Victoria Konefal is Leaving DAYS OF OUR LIVES Again
Just as DAYS OF OUR LIVES’ Ciara is about to give birth to the devil’s baby, her portrayer, Victoria Konefal, is considering leaving the soap for a while! The actress revealed during an interview with the podcast Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig that she’s mulling over the idea of taking on a role in a movie a friend of hers is producing.
“A friend of mine is actually producing a film in the South. I can’t really talk much about it or the storyline, but I like it,” Konefal confessed. “So, I think I’m going to go ahead and take some time off and do that. I might be putting on my cowgirl hat!”
Thankfully for DAYS fans, Konefal does plan on returning to the soap after working on the movie. But she likely won’t be as front and center as Ciara has been over the past few months as she’s no longer on contract with the show.
The decision was hers, Konefal clarified, explaining that she’d first decided back in early 2020 to exit at the end of her original two-year contract to pursue other projects. Then the pandemic hit. “I was ready to dip my toe into other projects. Then two weeks later they shut down the world completely,” she recalled, adding that when DAYS resumed production months later, they called her about returning. “They asked to have me back as a contract player, and I was like, ‘Well, this is kind of tricky. I know I’ve been away for 10 months, but I haven’t had a chance to dip my toe. So I agreed to a 16-week contract.”
Konefal returned to the screen last summer when Ciara was found to be alive — if not quite well! After her short-term deal with the soap was up, the soap’s powers that be asked her to ink a contract for another year. Konefal, however, wasn’t ready to make that kind of commitment to daytime. “I was like, ‘Hey, I can’t do it. I did quit for a reason. I appreciate you so much, but understand me and where I’m coming from,’” she said. “My artistic integrity was no longer being fulfilled. I needed a change, a switch-up.”
Luckily for Cin fans, the soap agreed to let Konefal work on a recurring basis, allowing her the freedom to audition and explore outside projects like the film her friend pitched to her. “So I’ve been doing that for a couple of months. I’m very grateful.”
Konefal did not divulge when she’d be away to film the movie. But since DAYS films several months in advance, it will be some time before her absence is noticed on-screen — if it’s even noticed at all. Stay tuned!
