HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Freddie Smith is becoming quite the expert at playing gay on television, and he is thrilled at the new storyline coming next week to the venerable daytime soap opera, “Days Of Our Lives” (DOOL) on NBC.

“My character [Sonny Kiriakis] is the first gay character in the 45 years of the show,” Smith said.

Three weeks after leaving the nighttime soap, “90210,” on which he played the gay character of Marco Salazar, Smith landed a recurring role on DOOL.