Jen Lilley on Why She Left ‘General Hospital’ & ‘Days of Our Lives’

Crown Media Jen Lilley with Ryan Paevey on "A Little Daytime Drama."

Jen Lilley has revealed in multiple interviews why she left “General Hospital” and “Days of Our Lives.” The former soap opera star is now known for being a leading lady in Hallmark movies. Although she might be open to returning in a guest role to “Days” someday, she has said that the stress from the jobs and the drain on her schedule forced her to leave her soap opera roles. Now she’s starring in a new Hallmark movie about a romance that evolves from a soap opera.

Her Work on ‘General Hospital’ Was So Stressful, She Couldn’t Eat

Crown MediaLilley on A Little Daytime Drama.

Lilley played Theresa Donovan on “Days of Our Lives” for 478 episodes from 2013 to 2018. Before her time on “Days of Our Lives,” Lilley played Maxie Jones for 112 episodes on “General Hospital” from 2011 to 20212.

In an interview with CheatSheet, Lilley revealed that her work on “General Hospital” was so stressful that she couldn’t even eat.

“I was 96 pounds when I was on ‘General Hospital.’ I couldn’t even eat. Like you are so stressed out that there isn’t an amount of food that you could eat,” she said. 

For her role on “General Hospital,” she was a recast and said it was well known that actors could be replaced.

“That’s how I got into soaps, taking over for Kirsten Storms,” she said. “They don’t care on soaps. You will be replaced. And eventually, they know that the audience will get over it. Like [fans] will be upset for like half a minute. Okay. Then they’re fine.” 

She said the schedule was grueling for any soap opera, requiring you to do 150 to 200 pages of script work a day without teleprompters and without an afternoon camera rehearsal.

“There’s no time, they have to wrap by 5:00 or 5:30,” she told CheatSheet. “So if you are at 4:49, everything’s going straight to tape. And if you mess up, you will get recast.”

The work at “General Hospital” was so stressful, she said, that she’d only ever been equally stressed when she fighting to adopt her foster son.

She’d Be Open to a Short Return on ‘Days of Our Lives’ But Not ‘General Hospital’

Despite how tough things were at “General Hospital,” Lilley would be open to a guest return on “Days of Our Lives,” Soaps She Knows reported in 2020.

“I was just thinking about it the other day,” she said. “Man, I heard folks were going back to filming and I wonder if I could do another quick stint? I would love it. That cast and crew, I love ‘Days of our Lives.'”

However, she added that she wouldn’t want to return to “General Hospital,” despite loving the cast.

“It was a night and day different experience for me between ‘General Hospital’ and ‘Days of our Lives,'” she said. “‘General Hospital’ — loved the cast, love the crew, but I don’t know if I could go back there. Ugh. ‘Days of our Lives?’ I loved it.”

Lilley left “Days” because the demanding production schedule didn’t fit with other opportunities she wanted to pursue, Soap Central reported. She ultimately wanted to become a foster parent, where children need dedicated parents, a lot of love, and consistency.

“I would not have been able to successfully do the show at the same time…” she said. “Something had to give. It was either I was going to do a good job on the soap and maybe not give these children the love that they deserve or I was going to be a fantastic foster mom, and just flounder in my acting.”

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