Days of our Lives Performer of the Week: Raven Bowens as Chanel Dupree

Raven Bowens, as Chanel Dupree DiMera on Days of our Lives, has been tasked with playing the loss of a child not once but twice over the past year. Chanel lost her baby with her husband, Johnny (Carson Boatman), last year. Now, she felt the pain over losing the baby she and Johnny were going to adopt.

Raven Bowens plays maternal angst on Days of our Lives

Talk about your baby booms! Chanel did not see this coming. Johnny was thrown for a loop when he learned that his father EJ (Dan Feuerriegel) forced himself on his mother Sami (Allison Sweeney), which led to his conception. This has prompted Johnny to rethink becoming a father.

Bowens showed why Johnny and Chanel have had such a great relationship. Chanel's immediate thought was to comfort her husband, assuring him that he was not his father. Chanel is already a great wife. She was looking forward to becoming a great mother.

When it became apparent that Johnny's angst over EJ was causing him to rethink becoming a parent, we saw Bowens shift her character. Chanel went from being a supportive spouse to a mother who saw her child slipping away from her. She went into protective mama bear mode.

Chanel had already gone through angst when she lost her and Johnny's first child. The exasperated look on Chanel's face had her asking the same question viewers were asking: How could this be happening again?

Bowens brought just the right amount of desperation to Chanel's mindset. Chanel knows her husband well, and while she made every attempt to reach him, she soon found that there was no talking him out of this. Chanel not only watched her baby slip away, but she was watching her husband do that, too.

Denial, fear, anger, bargaining

Bowens put Chanel through all the stages. We saw her nearly gasping for breath as she tried to comprehend what was happening, then came the desperation in her voice as she pleaded with her husband.

"You are not your father," Chanel continued. "He's already taken enough away from you and your mother. Please don't let him take away our chance to start a family."

Bowens decided that her character saw her husband's pain and seamlessly shifted Chanel's compassion to anger after she realized she wasn't reaching Johnny. "What about what I need?" she demanded to know.

Meet the birth parents

Chanel and Johnny were deep into the conversation about Sofia's (Rachel Boyd) baby when she and Tate (Leo Howard), the baby's dad, showed up unannounced. Bowens had Chanel turn her back to the bio parents of the baby she was hoping to call her own, so they wouldn't see her angst.

Bowens had Chanel try to contain her emotions, a nearly impossible task. The actress had the opportunity to cry her eyes out in front of Tate and Sophia, but Bowens made the more compelling choice of having her character try not to cry.

Chanel implored her husband not to tell the baby's parents that they couldn't adopt their baby. We saw Chanel try to contain her anger that Johnny took such a step before the matter had been fully resolved.

Bowens had Chanel try to make light of the situation, but nobody was buying that. As Johnny explained to Tate and Sophia his decision, Bowens had Chanel look away and shake her head in disbelief and horror. This was truly happening, and she couldn't stop it.

Feeling alone

After Tate and Sophia left, Bowens chose to have Chanel turn her back on Johnny. And why not? She felt he had turned his back on her and her dream of having a baby. Johnny said that Tate and Sophia deserved the truth. "Your truth!" Chanel blasted.

Bowens continued to have Chanel not even look at Johnny as she ordered him to go. "Please, go!" she insisted. The actress had Chanel hold in her tears until Johnny was on the other side of the door. He'd taken so much from her. She didn't want him robbing her of what little pride she had left.

Once Johnny was gone, Bowens had Chanel break down. She clutched a large bear, a gift for her second child, who will likely never be hers. Bowens brought the pain of anyone who had experienced such a loss to the screen, and made it relatable, tender, raw, and real. Bravo!

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