Ashley Puzemis Opens up About Joining DAYS OF OUR LIVES

When Ashley Puzemis joined the cast of DAYS OF OUR LIVES as the new Holly Jonas, she was already familiar with the studio from a previous role in the Nickelodeon series DANGER FORCE, which filmed on the same lot as the soap. However, jumping into the midst of all the drama in Salem was a new experience, and she was grateful to her TV mom, Arianne Zucker, for helping her adjust.

“[She] has been my favorite person on set, just helping me and showing me the ropes,” Puzemis confided to Soap Opera Digest. “I love Ari. I think I actually became more confident on set when we finally started having scenes together. She was so inviting, and she’s an incredible actress. It’s not hard to just follow her and learn from her. I just want to study her all day.

“She also told me, ‘If you have any questions, if you need any help, come to me. If you want to run lines come knock on my door,’” she added. “It was awesome to know I had her there, especially since she’s playing my mom. It’s like we can build a relationship that is like a mother-daughter relationship. I feel like she always tells me, ‘You look like my daughter in real life. There’s little mannerisms you have.’ That’s a great reassurance to have that I’m in the right role.”

While Holly doesn’t have a whole lot of history in Salem yet, Nicole sure does, and Zucker has also been helpful in sharing her alter ego’s colorful past with the daytime newbie. “It’s been fun for her to tell me about the show and her role specifically, because I’m basically a younger version of her,” Puzemis explained.

So DAYS fans can look forward to seeing Holly getting mixed up in all kinds of trouble just like her mom! “[She’s] kind of a wild card,” Puzemis said of her character. “She’s young. She’s naive. She’s spunky. She’s outgoing and confident. She thinks she’s sexy. She’s also kindhearted. Her upbringing certainly wasn’t perfect in any means, but I think it was filled with a lot of love from Nicole and Eric and all the people around her. But she’s also Nicole’s daughter. You never know what to expect from her.”