Our Daily Drama team had the pleasure of getting to know the new face of Gabi DiMera on Days of our Lives, Cherie Jimenez. The lovely star opened up about her life off-screen, her reaction to landing the role, what it’s like becoming Gabi…and even gave us a few little delicious teasers!
An Exclusive Talk With Cherie Jimenez
Tell me about getting the call you landed the role of Gabi. Who was the first person you called to tell?
Funny enough, I was actually living in Texas when I did the screen test, so I flew down for the screen test and then I had flown back to Texas the day before I found out I booked it. That morning, when I got the call, I cried in gratitude and excitement over it.
Within this industry, there have been a lot of times that I have been up for something with myself and another actress or two and it has just never gone my way…which is fine, it wasn’t meant to be. So, to be told that I was the one and that I booked it was such a beautiful moment for me and my family.
The first person I actually called was my mom but she was busy that day. I decided not to leave her a message and just wait until I could actually speak to her.
We know in this industry being a recast is tough and soap fans are sometimes not exactly open to the change. Has that been hard for you coming in as Gabi?
Yes, it actually has. I was just talking about this. When I first joined DAYS, and I got to know all the different actors, a lot of them are recasts themselves, so I was told previously that recasts get it pretty tough. The fans are very resistant to it, so I was warned as much as you can be but it’s a whole different story when it actually starts happening.
It’s a wild thing to have all of the hard work of the last seven months start airing and to live in that moment of oh my god, it’s happening, my interpretation of Gabi is starting to come out, at the same time while receiving judgment and resistance. Now, thankfully, I don’t know the extent of what is actually being said because I am not looking at anything.
The tough part about it, though, was I did have some fans that, unfortunately, reached out to me through messages or tagging me to let me know how upset they were that I was coming in. I will say, it’s given me thicker skin. I had been warned because other actors on the show have gone through this and shared their experiences of how difficult it can be, it gave me a little bit more to come in with and expect it to be like this. I don’t think I expected it to be as brutal as it was.
Now, with that said, within one week, and the press conference episode airing, I’ve been receiving lots of love and changes of hearts. That’s a beautiful thing.
Gabi came out of prison and immediately got involved in all the drama. Will there be some fallout in her future for throwing EJ under the bus?
We’re just going to have to wait and see what happens. There’s a lot to come. There is definitely going to be quite a rollercoaster. A chain of events, a domino effect of what takes place from here on out. I get to work with all the different actors here and there.
Gabi has worn many hats over the years. If you could pick her future career, what would you want that to look like?
I want Gabi to take control of her own life and bloom within her own business and stop trying to take everyone else’s business. I believe that’s where her power lies and that’s where she’ll really come into herself is when she starts focusing on what she wants for herself. That would be a beautiful direction.
Ava slept with Stefan but Gabi doesn’t exactly know that yet. What is that like for you and Tamara? You have to act like frenemies with this whopper of a secret between you?
Gabi and Ava DO have history and she doesn’t care for Ava. She was also with her brother so there’s a whole other thing. I don’t think Gabi is necessarily concerned with Stefan since that’s the last thing that she thinks. With that being said, while she was in prison, Stefan did confide in her a couple of things about working with Ava. As a woman, you can’t entirely trust her, you know. At the same time, I don’t think there is any actual speculation about any infidelity going on…yet.
I think it’s more just that Gabi is thinking about her business and starting Gabi Chic over. She’s looking at this as a career opportunity and, why not? Ava and her are two powerful women who can come together and work to make some money and build an empire. That’s the focus. She’s just trying to figure out how to repair her marriage.
Which actors have you not had scenes yet that you hope you get to work with in the future?
I’ve been here now for eight months and I actually necessarily say anything yet because I am working with an actor that I have been really looking forward to working with in two days! I’m really excited to work with her.
Also, Linsey [Godfrey, Sarah], she and I are really good friends. We’ve known each other for about 11 years. We used to be really good friends back in the day and hang out in the same group of friends. After she had her daughter, we were connected for a bit but then lost contact because of life. Every time I see her in passing we catch up and we have such a beautiful friendship but we haven’t gotten the opportunity to work with her yet.
We saw your post about not wearing red lipstick with a red dress. We just need to know…have you found the right lipstick yet?
When I first started, outside of this, I didn’t grow up with a mother who wore makeup or taught me how to do makeup. The color that has never been a good match for me is always red. Red is always too overpowering and it makes my lips look weird.
The fans will go out of the way to message me and I had a lot of them let me know how they feel about the red lipstick. I had so many message me about it I went on Twitter [read the tweet here] and addressed it so people understand we’re on the same page and I agree the red lips are a little too much.
I spoke to Natalie, the makeup artist about it, and she’s wonderful. She and I, throughout the last eight months, have really worked together to figure out what best suits my face and my skin tone and my lips. We’ve gone in a really beautiful direction to enhance my natural beauty as Gabi. More browns and nudes and a good array of colours. We found a good red that suits my lips.
When you’re not taping, what are you doing? What are your favorite hobbies?
When I’m not taping, I’m with my family. I have a two-year-old son. His name is Phoenix. Like the little firebird which is the DiMera symbol. Side note: When I did the screen test with Brandon, we were in the DiMera mansion and I turned around and saw a phoenix statue on the table and I thought to myself, huh, is that a phoenix, but didn’t think too much about it and when I booked it and Brandon and I connected and got into conversation, he was like “hey I just wanted to let you know in case you didn’t know, the Phoenix is the symbol of the DiMeras, like your son, Phoenix.”
Before I booked this I was a stay-at-home mom. I wasn’t necessarily ready to get back into acting just yet. I’ve been pursuing this for 28 years, since I was 8, and never really took a break. 15 years ago, the role of Gabi came into my life and it wasn’t meant to be and when I became a mother, it was the first time I ever stepped away from acting for a bit.
After I had my son, I had a director write me into a movie and I had another movie I booked. The universe had different plans for me, obviously. I wanted to focus on motherhood. It’s just my husband and I doing it by ourselves and I wanted to be there and I wanted to be present for my son.
I’ve been able to find a good balance of motherhood and work. In the beginning, it was difficult because we it’s a dream role but also leaving my son. My most important thing is when I’m off work my script and everything goes away and I’m fully present with my son. Once he goes down to sleep, that’s when I dive back into everything.
Did you cry the first day you went to work without him?
Yes, actually, I did. I brought his stuffed animal with me. Also, I was breastfeeding at the time. I was in between takes pumping. When I have hiatus weeks and I’m back with him every day, the day I come back is always hard.
I couldn’t ask for a better schedule or a better job. Sometimes I’m here at 6 in the morning and done by noon and I get the rest of the day with him. We ended up getting a house down the street. During my lunch breaks, I will sometimes meet them at the park and play for an hour.
What is a fun fact about yourself not a whole lot of people know?
I skateboard! I don’t do crazy tricks or anything like that but I have a big group of guy friends out here who are all like brothers to me. In my 20s when we would all hang out, one of the things they would do is they would go skateboarding. I knew how to rollerblade, but I didn’t know how to skateboard. To join them I asked them to teach me how to skateboard. When we would hang out, we go skateboarding through Toluca Lake. It became such a beautiful thing for me and I’d go skateboarding at night through the neighborhood and decompress.
If you could say anything to Gabi’s fans, what would it be?
Thank you for the support and for the open minds and the open hearts and hose that have welcomed me into Salem and into the Days family. I’m excited for the character to bloom and continue growing. There’s a lot to get used to coming into this. I’m so grateful.
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