Lani Price | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Days of Our Lives character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Sal Stowers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 2015– | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | September 25, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Present; guest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Josh Griffith and Dena Higley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Albert Alarr, Ken Corday and Greg Meng | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spin-off appearances | Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem (2021) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lani Price is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by Sal Stowers. On September 25, 2015, Lani was introduced by co-head writers Josh Griffith and Dena Higley as a rookie police officer, who is revealed to be the daughter of long-running character, Mayor Abe Carver (James Reynolds). While Lani is quickly promoted to detective, the character struggles to find a place on the canvas and is abruptly written out on June 9, 2016, after Stowers was released from her contract. Lani was reintroduced on December 19, 2016, and Stowers became a series regular again a year later.
Lani's first major romance with JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss) starts with controversy as it breaks up his relationship with Gabi Hernandez (Camila Banus). Lani and JJ become partners at the police department where she clashes with Gabi's new boyfriend, FBI agent Eli Grant (Lamon Archey). When the fiercely independent Lani is forced to lean on Eli during an investigation, they grow closer as Lani doubts her future with JJ. When JJ dumps Lani after he shoots her brother Theo Carver (Cameron Johnson), Lani and Eli sleep together soon after she finds JJ with Gabi. While the affair results in the stillbirth of their son, Eli and Lani ultimately fall in love, in spite of their grief. The romance is plagued by Gabi's vendetta against Lani after she accidentally kills Stefan DiMera, Gabi's husband, in the line of the duty. With their 2020 wedding, Eli and Lani are the first African-American couple to marry onscreen in the show's history.
In 2021, head writer Ron Carlivati revisited Lani's backstory with the introduction of her wealthy aunt Paulina Price played by sitcom legend Jackée Harry and Paulina's wayward daughter Chanel Dupree (Precious Way, Raven Bowens). Lani struggles to forgive Paulina when she takes advantage of Abe's trust. With the arrival of matriarch Olivia Price, played by Harry's 227 co-star Marla Gibbs, it is revealed that Paulina's is Lani's biological mother.
Lani left Salem after she was charged with killing her biological father to protect Paulina. Her last appearance was on July 1, 2022. She briefly returned on July 4, 2023 after Abe was supposedly dead and was granted furlough for his funeral.