Deidre Hall Reflects on Nearly 50 Years on “Days of Our Lives” and Teases When She’d Ever Leave (Exclusive)

Deidre Hall is reflecting on her decades-long run on Days of Our Lives.

The 78-year-old actress who plays Marlena Evans, a charismatic psychiatrist, spoke exclusively to PEOPLE at the 60th anniversary celebration hosted by Peacock on Nov. 8.

“It’s a lifestyle, it’s a family, it’s a place to belong,” Hall says, who joined the soap in 1976. “I raised my children here, the best time with the best people.”

“Nothing’s been on television for 60 years? You must realize that,” she continues. “So I’ve said it before, but it’s a lot of people doing a lot of things right, and we’ve got good leadership. We’re a family show. We’re running and produced and run by a family, always have been, so it just makes sense that we would last 60 years.”

Hall jokes that she plans to stay on the show until her “key doesn’t open that gate.”

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Recalling her first day on set, Hall says she mixed up which character she was playing.

“I had a scene with Matt Carey, and I approached him. He was working with Mary Fran, who played Amanda, and I thought she’s so beautiful, and I was transfixed watching her work,” Hall says. “Matt was introducing us, and he said, ‘I’d like you to meet Dr. Evans.’ And I said, ‘Oh no, please call me Amanda.’ And the scene stopped.”

“I waited for somebody to figure out they messed up. And finally, Matt came in and said, ‘Darling, she’s Amanda. You’re Marlena,’” she continues.

“So that was my first day,” Hall says. “Try to remember who you’re playing. A good life lesson.”

The actress had three stints during her tenure on the soap with brief breaks in between: 1976–1987, 1991–2009 and 2011–present.

With over 40 years under her belt, Hall says her proudest moment as Marlena is the famous pier scene with John Black [Drake Hogestyn], Marlena’s other half in her on-again, off-again marriage. The on-screen couple first tied the knot in 1986, and their marriage dissolved with his character’s death.

“Seeing John on the pier, referred to as the ‘famous pier scene,’ where he thinks I’m dead, and I come out of the fog. You could just hear the audience screaming. That’s a big favorite,” she says, adding, “I think the great thrill for daytime is to be able to play the moment that your audience is waiting for.”

Hogestyn, who played John, actor died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 70 on Sept. 28, 2024.

In a November interview with Access Hollywood, Hall shared how much she missed seeing Hogestyn on set. “He loved being here, just loved it. And I miss that for him,” she continued. “I will sometimes just be sitting on the set thinking, ‘John is gone! Oh my gosh, Drake is gone.’”

When PEOPLE asks if she believes Marlena is ready for a new love interest, Hall says she feels it’s too soon.

“I would defer to Ken Corday [the show’s co-creator] and our writers,” she says. “Obviously, I was married to Roman for a while, and then John was Roman. Also, I’ve had several husbands. Doesn’t mean the audience can’t accept it, but I think it would be very soon, way too soon.”

She continues, “For people that have watched the show for a very long time, we have a lot of widows out there that are trying to navigate that. And the fact that Marlena and Julie [Olson Williams, also widowed] have become great friends is a gift. So you’ll keep watching for more of that.”

As for what Marlena and the show have taught her, Hall says it’s allowed her to trust writers completely. “They know best. They have their finger on the pulse of the audience all the time. They know what they’re ready for. They know what they’re not ready for,” she explains.

She adds, “When I was called upstairs at one point and told by Jim Riley that I was going to be possessed by the devil, I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I don’t even know,’ And he was a devout Catholic, deeply religious man who said, ‘We can do it.’ And, so I thought, ‘You’re in charge, you write it well enough and do it in an honorable way.’ And as you know, the audience went mad for it.”

Days of Our Lives can be streamed on Peacock.