‘Days of Our Lives’ Star Jen Lilley Reveals She’d Come Back to the Show ‘In A Heartbeat’ (Exclusive)

Days of our Lives alum Jen Lilley has been keeping busy since wrapping her run as Theresa Donovan in 2023. In addition to a new holiday film and a book dropping on November 4, she’s also playing the wife of a Hollywood legend in an upcoming biopic, hosting a podcast and raising four children.

“I’m so good,” Lilley begins. “I feel like I’m in this weird chapter and it’s a fun, new season of unknowns. I’m usually a planner and lately I’ve just been like, ‘OK, Lord, whatever you’re going to do, I guess we’ll do that.’ So, here we are.”

New film is “Napoleon Dynamite of Christmas movies”

Lilley, who has appeared in nearly 20 holiday movies, headlines A Chrismystery from Vision Films, available today on VOD. “I really liked the script because as much as I adore all the Christmas movies I’ve ever done — and I hope to do many, many more feel-good Hallmark-type Christmas movies — this one was offbeat,” she explains. “It’s like the Napoleon Dynamite of Christmas movies, and I thought that was just different and fun.”

Vision Films, Inc

In the film, Lilley plays Annie, a police officer who leaves New York City to return to her hometown with her daughter after losing her husband. When the town’s Christmas tree, lights and decorations are stolen, Annie is called into action. While the setup sounds familiar, Lilley says the experience was refreshingly unique.

“We actually shot it in December, where typically we’re shooting in July or August, so it was very cold,” she explains. “I cut my hair short for it because I felt like she was this no-nonsense woman. I’m barely wearing makeup; I think I have ChapStick on. Also, when I do my Hallmark Christmas movies, literally the background of every frame needs to look like Christmas is exploding, and that’s one of the reasons we love them, because they look like a moving Hallmark card. In this one, all the decorations have been stolen so there’s barely any Christmas ornaments, so it was different in every way.”

Vision Films, Inc.

For anyone who doesn’t normally go for festive films, Lilley promises this could be the exception. “This is the Christmas movie for people who hate Christmas movies. This is not Hallmark. It’s not a walking Christmas card. It is anything but.”

Next up: a Jimmy Stewart biopic with KJ Apa

 

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Next up, Lilley stars as Gloria Stewart — the wife of Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart — in Jimmy, a biopic starring Riverdale‘s KJ Apa. “Somehow I was already on the producer’s shortlist of people that they thought would suit Gloria Stewart,” Lilley relays. “My friend, Billy Hallowell, who I do a podcast, Into the Supernatural with, was talking to this woman, Angela [Galgani Sullivan], who’s a producer, and he said, ‘Have you thought of Jen Lilley? Do you know who Jen Lilley is?’ And she was like, ‘Oh, she’s the top of my list. I just don’t think she would do it.’ He said, ‘Well, I think she might. You should just send her the script.’”

Once Lilley read it, she was all in. “I loved it,” she praises. “I laughed, I cried — this movie gives you all the feels. It’s wild because I watched It’s a Wonderful Life after I had been cast and was trying to do a deep study on who James Stewart really was. And he really was George Bailey. Everything that George Bailey experiences in that movie very much paralleled James Stewart’s life, and yet his life had a very happy, redemptive ending.”

Scheduled for release in November 2026, Lilley believes Jimmy will resonate deeply. “It is one of those movies that’s going to get people in the mood for the holidays, even though it’s not explicitly a holiday movie,” she says. “But it really focuses on his solid, at-the-core Americana, and this is a movie that I think will unite; you can feel the patriotism no matter what side of the aisle you’re on.”

Lilley reveals she was blown away when she first heard Apa’s interpretation of the late Hollywood legend. “We did a table read over Zoom and KJ’s camera was off,” she recalls. “There were several moments where, because my camera was off, I just freely let myself cry tears of gratitude and awe that I got to be part of it because it felt like I was in a table read with James Stewart. It was surreal.”

Filming in Ireland only added to the magic. “It was a ridiculously beautiful backdrop. The people are lovely, the food is amazing, the cinematography is amazing, and I know the score is going to be amazing and the wardrobe was on point. It was just one of those moments that I will never forget being part of it. I think it’s going to be like The Artist [in which she appeared]. I think it’s going to be an Academy Award contender.”

November 4 also marks the release of her new book, Wake Up Your Faith: 365 Daily Encounters with Jesus. “It’s a devotional, which is funny because I really don’t like devotionals,” she admits with a laugh. “In my experience, people will read a devotional in place of the Bible, and I didn’t want any part of that, so I originally said no. And they said, ‘That’s why we think you should write a devotional.’ So, they let me do a really out-of-the-box devotional. It has monthly themes, and my prayer is that it unifies people and makes them feel seen and known and valued and deeply loved.”

The book is already performing well. “It has already been the No. 1 new release on Amazon in two different categories, and that’s because I have these amazing fans,” she relays. “Soap fans are the best.”

Days “not only made me a better actress, but it made me a better human”

Lilley remains grateful for her Days roots. “It not only made me a better actress, but it made me a better human because I have a lot of empathy and I have a lot less judgment in my life because of Teresa Donovan.”

She reveals she’d be open to going back if asked. “In a heartbeat,” she confirms. “It’s just difficult at this moment of my life because I have 4 children, but it feels like 1000. I mean, I would always come back for short stints any day. I love everybody on the shows; they’re amazing. Huge congrats to Emily O’Brien [who briefly took over as Theresa] for her [recent] Emmy nomination. That’s great. I’ve got no beef with anybody. I just love all of them and I’m grateful that I got to be part of something so iconic.”

Looking back, Lilley says she’s deeply aware of how far she’s come. “I’m from a small town in Virginia, and I don’t know anybody else from Roanoke that’s ever gone off and been an actor, so it’s not lost on me that it was a very unlikely journey,” she shares. “I’m grateful for every moment and I’m grateful for what’s ahead.”