Joseph Mascolo

Joseph: (asked what he likes about the character Stefano) It's a wonderful fantasy to have the kind of power he has. He's not a gangster per se, but he has world-class power. If he needed something, he'd hire Tony Soprano to do it rather than soil his own hands. It's really no fun playing a guy who kills. I enjoy playing a character who plays with a person's mind.

Joseph: (asked how he was wooed back to "Days Of Our Lives" in 2007) What had, in the past, been a ticking point - the fact that I wasn't interested in returning for a guest spot - we managed to work through. (Executive producer) Ken Corday discussed what the writers had in mind, which was to get to the heart of the DiMera/Brady feud; to find out why this vendetta exists.

Joseph: (on operas) Operas are so wild, in the sense that if it's done perfectly, there's nothing more beautiful in the world. But, if it's badly done, you can't stand it.

Joseph (on the longevity of his family): My father is going to be 105 this November 24. Totally unbelievable. We're waiting to have a big party. And my mother is 95. They still live in Connecticut, which is where I'm from originally.
At my wedding, Susan Flannery came up to me and said, 'Does Patricia realise this friggin' guy could live another 30 years?' [Laughs]

Joseph: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Canadian mountie. The first time I was in Canada, I saw someone on a horse in that red jacket and thought, 'Oh my gosh! There it is! That's it!'

Joseph (on his love of opera): As a teenager, I had a rock 'n' roll band in high school. And then I heard this opera and I got so involved. The music was so beautiful and I listened to this whole thing and at the end, I was sitting there crying. I thought that if something could do that to me, then this is something important to look into and it's got to be part of me. That opera was La Boheme, which I've loved ever since.

Joseph (on married life): So far, so good. She was a vice president at NBC. We knew each other when she was doing publicity for Days. Then we knew each other off and on for a long time at the same network. Then she left and I left and we went to New Orleans for some professional thing and got to know each other more and more, and suddenly it turned into this!

Joseph (on what made him leave B&B): My contract was up at the end of August. A little before July, I sat down with Brad and I said, 'Look. The way things are going here, this is not strong enough for me'. And he just said, 'I can't find a thing right now that's strong enough for an actor like you and I don't want to waste your time'.

Joseph (on rumours of his return to Days of our Lives): Oh, goodness. I'm hit with them all over the place. No matter where I go, in the country or out of it, people have been bugging me about going back to Days. I tell everybody the truth. I don't know anything about it and I'm not involved at all.

Joseph (on returning to Days of ur Lives): Kristian came up to me and said, 'Will you please come home?' I tell you, it almost made me cry. It's kind of gratifying to see that people care that much. I think bringing back Stefano now is certainly warranted and would make sense. If they're smart, they would - but it's up to them.

Joseph (on cooking): I can boil water and that's where it ends.