On Tuesday, November 25, Days of Our Lives released an extended promo teasing major upcoming storyline. And while the video, released on the show’s official Instagram and Facebook accounts, revealed many dramatic twists, it was a blink-and-you-missed-it appearance by an actor fans immediately recognized as Wes Ramsey that really got the audience talking!
Something Wicked This Way Comes?
Toward the end of the promo, which clocks in at over two minutes long, fan favorite Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols) is shown walking in the park with Brady (Eric Martsolf) when he suddenly grabs a man wearing a hoodie, restraining him. Roars Steve, “Where is my daughter?” While the mystery man’s face is shown for barely more than a split second, it was long enough for viewers to identify him as being played by Ramsey, who first appeared on DAYS in 2009 in the role of Owen Kent. During Owen’s time in Salem, he was involved with Steve’s daughter, Stephanie, who is now played by Abigail Klein but was portrayed by Shelley Hennig at the time.
Owen worked as a gardener for the Kiriakis family and found himself in the middle of the ongoing battle between the Kiriakises and the DiMeras. When Stefano (Joseph Mascolo) was kidnapped by Victor (John Aniston), EJ (then played by James Scott) ordered Owen to kidnap Stephanie. Owen, whose father was a mortician named Walter (Gordon Thomson), obliged and held Stephanie captive in a morgue. During the time that he was holding her hostage, Owen became obsessed with Stephanie. Eventually, Brady, Melanie (Molly Burnett) and Philip (Jay Kenneth Johnson) deduced that Stephanie was in Owen’s clutches and figured out where he was holding her. With assistance from Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope (Kristian Alfonso), they rode to her rescue, and once she was freed, Owen was arrested. However, en route to being transferred to prison, Owen managed to escape and once he slipped away from the authorities, he was never seen again.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for DAYS would not confirm that Ramsey is returning as Owen or comment on whether he is playing a new character. In fact, the rep wouldn’t confirm that Ramsey is rejoining the cast at all, saying only, “The fans will have to wait and see!”
DAYS was Ramsey’s second soap stint. He made his daytime debut on Guiding Light, where he played Sam Spencer from 2000-02, with subsequent appearances in 2004 and 2008. After his run on DAYS, he joined General Hospital as Peter August, the nefarious son of Cesar Faison (Anders Hove). When he was first cast in 2017, he told Soap Opera Digest, “I had actually already taken the initiative myself to try to find another home in daytime again. There had been about a seven-year gap for me between Guiding Light and DAYS, and now, seven or eight years after that, I guess I got the itch again! I thought, ‘Maybe I can find something that could work out, that could be fun and keep me creatively satiated.’” He remained with GH until 2022, a role he played until Felicia (Kristina Wagner) killed him in defense of her daughter, Maxie (Kirsten Storms).
While he hasn’t appeared on a soap since Peter’s demise, Ramsey has a soap connection that hits very close to home: His real-life leading lady is GH’s Laura Wright (Carly). The duo first met while both were appearing on GL during Wright’s time there as Cassie Layne and reconnected in 2017 prior to him joining the Port Charles ranks.
