It had been over six months since Days of our Lives viewers last saw Tamara Braun in the role of Ava Vitali. Braun returned to the Peacock soap during the week of August 7 and immediately shared a scene with a face familiar to both the actress and longtime soap viewers -- former General Hospital co-star Steve Burton.
"I'm back. I absolutely love Ava," Braun told Soap Opera Digest recently. "She's had different incarnations. Some, I've enjoyed better than others, but what's beautiful about her is that she has so many layers to her, and there's a lot of history there. It's always fun to see what avenue (the writers are) going to take with her."
For the time being, that avenue has led Braun's character directly to former General Hospital co-star Steve Burton. Upon her return to Salem, Braun's first scenes were with Burton's DAYS alter ego, Harris Michaels.
Burton and Braun previously shared scenes as GH's Jason and Carly (2001-05) and when Braun returned to the ABC soap in another role as Dr. Kim Nero, beginning in 2017.
"Steve and I have always had a good working relationship," Braun told SOD. "I certainly wanted to capitalize on that. We seem to have a good chemistry and flow, so it was an easy thing to jump into. We were in real early on my first day, so there wasn't a lot of time to chat. But the next day, we had the ability to talk and try to figure out where these two characters were going and what it was about."
Braun first landed the role of Ava on Days of Our Lives in 2008. Before August 8, Ava was last seen being confined to Bayview after she blew up a church and was responsible for the death of Susan Banks (portrayed by Stacy Haiduk).
"I've lived with Ava since 2008, on and off," Braun noted. "I love her. It's just a matter of figuring out what headspace she's in, because she can be in varied states. I wasn't really sure until I got the first script. But it was like just getting on a bike again and pedaling."
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