She is back on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, where she reprised the role of Bonnie Lockhart. “That is so fun,” she admitted. “It is such an honor to be back in this production. I am so grateful. Bonnie is such a fun character to play. I love that there are no boundaries with Bonnie. Her heart is in the right place. She’s sassy and fun.”
When asked how she handles being dialogue-heavy on the show, Evans responded, “I love it. It’s a great challenge. I am actually used to it after 37 years.”
On being an actress in the digital age, she said, “I am a little challenged, digitally. I still have to figure it out.”
She hopes to be a part of the #Cinful Days Star Struck Fan Event that will be held on September 5 and 6 in Providence, Rhoda Island. To learn more information on this upcoming fan event in Rhode Island, click here. “We are waiting to see what is going to happen,” she said. “I love fan events and I being around people. Days of Our Lives fans are so loyal and wonderful. I love Paul and Keith’s events because they are very intimate, and I have developed friendships with people I would have never met otherwise. Those fan events are so wonderful and really fun. I hope the Providence one happens since it will be a nice getaway.”
Joining her will be such actors as Robert Scott Wilson, Victoria Konefal, Kate Mansi, Billy Flynn, Matthew Ashford, and Eric Martsolf. “Eric is the best,” she exclaimed. “He is so wonderful and he is so funny. He is just amazing.”
She also enjoys having her online fan club with Star Struck Fan Events. For more information on Judi Evans’ fan club, click here. “I love the fanclub too,” she said. “I am a little bit behind sending cards this year since I have had a few setbacks this year, I know I have some belated birthday cards to send out and I apologize, but I promise they are coming.”
Evans revealed that she had a great time being a part of Deidre Hall’s “Between the Glass” segment on Instagram. “I love her. Deidre is an amazing lady. Isn’t she wonderful? I adore her. She is such a great friend and an incredible actress to work with. We have so much fun together,” she said.
She praised her luminous on-screen acting partner Wally Kurth for being such a wonderful actor and one that is very underrated. “Wally is so versatile: he can do comedy, drama, and he is so musically talented too. I am glad he is getting the Emmy nominations and accolades that he has deserved for 35 years,” she said.
“Bryan Dattilo is very overlooked and underrated too. Between Wally and Bryan Dattilo, I get to work with two of the most wonderful gentlemen in the world. It is so hard to work with both of them,” she said with a sweet laugh. “I look forward to going to work every day. I am so lucky.”
For young and aspiring actors, she said, “It’s a hard industry. As long as you love acting, do it for the acting, not for making money. Be in it because you love playing other characters, and never stop growing. Study. You are going to learn a lot from everyone. Stretch yourself. It needs to be your passion, and not for fame. I have very lucky my whole life, and I just love acting so much. Embrace it and immerse yourself in it.”
She enjoyed playing the character of Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis. “When we went to Greece, that was one of my absolute favorite whole group of episodes. It was a fabulous country,” she recalled.
On her career-defining moments, she said, “Every moment and every character defined me for different reasons. I have been lucky enough to play different characters. Each character has its moments and its turning points. I can’t stress how lucky and blessed I have been in my career.”
In 1984, Evans won the Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series” for her portrayal of Beth Raines in Guiding Light. “That was kind of crazy,” she admitted. “Every happened so fast, so I wasn’t able to enjoy it the way people do when they get older.”
She went on to praise the writers of soap operas for the extraordinary work that they do day in and day out. “It all starts with the writing. Without the writing, there is nothing. I have been so lucky to be able to work with some incredible writers,” she said. “Writers in daytime are the most talented. It is really difficult write for 25 to 30 people. They write amazing scripts every day. I commend all the writers since they have the hardest job there is, and they do such a great job. They write a play a day, which can be 90 to 100 pages. The writers just blow me away.”
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said, “I’m a Survivor…” “I pick myself up, I try to dust myself off, and keep moving forward,” she said.
She defined the word success as “feeling good about yourself and being able to lift other people up on your journey in life, in an effort to help each other.”
For her fans and supporters, Evans remarked, “I am so grateful to them since they afford me the privilege to do what I really love. I am eternally thankful. Without the fans, there wouldn’t be shows and we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. I love that the fans are multigenerational, that’s an honor. I hope to meet every single person that has ever watched the soaps.”
To learn more about Emmy award-winning actress Judi Evans, follow her on Twitter.
