“Days of Our Lives” has a new Chad! After 10 months of waiting, Conner Floyd debuted on the hit Peacock soap, and he did not disappoint, as Chad returned to Salem with questions for his brother, EJ (Daniel Feuerriegel). Floyd has revealed how Billy Flynn, who played Chad for a decade, helped him prepare to be a recast of a beloved character.
Billy Flynn and Conner Floyd Were Given A Gift
In an interesting turn of events, Flynn left “Days of Our Lives” to join “The Young and the Restless,” where, at the time, Floyd was playing Chance. A few weeks into Flynn’s stint on the CBS soap, Floyd learned he was cast as Chad on “Days of Our Lives.”
Since Floyd and Flynn worked together briefly on “The Young and the Restless,” they were able to help each other.
“I kind of gave him the lay of the land. He did the same. We broke down Chad, which was a lot of fun. He really broke down a lot of the relationships and all the storylines that he was a part of. What was happening when he left, what he thinks is going to be happening when I stepped into it. And so it was super helpful,” Floyd shared with Soaps.com.
The soap star admitted that when he first started on “The Young and the Restless,” he was all alone and didn’t know a soul. Floyd had no idea what to do or where to go, so having Flynn give him the “Days of Our Lives” breakdown was a huge benefit for him. Their circumstances have led to a close friendship that Floyd cherishes.
“He’s a good friend now, which is fun, and I wish I would have got a little bit more time with him over at Y&R,” the actor shared, adding that at least he and Flynn had some good scenes during their short time working together on the CBS soap.
Conner Floyd Did a Deep DiMera Dive Before Starting His New Job
The timing of Floyd’s debut forced him to truly learn about Salem’s legacy family, the DiMeras. Chad arrives back home just in time for Stefano’s (Joseph Mascolo) will to be read.
Since he wasn’t too familiar with the family or the legendary villain, Stefano, Floyd put in the time to study Mascolo as Stefano and learn everything he could about the DiMera family history. It was a lot, but it was worth it for the actor.
“When I started digging into past episodes and past storylines, I noticed how prominent Stefano was, so then I really dug into him as well. We talk about him just about in every episode, so obviously this guy has left a mark on this town and in his family, so I really wanted to see what he was about and what he was like and how he did his thing,” he expressed to TV Insider.
Floyd admitted that the research helped him with his first week of work, which was so Stefano and DiMera focused. In fact, he told TV Insider that filming the reading of Stefano’s will was his favorite day of filming on “Days of Our Lives” to date.
It was great for Floyd to be thrown in working with Chad’s siblings: EJ, Kristen (Stacy Haiduk), and Tony (Thaao Penghlis), as well as Chad’s nephew Theo (Tyler Joseph Andrews) and his brother Stefan’s (Brandon Barash) wife Gabi (Cherie Jimenez).
There’s a new Chad in Salem, and Floyd is ready for fans to see how he makes Chad his own.
