Will Horton (original) (raw)

dbo:abstract

Will Horton is a fictional character from the American daytime TV soap opera Days of Our Lives, known for a highly praised coming out story, award-winning performances by actor Chandler Massey, and as one half of US daytime drama's first male gay wedding and marriage. The character first appears in the episode of November 16, 1995, when his mom Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) gives birth to him. Initially portrayed by a series of child actors, the character grew up in real-time as the show aired, eventually to be played by adult actors Chandler Massey (2010–2014, 2017–), and Guy Wilson (2014–2015). The character is initially named Will Reed, after his presumed father, Austin Reed, but it is later revealed that Austin's half-brother and Sami's friend Lucas Roberts (Bryan Dattilo) is his father. Sami and Lucas fight each other for custody, and Will, who is renamed Will Roberts, has a "tumultuous upbringing". As a child, Will endeavors to bring his parents together, whilst his grandma Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow) schemes to keep them apart. Will sees success when his parents marry in 2007; and his newly united family take the name Horton, to distance themselves from his grandma Kate. Cast in the role when Will was 17, Massey played Will's transition to adulthood and is noted for his portrayal of Will coming out as gay and beginning a same-sex relationship with Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith). Massey's performance and the coming out storyline received high praise: Glamour magazine said it "has never been done better – not on primetime, daytime, or in feature films", and "it's raw, it's touching" and "honest to the core"; and soap journalist Michael Fairman called Massey's performance "beyond sensational". Will and Sonny became the show's first same-sex supercouple (commonly referred to by the portmanteau "WilSon"), and in 2014 Guy Wilson took over the role of Will as Days broadcast the first male gay wedding in US daytime drama history. The character was graphically murdered in the episode of October 9, 2015, with Will being shown strangled to death, lying dead in the morgue, and being buried and grieved by his family. Viewers reacted with "major" backlash, the decision was highly criticized by professionals, and there was a feeling Days of Our Lives was pandering to anti-gay sentiment in its audience base. In January 2017 Days of Our Lives announced a new head-writer in Ron Carlivati; and in May 2017 Entertainment Weekly reported that Massey was reprising the role of Will. Carlivati indicated, via social media, that Will may not have died after all, and the ensuing storyline showed how Will survived. Massey's new episodes played from September 15, 2017 to September 1, 2020, and he returned again for the Christmas season in December 2020. In the fall of 2021, he reprised his role as Will in the Days spin-off miniseries Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem, on the Peacock streaming service, and later headlined the spin-off Days of Our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas, in December 2021. Beginning in March 2022, Massey would again start making appearances on the main network show, in a recurring role. For playing Will, Massey won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2012, 2013, and 2014, becoming the first to win three years in a row in that category, as well as the first to win it for playing a gay character. (en)

dbp:introducer

(en)
Ken Corday and Tom Langan (en)
Ken Corday, Albert Alarr and Greg Meng (en)
Ken Corday and Albert Alarr (en)

dbp:occupation

Student (en)
(en)
Journalist (en)
Screenwriter (en)
Business intern (en)
Political campaign staffer (en)
Pub worker (en)
Website entrepreneur (en)

dbp:portrayer

(en)
Guy Wilson (en)
Chandler Massey (en)
Christopher Gerse (en)
Dylan Patton (en)
Darian Weiss (en)
Shawn and Taylor Carpenter (en)

dbp:quote

1.57788E9
"Head writers Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas Jr. developed the character layer by layer, and then bounced him around like a ball in a pinball machine as he had to deal with the ‘am I gay?’ realization .... Having seen friends go through this before, I've never seen a more honest approach." (en)
"Will's paternity drove story for DAYS in the 90's. The character provided a living crucible for the twisted love quadrangle of Sami, Austin, Carrie and Lucas. Will was also a central factor in the delicious, decades-long war Kate and Sami waged against one another." (en)
"For months after Will’s coming out, I can’t remember a time where I went out and wasn’t stopped by some darling young man saying things like, ‘You saved me,’ or ‘I didn’t know how to tell my parents [and because of this show] I was able to tell them.'" (en)

dbp:spinoffs

(en)
Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem (en)
Days of Our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas (en)

dbp:width

25 (xsd:integer)
30 (xsd:integer)
34 (xsd:integer)

dbp:years

1995 (xsd:integer)
2017 (xsd:integer)
(en)

rdfs:comment

Will Horton is a fictional character from the American daytime TV soap opera Days of Our Lives, known for a highly praised coming out story, award-winning performances by actor Chandler Massey, and as one half of US daytime drama's first male gay wedding and marriage. The character first appears in the episode of November 16, 1995, when his mom Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) gives birth to him. Initially portrayed by a series of child actors, the character grew up in real-time as the show aired, eventually to be played by adult actors Chandler Massey (2010–2014, 2017–), and Guy Wilson (2014–2015). (en)

is dbo:wikiPageWikiLink of