| Sonny Kiriakis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Days of Our Lives character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Zach Tinker as Sonny Kiriakis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
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| Duration | 2011–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | June 23, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; guest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Dena Higley[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by |
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| Spin-off appearances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sonny Kiriakis is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on Peacock. The role was originally portrayed by Freddie Smith. Sonny is the only biological child of Justin Kiriakis (Wally Kurth) and Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis (Judi Evans). Sonny's birth was announced in 1991. Developed under head writer Dena Higley, Sonny was introduced in 2011 by executive producers Ken Corday and Gary Tomlin as Justin and Adrienne's openly gay son – the show's first regular character to be openly gay. His major stories included a gay bashing storyline and the development of his romance with Will Horton (Chandler Massey) who is just coming to terms with his own sexuality. In 2014, Will (then portrayed by Guy Wilson) and Sonny marry, becoming the first male-male couple to legally marry in the history of American daytime television drama. Sonny is also known for his friendship and business dealings with Chad DiMera (Casey Deidrick, later Billy Flynn) – a friendship that nearly gets him killed when their sports website is taken over by an illegal gambling operation.
In 2014, the series introduced Sonny's closeted first love, the famous baseball player, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) and a romantic triangle develops between Sonny, Paul, and Will (who also falls for Paul). The character of Sonny was momentarily written out of the show by his relocation to Paris in August 2015.[1] Smith later briefly reappeared as Sonny in October 2015, before returning again as a regular in July 2016. In February 2020, the characters of Will and Sonny were written out of the series, with Smith's last appearance as Sonny airing in September 2020. A year later, in September 2021, the role of Sonny was recast with Zach Tinker, who took over for the Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem one week limited series after Smith turned down the offer. Tinker would start appearing on the main series in March 2022; he exited in March of the following year, and returned in August 2023 and July 2024 in a guest capacity.
Sonny is one half of the show's first same-sex super couple, with Will Horton. The couple is commonly referred to by the portmanteaus "WilSon". Smith won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2015, and earned a nomination for the same award in 2013.
Sonny's arrival on Days of Our Lives in 2011 began an era of storylines featuring gay characters in prominent roles on Days, and in 2012, the show won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Daily Drama,[2] followed by successive wins in 2013,[3] 2014,[4] and 2015.[5]
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- ^ Fairman, Michael (August 18, 2015). "Freddie Smith Posts Heartfelt Message As His Final Episode Airs On Days of our Lives!". MichaelFairmanTV. Archived from the original on 2018-09-08. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ "GLAAD Media Awards 2012: ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy' Wins Drama Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. June 2, 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ "Days of our Lives Wins GLAAD Media Award For Outstanding Daily Drama!". Michael Fairman On-Air On-Soaps. April 21, 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ "GLAAD Media Awards 2014 winners: Jennifer Lopez, 'Orange is the New Black' among those honored". Screener TV. April 13, 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-02-19. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ "GLAAD Media Awards 2015: Kerry Washington, 'Transparent,' 'How to Get Away With Murder' Honored". The Hollywood Reporter. March 22, 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-02-18. Retrieved 2016-02-05.