Time to ’fess up! On the November 10 episode of Days of Our Lives, Arianna will finally admit to Brady that she’s been leading a secret life as an undercover narc agent. But he doesn’t get pissed. Instead, they hit the sack. But that’s just another day at the office for Lindsay Hartley and Eric Martsolf. Prior to Days they played Theresa and Ethan, a very different set of lovers on Passions. The two goofy stars talked to TV Guide Magazine about Ari’s big reveal and what it’s like to be on a soap where the sex is, um, normal.

You two spent years together on Passions with demons, tsunamis, killer hermaphrodites—is it weird to now find yourselves on a more reality-based show? Of course, we’re talking about Days so “reality-based” is a relative term.
Martsolf: After Passions, it’s so strange being on Days. The walls don’t bleed! No one’s putting you under a witch’s spell in order to have sex with you. It’s weird to be on something so character-driven. On Days we get inside the minds of our characters. We actually have conversations where we talk about our emotions.
Hartley: I like the fact that if Days tells the audience that something is about to happen it actually happens—and within like the next two or three episodes. And then we move on! One time on Passions it took us six weeks of episodes to play out one day in Harmony time. I was in the same dress for six weeks!
Martsolf: That’s so un-Hollywood of you.
Hartley: It got to the point where that dress could stand up and walk on its own.
Martsolf: Things move so fast on Days that we just did a scene with Arianna’s sister where Arianna refers to Brady as her “ex.” And I’m like, “Uh...did our characters break up again? I wasn’t aware of that.” We’ve gotten together and broken up about four times in the last month.

Lindsay, there must be a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for you. You played the exact same plot during the entire nine-year run of Passions—Theresa trying to land Ethan.
Martsolf: There should be a special Emmy category for that—Continued Career Despite A Lack of Storyline! Our dynamic on the two shows couldn’t be more different. On Passions my character was Dudley Do-Right, now I’m playing an ex-druggie. Lindsay was this doe-eyed girl, now she’s hunting down Salem’s top drug lord. The sex is different, too. Days has half the budget Passions had, so we have half the thread count on the sheets— and I’m getting chafed! The burns are just horrible.
Hartley: At least the sex on Days is consensual. I don’t think Theresa ever had sex with Ethan without drugging him first and basically raping him.
Martsolf: These are the things that made Passions special! It’s true. Most of Ethan’s physical relationship with Theresa was based on him being sedated. Lindsay, have you ever had sex in real life when you were sober?
Hartley: [No response]
Martsolf: You notice that she’s not answering the question.
Hartley: [Still no response]
Martsolf: This is an awkward silence. I live for moments like this.
Hartley: [Laughs] I need to go get some wine down me right now before I can answer that. Did we ever have sober sex on Passions? I don’t remember it if we did.
Martsolf: Ethan and Theresa would get to third base and be rounding home but then Gwen [Liza Huber] would always show up. Basically, it was nine years of foreplay.

Lindsay, are you playing out some weird sort of past-life thing with your leading men? Not only have you re-teamed with Eric, but on Days you and Galen Gering (Rafe) are playing brother and sister—the same relationship you had on Passions. What’s going on here?
Hartley: I know! Isn’t it surreal? The wild thing is that my husband [former Passions star Justin Hartley, now on Smallville] and I had dinner with Eric and his wife, Lisa, at Universal City Walk the night before I got the phone call from Days. The exec producer Gary Tomlin called me and said “What are you doing right now?” I said, “Right now, right now? Or in my life right now?” He said, “No, right this second. Can you meet me right now?” Within 10 minutes, we were having lunch and discussing the part.

Eric, did you know Days was planning to re-cast Arianna and give the part to Lindsay? Did you have anything to do with it?
Martsolf: I had heard some buzz in the hallway a few days prior that something might be going down. I had actually spoken to Gary about hiring Lindsay back when they first brought on the character, but at the time that wasn’t the direction they wanted to go in. They thought there would be too much Passions in one pot. Then all of a sudden I got a call from Gary at 7:30 in the morning on my way to work and he said, “I just want to let you know you’ll be working with Lindsay today. Okay, gotta go!” Then there was a dial tone. The guy couldn’t have been more curt about the whole thing but that’s business. I think it was a very wise move.
Hartley: I have to say that Days is the best job I’ve ever had—not that I’ve had many. Everybody is happy there and I cannot get over that. Everyone is so professional and they care and don’t complain. It’s just so wonderful.

You’re not making Passions sound too pleasant by comparison. What exactly are you saying?
Martsolf: Yes, Lindsay, what are you saying?
Hartley: Don’t get me wrong! I love Passions. I met my husband and had a kid and life is great, all because of Passions. But going to work at Days is like… well… it’s like walking into a rainbow.

A rainbow? Lindsay, are you drinking now?
Hartley: [Laughs] No! It is like a rainbow at Days!
Martsolf: I think what Lindsay is trying to say is that Passions and Days are apples and oranges. We all worked very hard on Passions and usually got less than stellar reviews, but we really put our hearts and souls into it. When we got the axe from NBC, DirectTV came to us and said “We’ll keep you on the air for a couple of years.” But then “a couple of years” turned into six months and it all abruptly ended and we were hit with harsh reality. We were all sitting there with kids and families wondering, “Will we ever find another job?” So Days coming along was an absolute blessing.

The acting on Passions never got much respect, and certainly no Emmys. Did you feel you emerged from that show with a tainted rep?
Martsolf: I sure as hell didn’t. I can rattle off a lot of bad movies De Niro and Pacino did—that doesn’t mean they’re bad actors. There was some real talent on Passions but it wasn’t always utilized because of the ludicrous storylines. It’s not easy turning lemons into lemonade every day.
Hartley: We worked so hard and still had so much negative feedback. You feel proud to be on Days because people like it! It’s a positive experience, a good thing. On Passions, we worked our asses off. We didn’t expect awards but it would have been nice to get some positive response. It was hard. But I’m glad for it, because I wouldn’t be on Days if it wasn’t for Passions. It was tough bu t it allowed for my entire life—the future I’m living in today is because of Passions.

I was surprised to see your boss Ken Corday quoted in Soap Opera Digest, intimating that the Brady-Arianna relationship isn’t going to last.
Martsolf: Whaat? He really said that?

Yep. Here’s exactly what he said: “Are we building a relationship between these two? Yes. In the end, though, I don’t think she’s going to end up with Brady.”
Martsolf: Uh…that’s an interesting quote.

Well, Ken’s famous for saying weird sh-t but it sure does seem a bit soon to be throwing a damper on the relationship. It’s just getting started.
Martsolf: I don’t believe Brady and Ari are going to sit around and have sex and eat strawberries for the rest of their tenure on Days but still…
Hartley: That is odd…
Martsolf: Lindsay, I think you and I should march right up to Ken Corday’s office tomorrow morning and demand a response!
Hartley: [Laughs nervously but says nothing]

What makes Arianna finally admit her secret to Brady?
Martsolf: Brady had become semi-okay with Ari’s insistence that they keep their relationship a secret but then he presses the issue. He’s tired of the secrecy and the lies and she comes clean. His reaction to the whole thing took me by surprise. I thought this was going to be a deal breaker because Brady has his trust issues, but he takes it better than I thought he would. Having been in rehab, he wants to be able to trust people again—and be trusted—and here’s this girl who tells him her ultimate secret and trusts him with it. He can’t help but be appreciative of that.
Hartley: In order to be complete and fully intimate with Brady, Arianna needs to tell him the truth. She’s surprised by his reaction, too. He goes above and beyond. Am I allowed to tell you what happens after that? What he does is very meaningful. Brady starts helping Arianna find the head of the drug cartel so they can end all this and she can be saved. He becomes her partner in crime. So not only do they have a love relationship but they’ll be working together, which I dig! That’s another realistic sort of thing you wouldn’t see on Passions. It’s a well-rounded relationship. Brady and Arianna not only get to be lovey-dovey but respect each other work-wise.

I’m guessing they’ll eventually discover what we, the viewers, already know—that Brady’s grandfather Victor is the drug lord.
Martsolf: Brady starts using his influence over at Titan to acquire information and he gets more than he ever imagined. What Brady is going to uncover will lead to huge turmoil within the family. It’s going to get very messy!