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Camila Banus Explains How Choice to Depart Days of Our Lives Honors Late Father
Days of Our Lives' Camila Banus (Gabi) is opening up about her exit from the Peacock soap. She's already discussed how challenges with contract negotiations and her desire to start a new chapter in her life and begin a family all played a part in her choice, but in a new essay on Today.com, the actress delved a bit deeper.
RELATED: Camila Banus to Exit Days of Our Lives
She recalled:
Soon into my time on 'Days of Our Lives,' I got the news no one ever wants to receive. I was in the parking lot of a dollar store with my mom, who was on the phone, when she started screaming. On the other line, she learned my dad, her ex-husband, had died by suicide.
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At the time of his death, Banus was 19. She said she buried her grief and didn't really talk about it with others. Therapy, and playing a mom on DAYS, eventually helped her open up about her experience. She mused:
'Days' was impactful, too: When my character became a mom, I took a parenting class to prepare for the role, where I reflected on how the parenting done to me has molded me into the adult I became. Meeting other families impacted by suicide through my work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has helped me move forward as well.
Banus reflected on how her dad knew that she wanted to act in different roles and be in movies. So making the decision to leave DAYS, in part to spread her professional wings, felt right. She explained:
“Days' was undeniably a dream job. But I hope it’s the first of many dream jobs. I want to leave a legacy for my family, honoring the sacrifices that my Cuban immigrant parents made for me so that I could pursue those dreams.
