Q & A with Joseph Mascolo
(Stefano DiMera on Days of Our Lives)

Soap characters play many mind games with each other, but nobody does them better than Joe Mascolo's Stefano DiMera on Days of Our Lives. Just ask Vivian Alamain's dentist or Hope Williams (aka Princess Gina).

To Mascolo's credit, he's created a lasting antagonist in a medium where villains tend not to stick around. Sure, the accent is fake, but the talent and enthusiasm are the real deal. Here, the actor shares his thoughts on Stefano's appeal, the current youth kick on soaps, and TV daughter Eileen Davidson's return to daytime.— Michael J. Maloney

You must be asked fairly often if you can name all Stefano's children.

[Laughs] I am. Most people know better than I do. Why don't you give it a shot?

OK. Megan. Tony. Renee. Benjy. Kristen. Peter. Lexie. Elvis.

Those are the ones. I keep saying that Stefano is a walking sperm bank. He's staying busy in that department. You never actually see him doing it that much, but he certainly must be.

The writers have given you some pretty outlandish stuff to play over the years. It's required a certain suspension of belief on your part, as an actor, as well as on the audience's part.

Exactly. We have to make this fantastic kind of stuff semi-believable so that the people will go along with us even though, intellectually, they may know differently. You have to commit. It takes a little bit more work. Take the thing with the tooth — the gimmick of it is funny. However, people have a right to say, "Forget it. If the actor's not going to go with this, then why should we?"

Which is not to say that the audience believes the things that Stefano does could happen in real life.

Oh, yes. The audience is much smarter than it's given credit for. They notice everything to the minutest detail. It's always been a fight of mine to respect that. I don't believe that you have to write down to anyone. I tell writers that you have to believe in yourself and in what you write. You can't try and second guess a viewer in Indiana. If what you're writing has any worth whatsoever, it will become universal.

Your first stint on Days was from 1982 to '85, you returned briefly in 1988, and came back again in 1993. Were you recognized as Stefano during your time away?

Yes. Years back, I did a show on off-Broadway called Breaking Legs with Vincent Gardenia (Moonstruck) and Larry Storch (F Troop). It was hilarious. We did a cross-country tour and audiences would laugh and laugh. Invariably, people would come backstage afterwards and ask me, "When are you bringing Stefano back to Days?" It was amazing. I think that Stefano's become a cult character. Someone said to me about him that if a train were to hit Stefano, we'd expect him to get up after it passed over him. It's fun thinking about a character in those terms.

Daytime villains can be pretty black-and-white, but Stefano has a certain nobility about him. When he kidnapped Marlena, he still treated her like a queen.

I've been fortunate with this character in that producers and writers have allowed me to bring colors that ordinarily I don't think that actors are allowed to [bring to soap characters]. I feel that Stefano is beyond villainy. It's about power, whether you're on the side of good or bad. Stefano always holds onto a modicum of dignity. The audience recognizes the vulnerability that Stefano has with the people he loves.

There have been several different head writers during your run as Stefano. Pat Falken Smith, Jim Reilly and now Sally Sussman-Morina. How has Stefano fared under each of them?

Pat invented the character. She had seen a mini-series I had done on NBC in 1981 called The Gangster Chronicles. When we discussed my playing Stefano, I had the audacity to say to her, "Do you read books?" She said yes. Well, we got some books on power and went from there. I told her that I wanted to do this accent with the character and incorporate my music into Stefano, too. When Pat left, I left, because [the writing] wasn't as good. The Reilly regime was wonderful. The stories became fantastical and that was challenging. [Reilly's team] really liked Stefano and they wrote for him. Now, we have Sally. I think that she's humanized Stefano a little bit more in terms of the language he uses, and that's been quite lovely.

Soaps seem to have a big youth kick going on, but when you look at the top-rated shows, there are plenty of veteran adult characters constantly on the front burner.

To be honest, it can be annoying. If all that these young people have is "a look" and no experience, then the audience is [losing out]. I just don't understand it. I get mail from six-year-old kids to 90-year-olds. I recently got a letter from a 13-year-old who wrote that "Stefano rules!" If a character is believable and honest, then the age doesn't make a difference. It's the strength of the character that the audience relates to. They want to see some kind of honesty. Instead of getting a pretty person — and God knows I've got nothing against beauty — a show would do well to hire somebody who has something going on inside them that shines through. Look at Meryl Streep. She's not the most beautiful woman in the world, but, boy, when she does her thing, she becomes beautiful. What more do you need?

I can never approach daytime saying, "Oh, it's just a soap opera." I don't care whether we're doing Gone With The Wind or Days of Our Lives. I'm responsible and I'm going to do it the best way that I can.

How did your recent singing gig on the show come about? Did you enjoy it?

I had asked [Executive Producer] Tom Langan about singing on the show because I feel that characters need to have certain vulnerabilities to humanize them. I said I'd love to do a scene where Stefano gets drunk and loses a bit of control. He got it in there. I did an aria, and it was a lot of fun. The crew applauded, and at the studio, they're my audience. Someone up in the production office told me that a professor from Chicago called about that scene. He said that he didn't know that things like that were done on soap operas. He wanted a copy of the scene to show his students.

Eileen Davidson (ex-Kristen/Susan/etc.) recently returned to daytime, but it was to The Young and the Restless. Were you disappointed that she didn't return to Days?

If she's happy, and I gather that she is, then I'm happy for her. I don't watch Y&R, but I hear that it's a whole different world there, especially in terms of scheduling. I honestly didn't think that she'd return to daytime this quickly. But she's got time to do other things, so it's all good for her. Eventually, we're going to have to deal with [Susan and Stefano's son] Elvis. Someday, Stefano will walk into a room and there he'll be — a 16-year-old playing a guitar.

No doubt. Is there anyone else you'd like to work with again, like Thaao Penghlis, Philece Sampler or Jason Brooks (ex-Tony, ex-Renee and ex-Peter)?

Thaao and I always had great fun. I've actually been very fortunate with all the people that I've worked with. We always have a good time. [Dryly] Otherwise, I'll beat them up.

Do you have any roles outside of Days coming up?

I may do a reading of a romance novel on tape, but I really haven't had time for anything else. I heard Analyze This with Billy Crystal and Bob De Niro is just hilarious. I had an offer to work on it last year, but it would have meant spending 10 weeks in New York on location. [Sighs] There's no way I could have done it. There really isn't time to do anything else when you're on the daytime schedule. However, I've made a commitment to Stefano and I'm going to do it right.

You sound refreshingly philosophical. A lot of younger actors are always griping about not being able to get out [of their contracts] to do something else.

A few of the young actors will see their face on the cover of a magazine and think, "Hey, maybe I am good!" The next thing you know, you've never heard of them again. There are just some things that come from experience.

Like knowing that Stefano could go on forever.