who plays sonny's dad on days of our lives
Sonny Kiriakis Upon his arrival in 2011, Sonny's life seemed very easy going and Freddie Smith hinted that "At some point, there will be conflict in Sonny's story." Meanwhile, his uncle Victor's only concern is how other people will react to his nephew.[12] In the summer of 2012 during an interview with Outlook Media Smith revealed that Sonny would be involved in a bullying storyline.[9] Smith previewed the storyline during and interview and said "it's told very well, and I think it's important to show storylines like that because it happens in real life all the time." He insisted the importance of showing "how [bullying] affects people."[4] When Brendan Coughlin reprises his recurring role as Tad "T" Stevens in the summer of 2012—T and Sonny are already at odds. "He did not like Sonny because he is gay, he is a gay basher" Smith said of T. So when T returns to town and finds out his best friend Will Horton (Chandler Massey) has recently come out of the closet—T blames Sonny for it."[10] Sonny has already experienced this before and the incident with T "brings him back -- he thought he was home free. [It's] disappointing to him. He was very bullet proof at first."[9] Smith explained that Sonny already "came to terms with who he is, and he thought all of this was in his past." The ordeal kind of shocks him.[10] Smith admitted to having his own experience being bullied but described it as "very mild." However, he knew of others that had worse experiences and thought it was a good reason that the plot address the "huge issue." For about two weeks, the series shows the emotional affects of the bullying from Sonny's point of view and how he works through those emotions.[11] One particular scene shows Sonny being comforted by his father, Justin (Wally Kurth). "It turned out to be such a great scene" Smith remarked. He continued, "It's important to have family there under circumstances like that."[6] The storyline culminated with Sonny retaliating against his attacker Tad "T" Stevens (Brendan Coughlin). "I personally wouldn't go after someone like that" Smith said but he defended Sonny's actions by saying "our emotions run wild and we don't always think. We just react."[13] Smith praised his costar Brendan Coughlin for his portrayal of T. "I just react off of him. He really scares me and makes me feel like crap."[11] The storyline also afforded Smith with the opportunity to speak to congress about an anti-bullying campaign.[14]