Paige Larson
Paige Larson is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. Introduced by executive producers Ken Corday, Lisa de Cazotte and Greg Meng, the character is portrayed by True O'Brien, who first appeared in March 2014 and departed in September 2015 after her character was killed off. O'Brien would later make brief appearances via flashbacks and visions on until October 2015. O'Brien returned to the role for a one-off appearance in October 2017. She is set to return again during the week of August 24, 2020.
Paige Larson | |||||||||||||||||||
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Days of Our Lives character | |||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | True O'Brien | ||||||||||||||||||
Duration |
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First appearance | March 3, 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | August 25, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell | ||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by |
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Classification | Past; guest | ||||||||||||||||||
Profile | |||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Student | ||||||||||||||||||
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Paige is introduced as a good samaritan who returns JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss) his wallet which he dropped and is in a relationship with him for majority of her time on the show, however the relationship is ruined by JJ's affair with her mother, Eve Donovan (Kassie DePaiva). Paige is the niece of Theresa Donovan (Jen Lilley) and, following her death, it is revealed she is the daughter of Eduardo Hernandez making her the half-sister of Rafe Hernandez, Arianna Hernandez, Dario Hernandez and Gabi Hernandez, and an aunt of Arianna Horton.
Casting
In February 2014, Soap Opera Digest announced that model True O'Brien had been cast as Paige Larson on the series. O'Brien made her first on-screen debut on March 3, 2014.[1][2][3] About her audition, O'Brien said "It was an intense process. It was the first time I had really tested for anything. I didn't know what was going on, so I just let it happen.When I walked out of there, I felt good. I was very thankful to have had that opportunity to even experience something like that."[4][5] In June 2015, it was confirmed that O'Brien was let go from the series, she exited on September 9, 2015 when her character was the second to be killed off as part of the Necktie Killer storyline to commemorate with the show's 50th anniversary.[6][7][8] O'Brien returned in flashbacks on September 28, when Paige's death scene was shown and in her mother's visions on October 2, 2015.[9][10] In October 2017, O'Brien reprises the role of Paige as part of special dream-sequence episode on October 31, 2017.[11] In August 2020, it was announced that O'Brien would once again reprise the role, beginning the week of August 24, 2020.
Storylines
Backstory
Paige was born on May 29, 1995[12] and would grow up with her single mother Eve Donovan. Her father would later be revealed to be Eduardo Hernandez, aka Eddie Larson, making Rafe, Arianna, Dario and Gabi her half-siblings.
2014–2015, 2017
In early 2014, Paige Larson arrives in Salem without her mother, Eve Donovan (Kassie DePaiva) and quickly develops a connection to JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss). Upon Eve's arrival back to Salem, Paige's relationship with J.J. begins to hit a hard spot, ultimately ending with them parting ways multiples times. She becomes close to another guy, Cole Hines (Riley Bodenstab) and asks him out on a date, which he accepts. After their date, Paige meets up with J.J. at the park, where he apologizes profusely and asks for a second chance. She forgives him, leading them to reconcile. Cole finds her at the park watching Parker play and tells her that J.J. will hurt her and that she deserves better, but when he sees that she's not listening to him, he leaves. He then works with her mother Eve to break J.J. and Paige up. Cole plants drugs in J.J.'s backpack to frame him. When Paige realizes what Cole has done, she angrily confronts him. At first he denies the accusations, but then Cole tells her how amazing she is and that she deserves better. Paige tells him to stay away from her and J.J. before leaving.
Paige would find out that her mother and J.J. had an affair and Jennifer Horton knew about it and she confronts him at her surprise twentieth birthday party, on May 21. She becomes very cynical and wants nothing to do with them. Paige begins a relationship with Kyle to make J.J. jealous, not knowing that he is a drug dealer and that J.J. works for him; however, the relationship would later end.
Paige and J.J. begin to reconnect the following month. She becomes a witness to the Chad and Serena fight and would reveal what she saw, since Serena would later be found murdered. Since they become close again, Paige is the first person J.J. tells about the Clyde/drug ring and was sworn not to involve the police. In early September, she would retell what she saw to Rafe and exchanges words with Chad, who doesn't remember what happened after the fight, and calls J.J. afterward; Paige had something to tell him, however, when J.J. arrives at her dorm, he finds her in the shower with a tie loosely around her neck.
Paige is pronounced dead, much to the horror of J.J. and Eve who apologizes to Paige over her body. Chad DiMera is seen as the prime suspect, due to the fact that a flower found near the crime scene can only be found at the DiMera mansion; following the arrest of Chad, he was released after Aiden Jennings was believed to be the Neck Tie Killer. In December 2015, Ben Weston was arrested for the string of murders, following a statement by Abigail Deveraux. In 2017, Paige appears in Abigail's nightmare.
References
- SOD (February 14, 2014). "DAYS CASTS NEW ROLE". Soapoperadigest.com. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- Clifford, Kambra (February 18, 2014). "Disney Actress Headed to 'Days'". Soap Opera Network. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell (Head writers); Herb Stein (Director); Jeanne Marie Ford (Script writer) (March 3, 2014). Days of Our Lives. Season 49. Episode 12286. NBC.
- Reichardt, Nancy M. (May 20, 2014). "'DOOL' : O'Brien Finds Her 'True' Calling". U Express. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- Edwards Wilows, Mark (June 17, 2014). "Days of Our Lives True o'Brien loves playing Paige and talks about working with Justin Bieber". Soapdom.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- Mulcahy Jr., Kevin (July 1, 2015). "True O'Brien Leaving Days of our Lives". We Love Soaps. United States. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- "Comings and Goings". Soap Opera Digest. United States: American Media, Inc. 40 (37): 11. September 21, 2015.
- Josh Griffith and Dena Higley (Head writers); Grant A. Johnson (Director); Jeanne Marie Ford (Script writer) (September 9, 2015). Days of Our Lives. Season 50. Episode 12671. NBC.
- Josh Griffith and Dena Higley (Head writers); Grant A. Johnson (Director); David Cherrill (Script writer) (September 28, 2015). Days of Our Lives. Season 50. Episode 12684. NBC.
- Josh Griffith and Dena Higley (Head writers); Scott McKinsey (Director); Jeanne Marie Ford (Script writer) (October 2, 2015). Days of Our Lives. Season 50. Episode 12688. NBC.
- Soaps SheKnows (October 26, 2017). "John Enos, True O'Brien, Melissa Archer to Days of Our Lives on Halloween". Soaps.com. United States: SheKnows Media. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
- Paige had a surprised nineteenth birthday party on-screen on May 21, 2015. Although, she states that her birthday was the next day. However, her birthdate was revealed on her tombstone as May 29, 1995 on November 10, 2015.