John Black is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera originally aired on NBC and now streaming on Peacock. Drake Hogestyn played the role from January 1986 until January 2009, and returned in September 2011. Hogestyn last appeared as John in the September 9, 2024, episode, two weeks before his death on September 28. Allan Wayne Anderson from May 23 to June 2, 2025, was credited as "John Double" in the role.
John was created by scriptwriters Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina and Leah Laiman as the Pawn in 1985, and introduced by executive producers Betty Corday and Al Rabin. He became one of the series' most popular characters when he was revealed to be the presumed-dead Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop), after plastic surgery and amnesia. Northrop's 1991 return led to Hogestyn's portrayal of Roman being retconned into the separate character of John Black, which establishes the supercouple pairing of John and Marlena due to John's affair with Roman's wife Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall).
Development Creation and casting
On January 24, 1986, daytime newcomer and former minor-league baseball player Drake Hogestyn joined the cast as the Pawn without his bandages; he later assumed the alias of John Black. The Pawn (Glen Vincent, then Robert Poynton) was introduced onscreen in November 1985 and the casting department at Days of Our Lives had been searching for an older actor to play the character when Hogestyn came to the NBC casting offices to meet with Doris Sabbagh, head of the casting department at Columbia Pictures, about a guest spot on Crazy Like a Fox. Sabbagh brought Hogestyn in to audition for Days. He later said that he did not know anything about the role, and thought he had auditioned for ABC's One Life to Live. Hogestyn was a fan of daytime soaps and his agent had passed on several soap roles, "but Drake wanted this one"; he watched a few episodes, and went to the audition. Hogestyn was considered too young, but his screen test and chemistry with Deidre Hall gave him the role. He was chosen from five other actors, and signed a three-year contract.
Retcon (1991) By the time John was revealed to be Roman in May 1986, Hogestyn had grown attached to the character: "One of the things I'm concerned about now is that it's going to be sad to put John Black to bed. I've had a lot of fun and it's been a stretch for me as an actor ... I had a chance to be very creative and take chances". He was then forced to take the character in another direction and see how viewers would react: "But I don't think they'll totally close the door on John Black". A year later, Hogestyn was happy with Roman but said he that initially wanted to find success in his own role instead of a recast. He later said that he never thought of himself as a recast "because I played five months as John Black before they told me I was Roman". In a 1990 interview, Hogestyn said that he hoped Wayne Northrop – the original Roman – could someday return as Roman: "Then you could start a whole new character out of that complication."
During the summer of 1991, it was reported that Northrop and Deidre Hall were in talks to return to the series and reprise their roles as Roman and Marlena; many wondered what would become of Hogestyn's Roman. It was later revealed that Hogestyn's Roman was actually John Black, and Northrop was the "real" Roman. Hogestyn attributed the plot twist to the "producers' own brilliance" (despite his suggestion of the storyline a year earlier), and appreciated the decision from a business perspective. Asked about the possibility of being Roman again if (or when) Northrop left the role—his return was expected to be brief—Hogestyn said, "I think I'd like to stay John Black because I've already been Roman and I wasn't him". Supervising executive producer Al Rabin said, "This is a story that we've wanted to tell for a long time"; there were elements of the story and hints that John might not be Roman during the 1988 "Stefano Returns" storyline. Rabin said that the plot would not affect Hogestyn's future with Days, since he had a four-year contract.
The producer denied speculation that the story would emulate the prime-time soap Dallas, in which Patrick Duffy's Bobby Ewing was killed off in season 8 and revealed to be alive in season 10; season 9 was attributed to a dream. To avoid confusion during production, the characters were identified in the script by number; Hogestyn was Roman II (John). The six-month storyline explored the effects on Roman and Marlena's twins, Eric and Samantha, who had been raised by Roman II for most of their lives. In 2002, Hogestyn said about the retcon: "This is daytime television, and you never know where the story is going to take you".
Twenty years later, One Life to Live did the same thing with Trevor St. John's popular portrayal of Todd Manninga role originated by Roger Howarth, who was at least as popular. An element of the Days plot, where Roman II was Roman I's long-lost twin brother, factored into One Life to Live in 2011.
Relationships
Hogestyn always hoped that his character would be paired with Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), even when his identity was in question. Viewers began to agree; no matter who John Black was, he and Marlena were meant to be. When Hall left the series in 1987 and Marlena was killed off, it took some time for the producers to pair John with another woman: "I get the impression they're trying to keep a low profile because of Deidre's departure". Hogestyn was warned that he would not be getting many stories; "I was told I was going to be virtually non-existent", at least until Roman could grieve properly. Although it was difficult to wait, he understood why the writers put his character in the background: "You can't rush from one love story right into the next". Soap Opera Stars magazine later reported that the showrunners were unsure if Hogestyn would work without Hall, and there were plans to write his character out: "Roman's big goodbye scene was nearly in the works." After losing several stars, including Hall and Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso as Bo and Hope, the network knew that it could not afford to lose Hogestyn as well. Hogestyn viewed John and Marlena's relationship as a "classic love ... the perfect relationship", showing viewers that such a love is possible. Asked about a recast of Marlena instead of a new love interest, he said that he did not think viewers would accept it.
Finally believing that Hogestyn was popular enough to hold his own, the writers introduced a new love interest; John/Roman was paired with Diana Colville, played by General Hospital star Genie Francis. Hogestyn said that the writers gave the pair more creative input to establish a better dynamic. There were no plans to pair Roman/John with Diana, but their interactions helped the story write itself. Diana also had a romance with Mike Horton (Michael T. Weiss) and a failed engagement to Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston), and was considered as a love interest for the returning Bo Brady (Reckell); however, Hogestyn's chemistry with Francis "just couldn't be denied". John kidnaps Diana before she marries Victor. After an initial backlash from fans of Marlena who thought that the John-and-Diana relationship had developed too soon, most viewers became fans of the new pair after their first few scenes together. They had strong scenes from the beginning; "That was an accident" Hogestyn said. Despite its seeming too soon, the network ordered producers to capitalize on fan reaction. "Genie and I worked hard from day one to make Diana and Roman work", Hogestyn said. They injected humor into their scenes whenever they could: "That added a nice, little touch to our romance." John/Roman initially tries to keep Diana at arm's length because he fears getting as close to another woman as he did with Marlena, but her near-death experience was a "turning point in their relationship". Diana and John/Roman are considered a supercouple. When Francis left the series in 1989, Hogestyn again found himself on the back burner.
The character was next paired with Yvette DuPrés (Lori Hallier), who is also involved with his rival Victor Kiriakis. John/Roman keeps Yvette "at arm's length", and Hogestyn considered the romance a "relationship of convenience" for John/Roman to stick it to Victor "and at the same time have some fun". He said that the romance could not live up to his previous two pairings. Hogestyn was surprised by the abrupt ending of his romance with Yvette, and enjoyed working with Hallier: "She was very conscientious about wanting to work ... working scenes out. That was so refreshing for me." John's short-lived romance with Yvette seemed to be a precursor to his next love story, which was in the works in early 1990. John/Roman was next paired with Isabella Toscano (Staci Greason), the illegitimate daughter of Victor Kiriakis. Hogestyn enjoyed working with the newcomer: "She reminds me of me when I first started on the show ... I had no soap opera experience, and my energy was boundless."
Hogestyn's death and final appearance (2024) Hogestyn died on September 28, 2024. Following his death, it was announced his final episodic appearance as John was during the episode released on September 9 of the same year, due to the soap's advanced taping schedule.
Storylines 1986–2009 John Black was modeled after Robert Ludlum's spy, Jason Bourne,Janet Di Lauro, "Hogestyn's Novel Theory", Soap Opera Digest, September 13, 1994; and P.J. Huffstutter, "Days of Our Lives spy John Black may have seen his last comeback", Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2009. with elements of Ian Fleming's James Bond and Legendary martial-arts master/actor and philosopher Bruce Lee (John Black is a practitioner of the art of Jeet Kune Do). He has spent a good portion of his tenure on the series as an undercover agent for the International Security Alliance (ISA), the show's fictional secret-intelligence service (similar to that of Bruce Lee’s character from his final completed film Enter The Dragon). Days introduced audiences to the character in November 1985 as a heavily-bandaged amnesiac who was recovering from extensive reconstructive facial surgery. He was initially known only as "the Pawn", a name given to him by Stefano DiMera because of his love of chess. Stefano originally possessed and controlled him via brainwashing before Stefano's lieutenant, Ilya Petrov, assumed control of him. Victor Kiriakis took control of the Pawn after Victor had Petrov executed. During this time, despite an overall "Cold War" vibe—with the espionage angle, strategic locations such as Stockholm, Russian nationals such as Petrov and the Englund siblings (Lars and Britta), and the presence of the KGB—the underlying theme was more related to rivalries between competing Salem-based criminal organizations.
After escaping Victor's control, the Pawn renamed himself "John Black" after a name he saw on a war memorial. John meets Dr. Marlena EvansLucille Giordano, Inside Days of Our Lives July 1995. after he saves her from a criminal who attempted to rob Shenanigan's. He and Marlena develop a rapport almost immediately and he obtains a job as a security guard at Salem's University Hospital, where Marlena is a psychiatrist. Marlena begins to wonder about John's true identity. They come to believe that John was really Marlena's husband Roman Brady, who had been presumed dead two years earlier, and resume their lives as a happily-married couple and parents. John Black, now "Roman", rejoins the Salem police department and is promoted to commander. Their happiness is fleeting as Marlena is kidnapped by Roman's old enemy, Orpheus, and supposedly dies.