Finally Adds Gay Story Line

NBC's long-running daytime drama Days of Our Lives will add a gay story line next week, reports  Entertainment Weekly.

Actor Freddie Smith will play a character named Sonny, whom EW describes as "a good-natured young man who returns home to join his family," and is scheduled to debut on the June 23 episode.

Sonny will have a boyfriend on the series, though Smith he doesn't yet know anything about him or the actor who will portray the character. "I'm going to be surprised," Smith says. "There are a lot of guys on the show, so it's going to be interesting to see who I end up falling for. Someone new? Someone on the show? We all make jokes, 'who am I going to make out with first?' It's going to be fun to see."

Days, one of the few remaining soaps on network television, is also one of the last to feature a story line centered on a gay character. "I think it will be interesting to see how people respond to it," Smith says. "I truly care about the whole thing. There's been a lot of controversy about this and for me to be able to a part of it, to be able to change people and make a difference ... I'm really excited to play a character with that much pull."