by Dan J Kroll

Posted Sunday, February 24, 2008 7:08:57 PM

Shawn Christian (ex-Mike Kasnoff, As the World Turns) has landed the role of Dr. Daniel Jonas on Days of our Lives. Daniel is a newly created role and the character will be assigned to Bo's case. This marks the first time since 1997, when Christian ended his three-year run on As the World Turns, that Christian has appeared on daytime television. DAYS fans can consider themselves lucky: the actor's addition to the cast almost never happened.

Shawn Christian

According to Christian, As the World Turns is interested in writing Mike Kasnoff back into the show and is actively seeking an actor to take on the role. It's been a year since Mike was last seen. After nearly five years with the show, Mark C. Collier exited his role as Mike in January 2007. As the show moved forward with its planned recast, ATWT contacted Christian to see if he'd be interested in returning to the show. While the offer was enticing, other work obligations prevented Christian from agreeing to the return.

Christian is currently filming the HBO series 12 Miles of Bad Road with actress Lily Tomlin. The HBO series is shooting in Los Angeles and As the World Turns films in New York. Having to work his soap schedule around the HBO series and commuting from coast to coast made the As the World Turns difficult to accept.

Christian reported to work at Days of our Lives, which also films in Los Angeles, earlier in the month and his first scenes have already wrapped. Those scenes are scheduled to air on March 4th.