Congratulations Nominees!

Thaao Penghlis has been playing Tony and his evil identical twin cousin Andre for more than 25 years now, but that doesn't mean he's resting on his laurels. Quite the contrary; he's always thinking, always coming up with new ways to make his work more memorable. That's one of the reasons for Thaao's frequent, and often exotic, trips around the globe. "I fill myself up with the elements of another society, of another culture. So when I come back, I feel all the richer for it. I incorporate it into the character," he tells us. "It's the way I've found of keeping the character alive and have survived this long." Because, as Thaao points out, "it's not just playing it; it's about earning your keep."

Earning his keep? Thaao has more than done that, as evidenced in the two episodes he submitted for his nomination. In the first, all you coulrophobes out there may remember, he was Andre (not Tony), dressed as an evil clown. Thaao had more than one reason to want to do his best that day; it was new producer Ed Scott's first day on set. "If he's going to know who we are," Thaao reasoned, "we'd better give it up front because he may miss it later." Of course, finding out Alison Sweeney also fears clowns gave him more motivation. "I felt more than any other performance I've ever done, the clown allowed me to go beyond the norm. I could get away with it because he is a clown. He is someone who is so hidden you can't understand where he's coming from. I remember that famous murderer, who used to murder young man, and he was always painting clowns. I thought about all those different issues and even the clown in The Greatest Show on Earth, I remember when he took off his makeup, he was going through enormous pain. That's how I kind of played it. Someone who had great pain, and at the same time was going to inflict it on others."

The second episode might've been less directly threatening, but it was certainly no less intense. Andre was playing opposite Kate. "I remember grabbing her," Thaao tells us, "and she didn't know, and I kissed her in the middle of the speech. Just so that she would be totally thrown and I would take control. Everything was about taking control, but at the same time menacing and having revelations." Because Andre, as Thaao describes him, "enjoys disturbing happy people."

Andre is a 'disturber,' but that describe Thaao, as well. "That's me in real life," Thaao says. "I am a disturber. I do say things or do things sometimes for effect. I just want to see if people are listening." He may be a bit controversial, sure, but Thaao is also sincere in his appreciation for his life here in Salem. "I'd like to get this for the show. I'm sure the others feel that way. In the end, the big picture, it's for the show. We all want to be acknowledged, especially when you've worked as hard as we have and because it's a serial, it's done in one day and on to the next. We never pause long enough to appreciate." Well, we appreciate you, Thaao, and all of your hard work. And best of luck on June 20.

Rachel Melvin

Rachel Melvin also didn't have to wait to watch The View to learn about her nomination. She got a call from her mom, but thought she would've already heard if she had been nominated. So when she heard the panic in her mom's voice, she thought "did someone die?" Happily, this was not the case. Rachel's mother told her she'd been nominated.

Rachel's next reaction was pretty typical. "I was driving, I was about to turn into work and I was freaking out. And I knew I couldn't make a big deal out of it. So I pulled into my parking space, I rolled up my windows, I turned off my music and I was like, I have to do this. And I just screamed! I just let out a giant scream!"

For her submission, Rachel chose the episode in which Chelsea learns that Billie and Nick slept together. "I was really comfortable with my performance with Julie and Blake," Rachel told us. "I felt like there was one scene in particular that had been my best work to date. I felt like if I didn't get nominated, at least I wouldn't have had any regret about what I submitted. I would've known that I put my best work out there."

For her second episode, Rachel chose one involving her sorority sisters; they invited rapist Ford Decker over and he ended up dead. Most of the time, you see clips of nominees crying. "Sometimes," as Rachel pointed out, "it's refreshing to see someone not crying. So the one that I picked, I looked completely different, I was acting completely different, it was from one side of the spectrum to the other and I thought it was a nice contrast."

Clearly, she's right, since her selections helped garner her nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress. Congratulations, Rachel, and best of luck.

Judi Evans

Judi Evans was lucky. She had not one but two characters to choose from when putting together her Emmy reel. She played both Bonnie Lockhart and Adrienne Johnson and, for a touch of humor, chose an episode in which Bonnie and her son Connor were stealing her dead husband's body from the morgue. For her Adrienne episode, it was all drama. Judi chose the episode in which Adrienne was snuck into the asylum to talk to her brother Steve. Judi complimented the actors she worked with in both episodes, calling them her "two lucky charms."

When Judi found out from a friend that she'd been nominated, her first response was "you have to have the wrong name!" She had to watch The View herself to "make sure they got it right. My son was home from school that day and we were both jumping up and down and screaming!" And the first thing her son Austin asked was "I get to go, right?" Judi checked with her husband first, but he just said "'I knew Austin was going.' It was never an issue."

So now, in addition to trying to find a dress, Judi has "been thinking about which tuxedo will look good on Austin. That's more important to me!"

Whichever dress Judi chooses, she's sure to look great, and she'll have super-cute date on her arm. Good luck, Judi!

Darin Brooks

Instead of watching the drama unfold on The View, Darrin Brooks learned about his nomination via some East Coast friends who texted him early in the morning. "I woke up, looked at my phone, then went back to sleep," Darrin says. "It's better to find out from other people, than to get all nervous while watching it. I'm very excited, but all I really cared about is the nomination. Rachel and I were talking about it. The rest is just gravy."

"The first person I called was my dad," Darrin told us. "My mom is in China, so I knew I couldn't reach her. I left a message for my dad. He was out surfing and he called me when he got out of the water." Darrin seems to share his father's cool Hawaiian attitude about his nomination; he's excited, but you'd hardly notice it through that humble exterior.

For his submission, Darrin submitted two episodes: the first was during the 'Save the Earth' event at the Cheatin' Heart, when Max had to kick out an aggressive Ford and the two nearly came to blows. The second showed Max's softer, romantic side, as he and Stephanie cleaned up the Cheatin' Heart, then shared a slow dance. The contrast seemed to work. Congratulations on your nomination, Darrin. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Days of our Lives' nominees for the 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are: Outstanding Younger Actress Rachel Melvin (Chelsea), Outstanding Younger Actor Darrin Brooks (Max), Outstanding Supporting Actress Judi Evans (Adrienne) and Outstanding Lead Actor Thaao Penghlis (Tony/Andre).

Also nominated was the Days of our Lives Hair and Makeup Team. Makeup artists Gail Hopkins, Deidre Decker Wilson, Glen Alen Gutierrez, Jolene Rizzo and Nina Wells, and hairstylists Margie Puga, Matthew Holman, Gary Allyn, Kim Salvatore and Monica Sabedra.

Congratulations to all of our nominees. Make sure to watch the 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, June 20 on ABC.