When Jennifer Horton and Jack Deveraux first met in 1989, they were an unlikely duo. She was a young reporter with a lot to prove, and he was the grouch running the Salem newspaper. Their chaotic working relationship eventually took a personal turn, and after several breakups, Jack and Jennifer finally realized that they were better off together.
Melissa Reeves and Matthew Ashford became fast friends, and their characters used a lot of humor to become one of “Days of Our Lives” most beloved supercouples. Melissa Reeves and Matthew Ashford recently sat down with SWOON to discuss the history of Jack and Jennifer.
The Early Days of Jack and Jen Were Pure Magic
“Our pairing was not the norm,” explains Reeves. Their comedic timing is part of what sets the duo apart from other couples on Days. “It was kind of fun to be those characters that people could laugh with in their humanity and not take each other so seriously,” she continued. “We were laughing at our characters before anyone else did,” says Ashford.
Audiences loved their immediate chemistry, and the powers-that-be really started to write for the duo. “We’d be throwing plates at each other, fighting, and really making each other laugh,” says Reeves. “I don’t know if you remember Moonlighting, but I feel like we were like Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, like, this constant bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. And then the writers started writing that, which was so fun. So much of what we did was so fun.”
Matthew Ashford believes that the humor in their relationship, both on and off camera, really worked to their advantage as friends. “Romance can be funny. It’s okay to laugh, and it’s okay to laugh at yourself. And sometimes we laugh, and sometimes you laughing with your partner is maybe the best thing you could do. But I think underneath and over a long, much longer time, Jennifer and Missy, whatever, she won my trust, and you realize that becomes such currency.”
Melissa Reeves still finds it amazing how they were able to bring those scripts to life, especially in the early days. “The writers sort of saw this quirky thing between us, and they really went with it. Because without all the scenes that they had written for us, I mean, the scenes were so, so good. I would get so excited to get our scripts. I would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we doing tomorrow?’”
Jack and Jennifer Still Pop In From Time to Time
While the on-screen couple now resides full-time in Boston, they return to Salem fairly regularly, allowing longtime fans to catch up with them.
“Just like those kids who go off to go upstairs and don’t come down for 30 years or go off to boarding school and come back 10 years older, we’re also people who kind of come and go in life, but we’re there,” explains Ashford. “And it’s kind of cool to be there for people. We still got some tricks up our sleeve and some surprises for ourselves and hopefully everybody else.”
Reeves is celebrating 40 years since her debut on “Days of Our Lives,” making her visits even sweeter. “We actually shot a show which I didn’t know they were doing, and at the end on the chyron, it says, ‘Happy 40th anniversary, Melissa Reeves,’” she shared. “And I was like, ‘This is great. I love flashbacks. And I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, this is literally my life.’ … I just thought that was so kind that they even thought of that. Ken Corday has literally made me his child and given me a life, my family, and everything. It was the most beautiful, unexpected blessing of my life.”
Here is a look at some of Jack and Jennifer’s best moments on Days!
