Deidre Hall ‘slapped’ Craig Melvin during a live TV interview on the Today show, but it was done all in jest.
Deidre Hall, the Days of Our Lives icon who has portrayed Marlena Evans for decades, says her famous on-screen slap is simply part of channeling the character when tensions boil over with friends, rivals and family alike.
Hall, 78, appeared on Today on Friday to mark 50 years on the long-running daytime drama, known for its shocking twists, tangled romances and family feuds in the fictional town of Salem. The visit comes shortly after Hall invited Ryan Gosling to tour the Days of Our Lives set — an offer he accepted.
During the interview, host Craig Melvin highlighted one of Hall’s most memorable trademarks among viewers: her reputation as one of soap opera’s all-time great “slappers.”
“Of all of the storylines that you’ve been a part of over the years, what I’ve always enjoyed is your ability to slap. You’re a great slapper,” Melvin told her.
Hall laughed off the praise with a lighthearted reply: “Well, thanks.”
Deidre Hall ‘slapped’ Craig Melvin during a live TV interview on the Today show, but it was done all in jest
Melvin brought up Hall’s reputation as one of best ‘slappers’ in soap opera history and said, ‘It would be one of the greatest professional honors of my life if you could slap me’
Although Hall said she “couldn’t begin to imagine” how many characters she has slapped over the years, several of Salem’s biggest names have repeatedly been on the receiving end. Among them are John Black, played by the late Drake Hogestyn, who died in September 2024; Andre DiMera, portrayed by Thaao Penghlis; and Kristen DiMera, played at different times by Eileen Davidson and Stacy Haiduk. Even Marlena’s own children have not always been spared.
Melvin, 47, got the audience excited when he told Hall: ‘It would be one of the greatest professional honors of my life if you could slap me.’
‘I would be privileged to slap you!’ the acting legend replied.
Melvin added that he had only one wish, that Hall not ‘hurt the money maker.’
They stood up and Hall explained in detail how the stunt would be carried out.
‘I’m going to draw my hand back and I’m going to come very close to your face,’ she told him. ‘And when you feel that happen, you’re going to snap your head.’
After Melvin assured he was ready, Hall swung her hand at his face and the TV host threw back his head and put his hand to his cheek, pretending to be in pain.
‘I’m sorry, I meant to miss but I…,’ Hall joked.
‘I would be privileged to slap you!’ the acting legend replied; Hall is pictured in October 2025
While Hall ‘couldn’t begin to imagine’ how many people she’s slapped as Marlena Evans on Days of Our Lives, John Black (played by the late Drake Hogestyn, who died in September 2024) was one of the many recipients of her character’s stinging slaps
Hall also spoke about the 50 years she’s been on the long-running show, calling it a ‘thrill’
Clearly, they were both amused by the stunt and started laughing.
‘You’re the best,’ Melvin told the star.
Elsewhere during the interview, Hall, who joined Days of Our Lives in 1976, shared how she almost turned down the role because she mistakenly believed she wasn’t their first choice.
‘I had read the script and I wanted it so much,’ she remembered, adding that when her agent called, ‘I thought, “Oh, everybody else must have turned it down.” Because I’m no dummy, I turned it down too because I thought there must be something wrong with the part!’
She learned from her agent just weeks later that was not the case at all.
‘He said, “You actors are just so crazy. You’re their first choice,”‘ Hall recalled. ‘I said, “Tell them I’ll be there.”‘
Days of Our Lives has been going strong since it first started airing in November 1965.
When Melvin asked what has captivated people about the soap opera for so long, Hall replied: ‘I think our writers and Ken Corday, our showrunner, have cracked the code on [whether it’s] a new love story, sometimes a jeopardy story, when young couples make magic together, put them up in front. They just know that the audience is going to find it compelling and irresistible.
Hall’s invitation to Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling was also mentioned on Friday
In March, Gosling told her in a video posted to social media: ‘I will be there to thank you in person for being my OG acting inspiration,’ and on Friday Hall admitted she was ‘stunned’ and ‘beyond flattered’ by his ‘lovely gesture’
‘The fact that we stayed on the air is a thrill. We kept on going and going and going and I got to stay … and keep working,’ she said.
Hall also heaped praise on Ryan Gosling, who recently accepted her invitation to visit the Days of Our Lives set.
In March, the three-time Oscar-nominee told her in a video posted to social media.
‘I will be there to thank you in person for being my OG acting inspiration,’ Gosling said. ‘It wasn’t Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. It wasn’t DeNiro in Taxi Driver. It was you.’
Hall told Melvin on Friday: ‘I was stunned. His work is so impeccable and he’s so honest and so clean in his work, that I thought, “Oh my gosh, what is he seeing? I don’t want to let him down.” But what a lovely gesture and I’m beyond flattered.’
