 On June 17, 2011, "Entertainment Weekly" confirmed exclusively that Smith had been cast in the role of Sonny, an openly gay character—connected to a previously established family.Sonny was reported at the time to be Days first openly gay character, but in fact Sonny is the second, following Ryan Scott's openly gay Harold Wentworth who featured in the show from 2001 to 2003.Smith talked about his new role, saying