STATUS

Looks like we’ll be seeing plenty of Zach Tinker as Sonny Kiriakis on “Days of our Lives” now that it appears that the actor is on contract with the daytime drama series, according to the latest show credits.

First appearing as Sonny in the Peacock limited series “Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem,” Tinker reprised the role in December in the show’s first-ever original movie, “Days of our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas,” which was also released on the streamer. Despite previously portraying the role on the two “DAYS” projects, Tinker didn’t appear on the mothership series until the Thursday, March 10 episode alongside on-screen love interest Chander Massey (Will Horton) who sadly only appears in a recurring capacity due to other obligations. The role of Sonny Kiriakis was previously portrayed by Freddie Smith.

In an interview featured in the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest, on newsstands now, Massey told the publication of his full-time job as a data visualization specialist at a health care analytics company based in Atlanta which makes things less practical in terms of scheduling appearances on the soap.

“I pop in and out of DAYS, so I build up enough PTO at my real job,” Massey shares. “When ‘DAYS’ asks if I want to come out for a week, sometimes I do double duty. That means cutting it a little close in terms of meetings and things like that when I’m in Los Angeles. It’s just earlier days. My company is on East Coast time. So if I’m jumping into meetings at 8 a.m., it means 5 a.m. on the West Coast.”

“Sometimes I can take the time off,” Massey continued. “I’ve done it several times, and it seems to be something that I’ve shown my company I can manage, that my productivity won’t fall off. I’ve been able to make it work so far, luckily.” He added, “Of course, there’s the reality that when you’re on contract, they have more invested in you. They can spend more time making a story for your character. When you just come in every now and then, obviously, for logistical reasons, you can’t really be the center or integral part of a big storyline. I don’t get the meaty stuff that I used to get, but it’s still fun to see everybody and pop in.”

The news of Tinker being placed on contract was first reported by Jason47, the ultimate “Days of our Lives” historian, per the official show credits displayed on the Tuesday, March 15 episode. Soap Opera Network has since independently confirmed Tinker’s being placed on contract.