Surprise, Days of Our Lives fans! Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke is slated to guest star in an upcoming episode of the long-running drama, marking his soap opera debut.
The 97-year-old star told Access that he and Drake Hogestyn — who has been a regular on Days since 1986 — attend the same gym, which is where the conversation to have him appear on the show first began.
“I said, ‘Don’t you have any parts for old people? Come on, give me one.’ And he took me seriously and got me a part!” Van Dyke explained.
According to the outlet, Van Dyke — who has starred in classics like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang — will play “a mystery man with amnesia.” He said, “I have played old men before, but comedy old men. [This is the] first time I have ever just played my 97-year-old self.”
Van Dyke revealed that he began watching soap operas to help him prepare for his role — specifically the more dramatic moments that come with the genre.
“Some of the people have been doing it for 20 years,” he said. “That’s all the homework I can do, watch one and see how they do it. The other thing, you have to hold, ‘duh duh,’ there’s the sting of music and we’ve said something exciting.”
Meanwhile, Carol Burnett — who has appeared in handful of All My Children episodes — gave her longtime friend some advice.
“Make sure you know all your lines, because they don’t do retakes,” she said. “If anything goes wrong, you’re stuck.”
Aside from his highly anticipated stint on Days of Our Lives — which made the jump from network TV to Peacock last fall — Van Dyke recently competed on The Masked Singer, where he dressed in an elaborate Gnome costume. His unmasking even reduced judge Nicole Scherzinger to tears.
“I love you so much. We love you. The whole world loves you so much,” she gushed. “It’s an honor to have you on our show. I can’t believe you’re here, I’m trying to play it cool. You look so gorgeous, you look so handsome.”
We can imagine many of the Days cast will have similar reactions when Van Dyke’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious episode airs this upcoming fall.
In the meantime, you can catch up with all the drama the series has to offer when new episodes air on weekdays at 6 a.m. ET on Peacock.