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Michael Teh talks ‘Days of Our Lives,’ playing Vincent, acting (Includes interview)

He played the villainous character Vincent in the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. “Days of Our Lives is like a well-oiled machine, with an incredibly experienced, professional crew and cast that operates like a big, friendly family which really positively affects one’s experience working there. I’m super grateful to everyone I worked with for welcoming me into their bubble. Playing a villain is often more fun than playing the hero, so I certainly enjoyed playing Vincent,” he said.

Teh complimented his on-screen acting partners on that show, which included Victoria Konefal, Robert Scott Wilson, and Kassie DePaiva. “Victoria Konefal was a delight to work with. Friendly, professional, super emotionally available… I only wish I got to work with her more,” he said.

The same holds true working with Robert Scott Wilson and Kassie DePaiva. “I think we all really had fun working together. We were often joking, laughing, and smiling in between takes of some pretty intense, dramatic scenes even though Kassie and I were torturing poor Rob’s character,” he said.

“Although, working with Rob with his shirt off, really made me think that I should probably lift heavier in the gym and get super disciplined with my diet,” he added.

When asked how he handled being dialogue-heavy on the show, he said, “Thankfully, we were mostly given the scripts days, and a couple of times weeks, in advance, which made getting off book a lot easier. And I am super grateful that my housemate, fabulous actress Tina Kobas, who was an angel, often running lines with me for hours, which really helped.”

For young and aspiring actors, he said, “Always be training, practicing, and improving your craft. Learn from many excellent teachers. Find an inspirational and supportive community of actors from class and work, and support each other. If you can: write, produce, and/or direct your own material (and cast yourself).”

“Do acting for love, not for money or fame as neither is likely in this very competitive business. Do your best at auditions try to enjoy them as it’s your opportunity to act, and then try to completely forget about them, as there are many reasons why you may not get cast that have nothing do with your performance (like your height). Be persistent and patient,” he said.

On his daily motivations as an actor, he said, “What is fulfilling is using my imagination, making creative choices, and collaborating with other artists. It’s play. It’s fun. My goal and my motivation is to “touch, move and inspire” others with my work. Am also very happy to simply entertain, and to be honest most of my work so far has fallen into this latter category. What motivates me to keep going, is the dream of getting more opportunities to do the former type of work.”

He opened up about life during the quarantine. “I feel blessed to compared to so many. I spent the first few months of the pandemic, hiking the streets and a few tiny trails in my LA neighborhood Laurel Canyon, and fell in love with the vistas, the trees and the range of quirky architecture,” he said.

Teh continued, “Then, I escaped to Australia, went through two weeks compulsory hotel quarantine – which I turned into a meditation, yoga, detox and reading retreat – and was released into a virtually Covid free society with most things open. I then returned to LA to shoot a little more Days of Our Lives, before again returning to Sydney in time for the holidays with my Mum (and going through hotel quarantine again).

“Now, it’s summer, everything’s open, yesterday the city of Sydney with 5.3 million inhabitants recorded only one new case of Covid. The day before it was zero. This is because our governments listen to scientists and we had strong federal leadership (with policies like compulsory hotel quarantine for anyone entering the country). So I feel very blessed to be back Downunder,” he exclaimed.

Michael Teh

Michael Teh
Bjoern Kommerell

Teh had nothing but the greatest remarks working with master photographer Bjoern Kommerell. “Loved working with Bjoern and will work with him again in the future. He has a great imagination and has you place yourself into stories he creates and verbalizes as he shoots you. The result, great dramatic headshots,” he said.

On his definition of the word success, he said, “To me, you have success if you have your health and happiness. And some people even manage happiness while their health is fading, and are actively passing it on to others. That to me is mastery in life. Career-wise, I’d just love to be acting on projects with incredible writing and collaborators that touch, move and inspire as well as entertain audiences, and support myself doing it, until very old age.”

For his fans and supporters, he said, “To all seven of you that follow me on Instagram and Facebook @actormichaelteh. Thank you.”

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 20,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

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