Days of Our Lives: Character Sketch--Stefano DiMera aka Joseph Mascolo

Days of Our Lives: Character Sketch--Stefano DiMera aka Joseph Mascolo

In 1982, veteran actor Joseph Mascolo joined the Days of Our Lives cast as devilishly handsome and manipulative Stefano DiMera. Complex, passionate and frequently controversial, Stefano has been the character the fans loved to hate. Even though family and power have always been important to him, it is the thrill of the hunt and the conquest which is the key to his character. To deny him is to only further attract his attention and in many cases his wrath.

Born the seventh son of a seventh son, Stefano not only considered himself indestructible, hence naming himself the Phoenix, but he also thought himself above the laws of man and God. Raised as the family crowded prince, he was never to be question, but blindly obeyed. Whether friend, family or foe, to disobey his command was to bring down the fury of Stefano. Not only did his charisma and magnetism attract the attention of the women who didn‘t learn to fear him until it was too late, but his intelligence always kept him three moves ahead of ISA and the Salem PD. In many ways his love of opera reflected how he fancied himself to be akin to the Divine as he controlled and manipulated the mere mortals he walked among. The people of the world, including his own children, were merely pawns to for him to use and discard at will.

In spite of the relatively recent rewrite in history, it was not the feud with the Bradys that brought Stefano to Salem, but the long standing dispute with the Bradfords and the legend of the Baka. The Brady's only became targets after Roman thwarted Stefano's plans. Nor was Marlena originally the target of his obsession. Instead, Stefano saw her as perfect wife for Tony. It was only after she interfered with his scheme and stood up to him, that he became fixated with owning and controlling her.

Larger than life, he was always a passionate character with a dynamic personality, whose laugh could be both amusing and terrifying. Stefano wanted what he wanted and it didn't care what he had to do or to whom as long as he achieved his goal. It was his strong will and quick wit that made him in many ways invincible. His schemes were a strange mixture of gothic romance, sci-fi fantasy and horror. From the faking his death to programming memories of one character into another, Stefano quintessential villain that fans love to hate. He was always the master conductor who orchestrated international plots, while his henchmen did the dirty work.

Unfortunately, for the Days and the viewers, the current writers have trivialized him. Instead of the dramatic character that considered the world his oyster, Stefano has been turned into a baby-cooing supporting character for the younger actors. The head writer has effectively castrated the character with her inability to write complex storylines that involve multi-dimensional characters whose power comes from between their ears not between their legs. Instead of being master of all her surveys, the writers have him worrying about grandchildren and his legacy, when the real Stefano thinks of himself as the seventh son of the seventh son destined never to die. The writers sent him out like one of his flunkies on the great diamond caper. Stefano isn’t an errand boy; he would have been at home smoking a Cuban cigar, drinking 100 year old brandy, and listening to opera while his pawns did the dirty work.

Although there are many storylines with diabolical plot and schemes that could yet be written for Stefano, they are not likely to be seen on the screen. No matter how talent the actors, unless there is writers create plots and storylines to for them to hang their performance on, there cannot be romance, drama or suspense; all the things that keep the viewers turning in.

So to quote Shakespeare:
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

So it will be as the sands run out and Days of Our Lives will fade in to history.