‘Days Of Our Lives’: Vincent Irizarry Baffled Over How Deimos Kiriakis Changed, Expressed Concerns To Producer

Days Of Our Lives fans will be saying goodbye to Deimos Kiriakis next week. Actor Vincent Irizarry recently spoke to Soap Opera Digest about his time on DOOL. He also discussed how a new writing team completely changed his character. Irizarry noticed the sudden darkness and expressed his concerns to the producer. Find out what the actor had to say.

Right now on DOOL, Ron Carlivati is the new head writer. However, Deimos was murdered before he took over, although he did restructure the storyline a bit. Before Carlivati, Dena Higley and Ryan Quan were the writing team following the exit of Josh Griffith. Yes, the past few years there have been many changes at Days Of Our Lives, including casting, storylines, characters, writers, and even the “tone” of the scripts.

Vincent Irizarry made his debut on January 18, 2016. He arrived in Salem and surprised his brother, Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston), who wasn’t too thrilled to see him. While he was considered a villain, he wasn’t necessarily evil. He wanted revenge for being falsely imprisoned for 30 years. At the same time, fans were able to see that he had a heart and was a hopeless romantic. The first time he played the piano and Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker) listened, it tugged at everyone’s heartstrings. He also loved children and this was obvious from the first time he met Chloe Lane’s (Nadia Bjorlin) son, Parker.

https://www.instagram.com/p/5Gfg9ooe_0/?taken-by=vincentirizarry

He was a complex character with plenty of issues, just like people in real life. While viewers didn’t like some of the things Deimos did, they also understood where he was coming from. It is what made him a character that was both loved and hated at the same time.

“He was definitely a character who had major issues, and a major chip on his shoulder. I felt that, at his core, Deimos was a romantic. He was a man of substance and depth, and he genuinely wanted to experience the life that had been denied him for 30 years, in all its facets. Those same experiences in life that most people enjoy and take for granted, whether it’s experiencing true love, having a family, or being part of a family, those are the things that I loved about the character… once he had been part of the family, the Kiriakis family, for the first time, after a whole lifetime of being denied that right, it was a very special time for him, and it was something to develop.”

Once a new writing team took over on Days Of Our Lives, Deimos Kiriakis took a dark turn. Vincent Irizarry said that he was concerned that the writers made Deimos purely dark. Fans could see this change as well. Instead of seeing the different parts of his personality, they were only seeing a one-dimensional villain with no regret, lacking remorse, and turning completely evil. Irizarry was worried that the new writing team was losing sight of who his character really was and decided to say something about it.

“I spoke to one of the producers about it, and that producer confirmed what I had been concerned about, and said that was the way that these writers write, that it’s somewhat black and white. So, that wasn’t a confidence builder. I was just hoping that they would find their footing again with the character, and expand upon the dimensions of the character, rather than go down that route.”

Irizarry added that he is puzzled why the writers chose to take Deimos down such a dark path. It is true that he had a dark side to him, but it was because he lost 30 years of his life. At one point, the Kiriakis family began forgiving Deimos and welcoming him into their tight-knit group. Having a family, experiencing love, and having a good kind of respect meant the world to Deimos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/cAONA5Ie36/?taken-by=vincentirizarry

However, all of that went out the window with the new writing team. Fans were used to seeing him do bad things with good intentions. One day, Deimos turned evil and there didn’t seem to be an explanation or motive. He began doing horrible things just because he could.

“That’s how they chose to do it, and to some degree, it baffles me as to why that was the course they wanted to take. It was strange. It seemed to be very contrary and counterproductive to what was going on with the character and the story, and exploring a lot of the richness that was there inherently in those relationships with the other characters.”

Irizarry hinted that Deimos was not the only character that changed with the new writing team.

“It’s what the writers at that time wanted to do, not only with my character, but a few other characters that were brought on by the writer before them.”

Despite being disappointed with how things ended, Irizarry enjoyed his time on DOOL. He was grateful to have scenes with John Aniston. He also liked working with Suzanne Rogers (Maggie), Arianne Zucker, Eric Martsolf (Brady Black), and Lauren Koslow (Kate Roberts). He made it clear that for a long time, he was excited to read new scripts to find out what was in store for Deimos. So, even though he was disappointed in the ending, the majority of his time on set was a great experience.

What do you think of what Vincent Irizarry said about Deimos on Days Of Our Lives? Were you disappointed with how the character changed toward the end?

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]