Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis

Will and Sonny

Guy Wilson and Freddie Smith as Will and Sonny
Duration 2012—
Introduced by Ken Corday
Lisa de Cazotte
Greg Meng
Profile
Aliases WilSon


Chandler Massey as Will Horton and Freddie Smith as Sonny Kiriakis

William Robert "Will" Horton and Jackson Steven "Sonny" Kiriakis are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama Days of Our Lives.[1][2][3][4] The couple is portrayed by actors Guy Wilson as Will and Freddie Smith as Sonny. On internet message boards, the couple is sometimes referred to by the portmanteau "WilSon" (for Will and Sonny). Will is the son of the supercouple Lucas and Sami and Sonny is the son of the supercouple Justin and Adrienne. They are notable for being Days of Our Lives first same-sex supercouple.

Writing

In 2010, Chandler Massey was cast to play Will Horton. It was announced in 2011, that Days of Our Lives was adding its first gay character, when Freddie Smith was cast in the role of Sonny Kiriakis. By the Fall of 2011 rumors were going around that Will was gay and he was going to be in a relationship with Sonny. Before, rumors were already going around that Sonny was going to get a love interest. At the end of 2011, it was confirmed that Will was going to be gay.

Will and Sonny were soon confirmed to going to be in a relationship. Chandler Massey said, "Will admires Sonny for being comfortable in who he is and seem like he has it all together." Will and Sonny were soon put in a relationship and critics and audience liked it. Many critics have admired it for treating this couple like any other heterosexual couple.

Chandler Massey commented on the relationship of Will and Sonny and said, "As far as Sonny and Will go, I get the power couple thing between them and they have the healthiest relationship on the show, believe it or not. But life throws all these things at them and basically the only way Will can get through it is by leaning on Sonny so they’ll be staying together and only grow deeper in love."

In 2013, it was announced that Chandler Massey would vacate the role of Will Horton, and that Days had found the right recast for the role.[5] Guy Wilson was recast in the role of Will.[6]

Storylines

Sonny met Will at the pier as Will was preparing to graduate from High School. At the time Will was dating Gabi. After Gabi broke up with Will it spiraled him into a depression. One night when Will went to a party with Sonny, he participated in a drinking game, was drunk and Sonny caught Will kissing a guy named Neil; he advised Will to talk to someone. Will started talking to Marlena and admitted that he was gay.

Will told his family he was gay and most of them were supportive. Will started to work for EJ and, when Stefano was shot, was counted as one of the prime suspects. Will didn't want to tell the police where he was the night Stefano was shot. Neil, the guy Will kissed, finally told the police that Will was at a gay bar, The Spot, where he was with Neil and his friends.

Will was bailed out by EJ and started work for him again against the wishes of his parents. Will soon was suspicious of EJ and told Sonny that EJ was hiding something and he was determined to learn EJ's secret. While talking about Will's job with EJ, Sonny admitted to Lucas that he had feelings for Will. Will found a letter that said EJ wasn't Stefano's son and had started to blackmail him to get what he wanted. Soon, Lucas got the letter and turned EJ in to the Salem Police Department resulting in EJ's arrest for Stefano's murder. Will was mad at his father and asked Sonny to help prove EJ was innocent. Will and Sonny soon found a video that showed somebody framing EJ, but the video was soon deleted.

After the Dayaster, T, Will's childhood friend, came back and was sure that Sonny had turned Will gay. Sonny searched for Will, worried he had been hurt; his emotions running high, when he found Will he kissed him. Will was shocked at the kiss, pushed him away, and caused an argument between the two. Will went home and spoke with Marlena and started to realized that he had feelings for Sonny. However, when Will came to see Sonny he saw Brian, a friend of Sonny's, flirting with Sonny and was devastated. He then got into a fight with Lucas and became upset when he believed his father didn't think he was a real man. He and Gabi, who was reeling from Chad's finding out about her role in Melanie's kidnapping, ran into each other.

While commiserating over how they felt they had screwed up their individual lives, Will and Gabi began kissing and ended up having sex which Will regretted immediately. After having a run in with T, T told him that Sonny still had feelings for him. Will talked to Sonny and the two started to take the slow approach to their relationship. When Will went to the Kiriakis Mansion, Will overheard Adrienne saying that he wasn't good enough for Sonny and Will started to have doubts about himself and canceled his date with Sonny. Sonny found out why Will had canceled their date and, after finding him, told Will he was good enough for him and sealed it with a kiss.

When Lucas saw Will kissing Sonny he started to feel uneasy about Will and Sonny. Will heard Lucas saying he was uneasy about him and Sonny, and he told Lucas either he had to accept him and Sonny or they had nothing to talk about. Lucas soon apologized for what he had done. When Will and Sonny were about to have sex Lucas interrupted and told Will that Caroline was leaving for treatment. Soon Lucas and Sonny got into an argument about him trying to push Will to fast. Will had an argument with Lucas and Lucas put doubt in Will's head about Sonny just using him. Sonny and Will soon got into an argument about Sonny's past. Will and Sonny soon patched things up and made love for the first time (November 14, 2012).

After having sex, Will and Sonny were interrupted by Gabi. Will went to talk to her and she revealed she was pregnant with his child. Will and Gabi went to the abortion clinic, but Sami and Rafe stopped Gabi from getting an abortion. After they stopped them, they thought the father of Gabi's child was Nick. Nick knew the baby wasn't his, and he pressured Will to give rights to him and Will couldn't tell Sonny. Chad, Sonny and Will's best friend, told Sonny about Gabi's role in Melanie's kidnapping. Sonny became very distrustful of Gabi and told Will that he should not trust Gabi but Sonny couldn't tell him why because of a contract Nick had on Chad. Sonny had another fight with Will about trusting Gabi.

At Nick and Gabi's wedding, Chad told everyone that Nick wasn't Gabi's baby father. Soon everyone was in chaos about who was the baby's father until Will said it was him. Sonny started to leave, but Will stop him from leaving and said he didn't want to lose him and Sonny left. Will and Lucas were soon in an argument about Lucas going to jail for him and Nick overheard the conversation. Will tried to talk to Sonny again, but Sonny didn't want to talk. Will soon went to Sonny and tried to have sex with him, but Sonny told him it was never sex with them. When Will went to talk to Sonny he saw Sonny and Brian kissing and was devastated that Sonny had move on. Sonny was about to sleep with Brian, but he was still devastated at what Will did. Brian went to Will and implied that he and Sonny slept together. Will came to give his Sonny key back to him and they agreed to still be friends.

On Valentine's Day, Will got a gift from Sonny and assumed that he and Sonny were getting back together. Will wrote a note saying that he was happy that he was getting a second chance with Sonny. He found out that Sonny had ordered the gift before they broke up. When Gabi was sent to the hospital, Sonny came to check on Will. Will and Sonny went back to the Coffee shop and Sonny found his note. Will and Sonny talked it out, reconciled and then made love.

Afterwards, they were interrupted by Nick, who blackmailed them by saying that if Will didn't give up his parental rights, he would tell the police that he shot EJ. Will then signed his parental rights away to keep his family from going to jail. Sonny soon told Will that Nick did this because Will is gay. Will went to Nick and confronted him, and Nick admitted it. Sonny and Nick fought over this.

After hearing what happened to Sonny, Will and Sami went to EJ to see could they get evidence from Salem PD. They started planning to get the evidence from Stefano. Sonny went to see Sami at the DiMera Mansion and was conflicted...did he want Nick gone cause he hated him, or for Will's sake. Sonny and Sami snuck into the Kiriakis Mansion to steal the flash drive of the tape recording that Nick had of Will and Lucas talking. Sonny soon snuck back in to put the flash drive back.

Rafe found out that Nick was blackmailing Will and was going to tell Gabi until he was attacked and sent to the hospital. Will and Sonny thought that Nick was the person who attacked Rafe, so Sonny and Will followed Nick and saw Gabi and him being kidnapped by Jensen. Will and Sonny followed them to Smith Island to save them. Sonny got Gabi out and she went into labor. While Sonny delivered Will's baby, Will was trying to save Nick and in the process got shot. When Sonny got to the hospital, he heard Will was shot and was devastated. When Will got out of surgery, Sonny went to see him and said that they will always be together. Nick gave the parental rights back to Will. Sonny suggested that Gabi and Arianna move in with them, and he even put a deposit on the apartment across from them. Gabi agreed to move in.

Adrienne becomes doubtful of the choices Sonny is making. Adrienne and Sonny start to argue of the choices he was making. Adrienne soon clashes with Marlena over their families and Will over Sonny. Will and Sonny find out that Sami shot Bernardi. Will and Sonny recognize that he is Stefano's mole in SPD, and he was the one who stole the evidence that Will shot EJ. Will was determined to tell the police that he shot EJ to help Sami, but Sonny, EJ, and Sami get him to change his mind. Sonny finds out Chad sent him a video of Sami attacking Bernardi. Chad and Sonny delete the videos to help Sami's case. Adrienne finds the video on her phone and tries to tell Sonny. Sonny didn't want to hear Adrienne, so Adrienne took the video to SPD and got immunity for Sonny.

After Sami gets arrested, Sonny and Will find out that the video was given to the SPD. Sonny and Adrienne argue over her turning in the video. Will and Sonny tell Justin about Will's secret. Justin gives them advice, and Sonny pleads Justin to take Sami's case. Justin is against it because of Sami and EJ lying about the video and them putting Sonny in danger. Justin takes their case, but says if they ever put Sonny in danger again that he would come after them. Eventually, new evidence is discovered and Sami is cleared.

Nick decides to win Gabi back by arranging a modeling job in New York City for her, but without her knowledge. Gabi gets a call from the agency, offering her a job in New York City, even an apartment and childcare for Arianna. Gabi neglects to tell Will and Sonny, because she isn't sure she wants to take Arianna away from them. Nick convinces her to do it, and when Will and Sonny find out the job would require her to move to New York, they're not happy with it. After talking things through together, the boys decide they should move to New York with Gabi. However, before she's supposed to leave, Gabi speaks with both Sami and Rafe, and in the end decides to turn down the job. She tells Nick this, and he panics, accidentally letting slip that he arranged the whole thing without her knowledge, and got a job in New York so they could be a family. Gabi is furious that he tried to manipulate her and take Arianna away from her father. She argues with him in the Town Square and angrily walks off. She goes into the park and tries to call the agency to turn down the job, but Nick stops her. The two argue again and Nick snaps. He threatens to send Gabi to prison for what she did to Melanie and then tries to rape her. Thinking quickly, she grabs a rock and smashes it into Nick's head. Gabi thinks Nick is dead, and the entire scenario was witnessed by Kate and Sami. Thinking that no one will believe Gabi hit him in self-defense, since they argued publicly in the Town Square, Sami says they need to dispose of the body. They drag Nick and dump him in the river, but he regains consciousness and tries to grab onto them. He gets swept away by the current, and they all believe he's dead. Gabi goes home and tells the boys she turned down the modeling job, but withholds details about Nick and the river.

Will notices how secretive Gabi, Kate, and Sami are being all of a sudden. He asks Sonny to find out what the big secret is, and Sonny finds out what happened down at the river. Sonny neglects to tell Will this, as he would react badly, but he finds out anyway. They promise to keep their mouths shut about it. Will and Gabi have Arianna christened at the church, with Abigail and Sonny as her godparents, and Nick walks in, having survived the river. He threatens Kate, Sami, Will, and Sonny with prison if they don't do what he wants, and begins manipulating Gabi again.

In January, Sonny proposes to Will, who gently turns him down, saying they should get married when the time is right. On February 14, 2014, Will accepts Sonny's proposal, the two officially becoming engaged. They get married on April 3, 2014 at the Kiriakis mansion, which was officiated by Will's grandmother, Marlena Evans.

Nick and Gabi get back together, causing a lot of friction between Gabi and Sami. When Gabi almost moves out with Arianna, Will suggests they arrange a formal custody agreement. Nick instantly volunteers to help Gabi, and hires a lawyer recommended by Abigail. The agreement would limit Will's rights to his daughter, and Nick sets up a custody hearing right away. The day before the hearing, Sonny brings home a gun from his Uncle Victor's house, but Will says he doesn't want it in the house and he certainly doesn't want Sonny to shoot Nick. That day, Nick stumbles into Horton Town Square, having been shot three times. He makes it to the hospital but dies on the operating table. Free of Nick, Gabi cancels the custody hearing and hires EJ to draw up an agreement that's fairer to everyone involved in Arianna's life.

The investigators on Nick's murder case search the Kiriakis mansion and find the gun used to kill Nick. Will automatically assumes Sonny pulled the trigger, and turns himself into the police to protect him. Sonny gets EJ and Sami to intervene, but Will is determined to do this for his family. When Gabi gets word of it, she rushes to the police station and tells him not to do it, admitting that she had killed Nick. Will is cleared by the DA's office and he and Sonny take Arianna home. Gabi is sentenced to ten to twenty years in prison, giving Will and Sonny automatic custody of Arianna. During this ordeal, Will not only finds out about what Gabi did to Melanie, but he also finds out Sonny knew and never told him. Sonny explains the circumstances concerning why he couldn't tell Will, and he understood.

After Will gets his degree, Sonny asks his Uncle Victor to pull some strings and get Will a job writing for his magazine, TruVista. In the wake of this, Sami discovers EJ had an affair with Abigail, but decides to go through marrying EJ, then has him arrested for tax evasion, and makes herself one of the CEOs of DiMera Enterprises behind EJ's back. Will is asked by his editor to write a cover story about it, which he is unsure of at first. Upon discovering that Sami is taking drastic measures to make EJ and Abigail's lives miserable, Will changes his mind and decides to write the article to put her in her place. Sonny worries about Will possibly hurting people, but doesn't say anything, and also doesn't mention that Victor got Will the job because the magazine editor specifically wanted him to write the article.

Will tries to shield Abigail's identity by not mentioning her name in the article. He submits it to his editor, Zoe Browning, who then speaks with Sami and has her read the article to clear up any inaccuracies. Sami is horrified at what Will wrote and gives Zoe Abigail's name. When the article is published, it causes many people to turn against Will, including his own mother. Will eventually finds out that Sonny got him the job at TruVista and never told him. Furious, Will doesn't speak to him for a while, but after talking things out completely, they reconcile. Will isn't happy with Zoe for adding Abigail's name without his knowledge. Zoe tells him she's leaving TruVista for another magazine, Sonics. She offers will a contract there, with clauses stipulating that he wouldn't have to write about his family and that he has final say over any changes to his writing. His first assignment is about Chad DiMera, who has recently returned to Salem.

Reception and Impact

Even if you are not a fan of Days of our Lives or soaps in general, the presence, power, and charm of the couple cannot be denied.

The Huffington Post, Andrew Benkovic[7]

TV Guide said that "while it took 45 years for the show to introduce its first openly gay character (Sonny) and another year and a half to have him find a male partner (Will), the wait was well worth it. This steamy, star-crossed saga has had drama to spare (Paranoia! Blackmail! Impossible parents!), but its real success lies in the fresh, easy charm of these two young men."[8] TV Source Magazine named Will and Sonny Best Couple of 2012 in the Days of Our Lives series, saying "One of the most refreshing things about Will and Sonny’s relationship is it's portrayed just as any heterosexual couple would be. Watching them grow from friends to being in love was one of the highlights of the year for DAYS."[9] Will and Sonny placed ninth on Daytime Confidential Summer's Soap Couple.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Media: Will & Sonny: Days of Our Lives' new supercouple!". eWallstreeter (American Media, Inc.). March 17, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Garcia, Adrian (May 3, 2013). "(Watch) "Days of Our Lives" Supercouple Will And Sonny Receive Daytime Emmy Nominations". The Gaily Grind. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  3. ↑ "The Daytime TV Power Couple That May (or May Not) Surprise You". Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Daytime Emmy Surprises: George Lucas and Princess Leia, Ricki Lake, 'DOOL,' and the F-Bomb". Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Exclusive! Chandler Massey Off of DAYS - Effective Immediately". August 23, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  6. ↑ Fairman, Michael (September 11, 2013). "Guy Wilson Cast As The New Will Horton On Days Of Our Lives!". Michael Fairman On-Air On-Soaps. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ Benkovic, Andrew (July 4, 2013). "The Daytime TV Power Couple That May (or May Not) Surprise You". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  8. ↑ Lewis, Errol (November 16, 2012). "According to TV Guide Magazine ‘GH’ is ‘Hot Again,’ While ‘DAYS’ Has ‘Hotter Nights’". soapoperanetwork.com. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  9. ↑ TVSource, Team (January 28, 2013). "Best of 2012: Soap Opera Edition". tvsourcemagazine.com. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Summer's Best Soap Couples". August 28, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.

External links