He was more than just the man of the hour. Days of Our Lives star Drake Hogsetyn, who was best known for his role as John Black on the hit soap, passed away this past week from pancreatic cancer.
Here’s What Drake Hogestyn Really Thought About John Black
But before his death, he did have a lot to say about the soap that helped make him a household name, along with his on-screen character John Black.
When asked about his favorite thing about playing John, the actor told Soap Opera Digest in an interview back in 2023, “What I like about John Black goes all the way back to when I read for [former DAYS Casting Director] Doris Sabbagh. She started describing the character and I said, ‘Doris, time out.’”
“I reached into my satchel and pulled out Robert Ludlum’s book The Bourne Identity. I said, ‘This is the most riveting character. I’m on pins and needles.’ Doris said, ‘Oh, my God. We talked about [Jason Bourne].”
“We can’t license the name, but we’re going to take the initials JB, and call him John Black.’ That was the reason [I took the job]. My manager and agent fought me. They did not want me to do daytime. But I said, ‘It’s an amazing character.’”
“Just the whole idea of this guy who didn’t know who he was. How did he find himself? And, of course, that was all because of Marlena.”
He also said that one of his memorable location shoots was when the cast and crew went to Greece back in 1987.
Drake Loved Playing John Black On DOOL
Drake said, “The night we got there, my buddy John Aniston [ex-Victor] grabbed his wife, Sherry, me and [my wife] Victoria and said, ‘Okay, stay with me. I know this town like the back of my hand. I’m going to show you the best places to eat and everything else.’ We shot in The Acropolis and at the Temple of Poseidon.”
“I remember being miked up and standing on this cliff overlooking the Aegean Sea, and there were 20 different shades of colors.”
“I was talking to myself, rambling on and on, ‘This makes Malibu look like dog meat.’ It was beautiful. We couldn’t shoot inside any of the temples.”
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