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. 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, followed by successive wins in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Storylines Jackson Steven Kiriakis, known as Sonny, was born on August 7, 1991, in Texas as the only biological child of Justin and Adrienne Kiriakis. In 2007, Justin and Adrienne (off-screen) move Sonny and their three others sons—Alex, Joey and Victor—back to Salem where he enrolls in Salem High School. However, by January 2008, the family relocated again to Dubai. Justin returned to Salem in 2009, with Adrienne returning the following year.
Sonny returns to Salem in the summer of 2011 and immediately decides to live as openly gay in Salem. Sonny comes out to his extended family, including his great uncle Victor (John Aniston). While Victor is supportive of his nephew, he is worried about how others will react. Sonny settles into his life getting a job an internship as a legal aid for the district attorney, reconnects with his family and develops fast friendships with Will Horton (Chandler Massey), Chad DiMera (Casey Deidrick) and Gabi Hernandez (Camila Banus), who accept him despite their friend T's (Brendan Coughlin) homophobic disapproval. Sonny later partners up with Chad and Will to launch a website for sports fans at Salem University. However, they are forced to shut the website down when criminals begin using it for illegal gambling. The criminals kidnap Gabi, Chad, Melanie Jonas (Molly Burnett) and Sonny's cousin Abigail Deveraux (Kate Mansi) forcing Sonny, Will and Austin Reed (Patrick Muldoon) to come to their rescue. Sonny and Chad embark on another business venture when they open Common Grounds coffee shop together. Sonny wants the shop to be a place where people from all walks of life can feel accepted. When Will chooses not to be involved, Sonny suspects he is keeping his distance because he is questioning his sexuality. Trying to be supportive, Sonny often invites Will to hang out with him and his friends. When Will confides in Sonny about his feelings in the summer of 2012, Sonny realizes he has fallen for him and kisses him, only for Will to reject him. T accuses Sonny of making Will gay and physically assaults him. Sonny is comforted by his friends and family, and Victor even threatens T. Sonny and Will begin dating when Will officially comes out only for Will's father Lucas (Bryan Dattilo) to disapprove. However, once Sonny makes it clear that he definitely loves Will, Lucas becomes more accepting. With their relationship going so well, Sonny agrees to lend Will some money.
Meanwhile, Sonny notices tension between Chad and the pregnant Gabi, but Chad refuses to give him an explanation. In January 2013, as Gabi is set to marry Will's cousin Nick Fallon (Blake Berris), Chad interrupts the wedding by announcing Nick is not the father of her baby, forcing Will—the best man—to reveal himself as the father. A devastated Sonny demands answers from Chad, who reveals that Gabi was behind the scheme to kidnap his then girlfriend Melanie—but he did not know Will was her baby's father. Sonny reconciles with Will but is very wary of trusting Gabi and Nick. Sonny's suspicions prove true when Nick blackmails Will into signing away his parental rights in exchange for Nick keeping quiet about Will shooting EJ DiMera (James Scott) in 2007. Nick and Sonny later get into a fight, forcing Will to go to his mother Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) for help. Sonny supports Will and Sami's plans to ingratiate themselves to crime lord Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo) in hopes that he will destroy the evidence against Will. Meanwhile, Sonny and Sami steal Nick's copies of the recordings of Will's confession. In May 2013, Sonny and Will follow Nick and Gabi, who are being held at gun point by an armed gunman. They rescue Gabi, and Will stays behind to rescue Nick. However, Gabi goes into labor, and Sonny helps her deliver her daughter, Arianna Horton, in an abandoned shack. Sonny is distraught when Will gets shot trying to rescue Nick, but, fortunately, he pulls through. After Gabi splits with Nick, Sonny convinces her to move in with them so they can raise Arianna together. Later, Sonny and Will are furious to learn that Gabi is seeing Nick again. Gabi threatens to move out with Arianna if they don't back off. They are relieved when Gabi soon breaks up with Nick on her own. After Nick mysteriously disappears, claiming to have left town—Will realizes Sami, Gabi and his grandmother Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow) are hiding something and Will assumes they are planning a surprise birthday party for him. Sonny listens in on one of their conversations at Will's request only to learn that the three women are covering up Nick's apparent murder having disposed of his body in the river. The three women convince Sonny to keep quiet, insisting that Gabi killed Nick in self-defense. After he convinces Will to keep quiet, Sonny begins having nightmares about Nick.
They are all shocked when Nick crashes Arianna's christening in January 2014, appearing to have amnesia. While everyone, including Sonny, remained suspicious of Nick, Gabi falls back into old habits, and Sonny warns her away from him. Meanwhile, Sonny proposes to Will (Guy Wilson) and he rejects him saying he wants to wait for the situation with Nick to be resolved. However, thanks to his grandmother Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) — Will officially accept Sonny's proposal on Valentine's Day. The duo were married by Marlena on April 3, 2014, at Victor's mansion in front of their family and friends. As the newlyweds settle into their life, Sonny and Gabi butt heads over her reconciliation with Nick. While he put on a facade for Gabi, Nick shows his true colors with everyone else threatening to send Gabi, Kate, and Sami to jail for his attempted murder. Sonny goes so far as to steal a gun from Victor's house and keep it for protection, and Will urges him to return the gun only for Nick to be shot to death the following day. Will confesses to the crime fearing Sonny is responsible, but Sonny quickly reveals he is innocent. Gabi later confesses to killing Nick after overhearing his threats to Sonny. With Gabi in prison, Sonny and Will promise to stay in touch with her. As they start their new life, Sonny appeals to Victor, who pulls some strings to get Will hired at True Vista magazine. Sonny is wary when Will's first article focuses on his mother Sami's attempt to destroy her husband EJ because he has cheated on her. Sonny tries to get him to drop the article, but Will refuses. Sonny is furious when the article hits the press, identifying Abigail as EJ's mistress. It is revealed that Sami leaked Abby's identity to the editor. Meanwhile, Chad (Billy Flynn) returns to Salem, and Sonny resents him for abandoning their club. Sonny buys out Chad, allowing him a larger share of the profits, and Chad also agrees to finance a second location for a new club. After EJ's murder, Sonny reluctantly gives Will his blessing to accompany the grieving Sami to Hollywood, where he will work on the screenplay about Sami's life for a film. Tied up n his work, Will neglects Sonny, who struggles to build the new club. He is forced to clear out his and Will's joint savings account to finance the club. Meanwhile, Sonny is reunited with his ex-boyfriend, world-famous baseball player, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean). The closeted Paul wants to reunite with Sonny, who quickly reveals he is married. Will and Ari return just in time for Christmas, and he starts work on a top secret article for SONIX magazine.
Just before the article's release, Derrick (Spencer Neville), a customer at Sonny's club, inadvertently reveals to Sonny that Will and Paul are having an affair. A furious Sonny goes to confront Will only to be stabbed and left for dead by one of Victor's enemies. Victor and his wife Maggie Horton (Suzanne Rogers) discover Sonny and rush him to the hospital where he undergoes emergency surgery. Sonny initially wakes up with amnesia from the trauma, but as his memories of the attack return—so does his anger toward Will. Sonny is shocked when he receives a visit from Paul and forces him to confirm the affair and throws him out. Sonny then confronts a defensive Will who confesses that he believes Sonny only married him because Paul had rejected him. Upset, Sonny decides separation is best and goes to Arizona to visit his brother Alex. Sonny later goes to Paris to work for Victor, managing clubs and casinos. In October 2015, Sonny is devastated to learn Will has been murdered and he returns home to attend the funeral. Sonny leaves town again, unable to shake the memories of Will and returns to Paris. In July 2016, Sonny moved back to Salem and, within time, rekindled his relationship with Paul. In 2017, Sonny is named CEO of Titan Industries and also becomes engaged to Paul. Soon after, it is discovered that Will (now Chandler Massey) is alive with amnesia and has been living in Memphis with Susan Banks. Sonny ends his relationship with Paul, realizing his love for Will is greater. In August 2018, Will regains his memories and reciprocates his feelings for Sonny. In December 2018, Sonny is blackmailed into marrying Leo Stark, who threatened to turn Sonny and Will in to the police for almost murdering him previously (albeit accidentally) if Sonny did not oblige; the marriage is later annulled. In June 2019, Sonny and Will remarried for the second time.
Development
Casting and creation