Theresa Donovan

Theresa Donovan
Days of our Lives character
Portrayed by	Jen Lilley
Duration	1990–92 1996–97 2013–
First appearance	September 3, 1990 (1990-09-03)
Created by	Richard J. Allen Anne Schoettle
Introduced by	Ken Corday and Al Rabin (1990) Ken Corday, Lisa de Cazotte and Greg Meng (2013)
Classification	Present, regular
Profile
Occupation	Personal assistant to Jennifer Horton at Salem University Hospital
Residence	Apt #542 2501 Kenilworth Drive Salem, U.S.
Family Family Brady Parents Shane Donovan Kimberly Brady Siblings Andrew Donovan IV Eve Donovan Grandparents Andrew Donovan II Margaret Donovan Shawn Brady Caroline Brady Aunts and uncles Andrew Donovan III Roman Brady Kayla Brady Frankie Brady (adoptive) Max Brady (adoptive) Bo Brady First cousins Carrie Brady Reed Sami Brady Eric Brady Rex Brady Cassie Brady Stephanie Johnson Joey Johnson Shawn-Douglas Brady Chelsea Brady Zack Brady Ciara Brady

Jeannie Theresa Donovan is a fictional character on the NBC daytime soap opera, Days of our Lives. Introduced on-screen in September 1990, she was portrayed by several child actors until the character left the series in 1992, and further made guest appearances in both 1996 and 1997.^{[lower-alpha 1]} She is currently portrayed by actress Jen Lilley, best known for her portrayal as Maxie Jones on the ABC Daytime soap, General Hospital. Lilley has portrayed the role (now going by her middle name, Theresa) on-screen since July 3, 2013.

Theresa is the daughter of supercouple Shane Donovan and Kimberly Brady (Charles Shaughnessy and Patsy Pease^{[lower-alpha 2]}). With the casting of Lilley in the role, the character entered her first major storyline, opposite Casey Moss who portrays JJ Deveraux.

Casting

Lilley's temporary portrayal of Maxie Jones on General Hospital caught the eye of executive producer Ken Corday and other executives at Days of our Lives, which lead to her audition for Theresa.

In April 2013, it was announced by Soap Opera Digest and several other sources that actress Jen Lilley, who was previously known for portraying the role of Maxie Jones on ABC's General Hospital (who was temporarily cast in the role due to the illness of Kirsten Storms), was announced to have joined the cast of Days of our Lives in a newly created role with ties to the canvas.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} Due to the show's advanced filming schedule, Lilley began filming in the role (then-unknown) in March 2013.^[1]

Following the announcement of her casting, Lilley also made her debut in The Book of Esther, portraying the titular character. During an interview with Christian Post, Lilley said of her casting: "That opportunity came from the Lord. I prayed and fasted to decide whether I would accept the role or not, but this is the one that I was to take. I had other offers, and they all fell through, so I'm grateful that I took the opportunity to be on 'Days'. At the time, I asked for certain things in my contract that people said would be impossible. But I stood on my faith, and against all odds, I got those things. I daily pray for God to help me be a peacekeeper and help me through my scenes; my character is so evil that it's just unlike me. And obviously there is a lot of sex on the show. When the time comes, I'm going to use it as an opportunity to show abstinence, which I fully believe in. I don't understand how my friends can do things in this industry without faith. I can't do things without prayer."^[10] Lilley made her on-screen debut as Theresa on July 3, 2013.^[11][12][13]

Character development

With the casting of Lilley, executive producer Ken Corday admits that seeing the actress' work on General Hospital helped with the casting of the actress in the role of Theresa.^[14] Upon Theresa's re-appearance on the canvas, she was characterized as the "bad girl". In an interview with MSN Entertainment on her role, 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."^[15] The role of Theresa has been described as "Sarcastic, calculating, mischievous" and "mysterious".^[16]

For her casting, Lilley admitted she originally went in for two roles, the roles of both Theresa and Jordan^{[lower-alpha 3]}. 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."^[17]

Storylines

Jeannie Theresa Donovan was born on-screen on September 3, 1990 to Kimberly Brady (Patsy Pease) and was originally believed to be the daughter of Cal Winter.^{[lower-alpha 4][18]} 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.^[19][20]

In July 2013, Jeannie returned 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.^[21] 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.^[22] 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.^[23]

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".^[6] Despite rumors of Lilley joining the cast as a recast for either Belle Black^{[lower-alpha 5]} or Cassie Brady^{[lower-alpha 6]}, it was informed she would portray a new character.^[7] 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."^[16]

References

Notes

External links

• Soapcentral.com | Who's Who in Salem | Jeannie Donovan