The face is familiar. The role is a secret.

The announcement

This one isn’t a rumor. A Days of Our Lives representative confirmed the casting to Entertainment Weekly, and Mattsson announced it the modern way — a photo of her name on a dressing room door, right over the show’s hourglass.

She’s been filming since late March. Days tapes months ahead, so Salem won’t see her until early 2027. And the role? Under wraps. The show confirmed the actress and hid the character. That’s not an accident — that’s a rollout.

Headshot: IMDb. Reporting: Entertainment Weekly, People.

The Sasha years

Port Charles met Sasha Gilmore in 2018 — a young woman Valentin Cassadine paid to pose as Nina Reeves’s long-lost daughter. A con. Then the show did what soaps do: it made her real. Sasha turned out to be the secret daughter of Holly Sutton and Robert Scorpio, and the fake heiress became one of the most put-upon heroines on daytime.

Addiction. A baby boy, Liam, gone almost as soon as he arrived. A husband, Brando, murdered. A mother-in-law who robbed her blind. And finally a daughter, Daisy — and a mother’s decision. In July 2025, Sasha left Port Charles to keep her baby safe, and Mattsson told the fans goodbye “for now.”

Eight years of that will earn you an audience for life. Salem just inherited it.

The long way to Salem

Here’s the part that makes this more than a casting item. Mattsson grew up in Sweden watching Days of Our Lives. She told People she was nervous to make the jump — Port Charles was already her daytime family — and called Days “such a legendary show,” home to some of the longest-working actors in television.

A kid in Stockholm watches the hourglass. Years later her name is on a dressing room door underneath it. That’s the reach of this genre — and it’s why a “mystery role” on a 60-year-old soap still makes news on two continents.

The guessing game

So who is she playing? Nobody official is talking, so the fans are doing the talking for them. The guesses flying around: a beloved character back from the dead. A recast of a fan favorite whose original actress moved overseas. Or a brand-new face with a familiar one. All of it is speculation — say that part out loud — but the speculation is the point. A secret role is a six-month conversation the show doesn’t have to pay to advertise.

Daytime’s oldest trick still works. Port Charles is running the same play right now with a mystery man named Jude. When Salem is ready, we’ll know. Until then, the guessing is the show.