In a move that may surprise long-time Days of our Lives fans, actress Renee Jones (Lexie Carver) has announced that she will not only be leaving Days of our Lives later this year, but she'll also be calling it quits from the world of show business.
In an interview with TVGuide's Michael Logan, Jones admits that she's been mulling over her decision for some time and is now looking forward to the proverbial simple life.
"It's been on my mind for over a year. I am so grateful to Days for 20 years of steady employment -- it's been a fantastic opportunity -- but I finally had to stop and ask myself, 'What really makes me happy? What really brings me joy in life?' And it's not acting. I just don't want to do this anymore. I was raised on a farm in Georgia and I want to get back to that silence, that solitude. I want to spend all day enjoying nature, experiencing God."
Jones has been a member of the Days of our Lives cast since 1993. During an interview on Soap Central Live in November 2011, Jones admitted that she'd never expected her time in Salem to last so long.
"I thought I was only going to be on the show for -- I'd given myself like ten years, tops. You know, what I'd said to myself, just as an actress, because before coming on Days, I would do a show or whatever -- you know, a movie of the week or whatever -- for three months here, six weeks there, a week here, and then there was always time in between," Jones explained. "So to think of being on a show this long -- uh uh. I thought, 'Okay, after ten years, I'll have a nice amount of money put away and I'll go back out in the world and do other stuff.' But the time flew by! It just flew by."
In her post-Days of our Lives time, Jones says that she may want to do something that her fictional alter ego has been doing: "working with sick babies, holding them, just giving them love, helping them heal."
Would she ever return to daytime or any other acting venue?
"If something really, really great comes along acting-wise, maybe I would consider it," Jones remarked. "But I don't think so."
Jones will last air on Days of our Lives in June.
To hear the complete Soap Central Live interview with Renee Jones, please visit:
soapcentral.com/radio/news/2011/111118-jones.php
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