After playing Theresa Donovan on the long-running NBC soap on-and-off since 2013, Lilley said she thought the network was bluffing when she learned that Emily O’Brien would be taking over her role.<\/p>\n
“Top to bottom, it was just not handled the right way. Everybody was mad because everybody was kind of lied to,” the 39-year-old actress told Soaps.com<\/strong> in August.<\/p>\n Lilley’s return as Theresa Donovan was first reported in mid-August, with the character coming back to Salem for Victor Kiriakis’ funeral. Victor was famously portrayed by John Aniston, who died in November 2022 at the age of 89.<\/p>\n What was supposed to be a three week shoot turned into a 12-week commitment. But that arc came to an abrupt end when Lilley found out that O’Brien would be replacing her for the actual funeral.<\/p>\n Calling it a “horrible situation,” Lilley claimed that former co-executive producer, Albert Alarr, broke the news to her mid-shoot.<\/p>\n After Lilley allegedly told Alarr, “Listen, you told me Theresa’s going to do X, Y and Z, and I haven’t gotten the scripts. I only have one more for Monday, and I have two weeks left [on set],” she claims he responded with some shocking news… Theresa<\/em> wasn’t going anywhere, Lilley was.<\/p>\n “Oh no, Theresa is still going to do all of that… We’re going to do it with a different Theresa,” Alarr said, per Lilley.<\/p>\n Lilley said once she found out what was going on, she went straight to O’Brien and hugged her.<\/p>\n “That must be so awkward for you,” she recalled telling her replacement.<\/p>\n “That poor girl has had to have conversations with me. How horrible she must have felt!,” Lilley continued.<\/p>\n As for how the fans found out, that happened Monday, during the credits of the show’s October 2 episode.<\/p>\n Despite the cast shake-up, Lilley said she has no hard feelings towards O’Brien, who since 2020, has played Gwen Rizczech on the show.<\/p>\n “For the record, I think Emily is a rock star,” Lilley later wrote on her Instagram Story.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/images.toofab.com\/image\/b1\/o\/2023\/10\/03\/b1e233021b274dd8bb8a1b6f03d1c4c2_md.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n Mark Hamill, James Gunn Lead Tributes for Original Harley Quinn, Arleen Sorkin, Dead at 67 <\/h4>\n
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