, Brady quits Titan and moves in with Theresa and Tate, in their own penthouse. In March 2016, Brady proposes to Theresa, and the pair become engaged.

Casting
Following the character's introduction in 1990, the role was portrayed by five child actors: Hannah Taylor Simmons (1990–1991), Emily and Alicia Pillatzke (1991–1992), Caitlin Wachs (1992) and Gabriella Massari (1992).

In April 2013, Soap Opera Digest and other media outlets announced Jen Lilley had joined the cast of Days of Our Lives, in a newly-created role with "ties to the canvas". Due to the soap's advanced filming schedule, Lilley began filming in the then-unknown role in March 2013, and made her first appearance as Theresa on July 3, 2013.

Reflecting on her casting and upcoming return, Lilley told Soaps.com's Kristyn Burtt, in 2023 (via an email forwarded to the powers that be at Days of Our Lives): "I never thought I wanted to do daytime again after my experience on General Hospital, but DAYS changed everything for me. DAYS feels like family. DAYS is home to me."

In May 2016, Daytime Confidential reported that Lilley had quit the soap after three-years; a rep for Lilley or the soap did not comment. On November 17, 2017, Soap Opera Digest announced that Lilley would reprise her role as Theresa; she will begin making appearances in May 2018. Speaking to Soap Hub in January 2018, Lilley maintained she always remained open to returning to the role of Theresa.

Introduction (2013)
Executive producer Ken Corday admitted seeing Lilley's work on General Hospital helped with casting her in the role of Theresa. Upon Theresa's re-appearance on the canvas, she was characterized as the "bad girl". In an interview with MSN, Lilley spoke: "Part of me doesn't want to make excuses for her, because you can have horrible upbringing and make something positive of it. Some of the most amazing, well-grounded people have come from the wrong side of the tracks. Obviously, the Brady-Donovan family is a great family, but her dad Shane is a spy and I watched the episode where he leaves the kids with Kimberly. Theresa was probably one, at most, so she didn't have a dad growing up, which is a formula for trouble. Typical psychological path for a girl like that is to look for love in the wrong places and look for a father figure in older guys." The role of Theresa has been described as "Sarcastic, calculating, mischievous" and "mysterious".

For her casting, Lilley admitted she originally went in for two roles, the roles of both Theresa and Jordan. At the time, she was hoping to book the "good girl" role; however for her second audition, was asked to amp it up to a more bad girl persona and concentrate on Theresa. She revealed: "I got to skip the first audition, which is called a pre-read and is an audition to audition. So then I auditioned with everyone else, and I got to do my screen test twice, which is very unusual. I was the only girl who got to do that, so I went first and last. The reason they had me do it twice is that I wore my hair curly, and I have a really young face, and they said that I looked too sweet and innocent and young with the curly hair. So they straightened my hair and had me do it again. On the second take, I knew that I had nothing to lose. I had already done a perfect first take, and they told me it wasn't going to get better than that so I could do whatever I wanted. I just did everything out of the box, and that's what got me the job. I mean I took the guy's shirt off in the scene! I told the actor that this is a character with no concept of personal space, so I asked him if it's ok if I touch him. He said that was fine and it was my screen test. So I took his shirt off and I threw some props at him at the end. I broke all the rules, and I think [the casting staff] thought, that is that character."

In an interview with Michael Logan of TV Insider, Lilley called Theresa an "unapologetic mess", while continuing: "I knew I was in for a wild ride when I heard the list of crimes she had committed even before she hit the screen, which included grand theft auto, cocaine possession and two cases of assault and battery. The latter is particularly amazing, seeing as I’m 5'2" and 100 pounds wet." On her portrayal of Theresa, Lilley described, "I play everything balls-to-the-wall. [...] My worry is not pushing the audience too far. I worry about not being full-on committed in every moment, which is not always easy in the crazy world of soaps. I had a storyline where Theresa got pregnant and had her fetus stolen. All I could say was, ‘Bring it on! I know this is goofy, but I’m going down in soap glory!"

Return (2018)
On November 17, 2017, it was announced Lilley would reprise the role of Theresa after more than a year away. Detailing the reasons for her return, Lilley credited head writer Ron Carlivati, stating: "I was able to chat with him on the phone and, because he knows I'm trustworthy, he asked me how much of the story I wanted to know. I said I want every detail!" In a June 2018 interview with TV Insider, Lilley stated of Theresa's return: "She fought so hard to survive Mexico and she did. But to come this far, she's not going to back down to get back what's rightfully hers, which is Brady and her son, in her mind."

Lilley returned to filming in November 2017, and returned to Days of Our Lives on May 3, 2018. Theresa's return saw her living in Mexico with Mateo (a.k.a. El Fideo). While there, she reunites with Chloe Lane (Nadia Bjorlin) who had become Mateo's new obsession. She flees Mexico and returns to Salem with the assistance of Xander Kiriakis (Paul Telfer.

Lilley announced her return to Days of Our Lives. Due to the serial's advanced taping schedule, her return was not expected to air until sometime in May 2018.

Reintroduction and recast (2023)
In August 2023, it was announced Corday and Alarr would reintroduce the character, five years after her previous departure, in connection to the passing of Aniston's Victor. Lilley later revealed to Soaps.com she was asked to return for twelve-weeks; she explained she declined the offer, due to other obligations, including her deal with Great American Family, while also explaining there was "a lot" preventing her from making a permanent return. In response to the initial twelve-week request, she offered three weeks of time to reprise the role. She told the web site she agreed to film twelve-weeks worth of material in the four-week time. However, two weeks into her return, Lilley reveals she was told by Alarr the stories promised she would work would continue with someone else as Theresa. On October 2, 2023, it was announced Emily O'Brien, who joined the cast in 2020 as Gwen Rizczech, would assume the role of Theresa. The following day, Lilley spoke with People about her exit and the series' decision to recast with O'Brien. She told the magazine she recalled feeling blindsided by the decision, explaining: "I don't know whether it was a budgetary thing or a scheduling thing where they just couldn't work the schedule out so everybody could do it. I don't know their reasoning. It's a little befuddling, but I still am really grateful that I got to go back." Lilley also spoke sympathy for O'Brien, stating: "That's not cool to do to Emily. I think Emily drew the shortest straw, honestly. I was like, 'That is the worst thing you could possibly do to a recast is be like, we're going to wig you and make you just walk through fire for eight weeks.'"

The magazine also reported the decision to recast the role happened three weeks prior to Lilley's return to set. In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, O'Brien discussed working as both Gwen and Theresa at the same time, calling the experience "too much". She also described the experience of replacing Lilley, stated: "I didn't know how to feel about it. I'd never ever stepped into somebody's shoes as a recast before. I knew nothing about it. So I was watching [Jen Lilley, ex-Theresa] thinking, 'How am I going to do this? I'm nothing like Jen, and she's had this role for five years. How am I going to step in and do this justice? The fans are going to just hate me.' But, at the end of the day, I'm an actor who was given a part. And I had heard that Jen was unavailable and could only do [the show] for X amount of weeks."

Reception
Upon the news of Lilley joining the cast, Michael Fairman of On-Air On-Soaps credited her casting as, "fantastic news for [Jen Lilley] fans". Despite rumors of Lilley joining the cast as a recast for either Belle Black or Cassie Brady. it was informed she would portray a new character. Janet DiLauro of About.com praised Theresa as a "riveting character", writing: "Days of our Lives has been seriously lacking in the bad girl department [...] Enter the deliciously naughty Theresa Donovan and suddenly it seems like Salem will never be the same." Daytime Confidential listed Theresa's storyline with JJ as part of their "10 Best Soap Opera Storylines of 2013", ranking in at number eight. They praised, "Disrespectful. Drug-addicted. Debaucherous. JJ and Theresa harken back to DAYS long history of introducing horrid snots via the soap's younger scene. Heck, cruise-going matriarch Julie Williams (most notably played by Susan Seaforth Hayes) made her 1965 debut as a teen shoplifter! We can't forget Salem's ultimate teen scheme queen. Almost two decades after she drugged her sister's boyfriend and sold her kid sister on the black market, former pubescent bad seed Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) is still going strong! Welcome to the club, JJ and Theresa."

On January 25, 2017, Lilley received a pre-nomination in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama.