Drake Hogestyn's character, John Black, will die on Days of our Lives, with the cast and crew expressing their sadness at his passing and the… The post Days of our Lives Struggled To Film John Black’s

While John Black's heartbreaking and dreaded Days of our Lives death is not here yet, the soap had to think about whether to kill off the character while Drake Hogestyn was still alive.

Days of Our Lives star Deidre Hall has opened up about the passing of her co-star Drake Hogestyn and how she and her fellow castmates have been coping since he died September 28 at 70 years old.

“We were rolling the dice, because it’s difficult to tell a story of someone’s death or a character’s death while the actor is still alive; albeit [Drake] was fighting, like a tiger, a very difficult disease,” Corday told Soap Opera Digest of the goodbye episodes that will air next spring. “And I made the choice to, ‘Okay, let’s tell the story.’”

Days of Our Lives will say a more permanent goodbye to the late Drake Hogestyn’s character, John Black, with upcoming death and funeral scenes that the actor approved before he passed away. In a new interview with Soap Opera Digest,

Deidre Hall explained that Hogestyn's on-screen tribute will air over a few episodes and have tons of John flashbacks.

The show's producer said depicting the character John Black’s death was challenging and he wanted Drake Hogestyn’s approval on the plot twist

In spite of hard times, Hall encourages the "Days" audience to "stick with us, we're always going to be your family."

"Truly, we don’t talk about it," she told the outlet. "There isn’t even really as much as somebody walking by and putting their hand on you." Describing the cast's reaction to Hogestyn's death on Sept.

Days of Our Lives star Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans Black) is opening up about grieving the loss of her longtime friend and co-star, Drake Hogestyn (John Black). In a new interview with Access Hollywood,