“We were rolling the dice, because it’s difficult to tell a story of someone’s death or a character’s death while the actor is still alive; albeit [Drake] was fighting, like a tiger, a very difficult disease,” Corday told Soap Opera Digest. “And I made the choice to, ‘Okay, let’s tell the story.’”

Days of our Lives star Drake Hogestyn knew his alter ego, John Black, would die, and he was “in favor” of it. When Drake died in September, it came as a shock to fans, but his cast and crew members knew of his pancreatic cancer battle the whole time.

Days of Our Lives will say a more permanent goodbye to the late Drake Hogestyn’s character, John Black, with upcoming death and funeral scenes that the actor approved before he passed away. In a new interview with Soap Opera Digest,

Days of Our Lives' star Deidre Hall said that 'lovely tribute shows' have been planned to honor Drake Hogestyn, who died in late September at 70.

"We have shows coming up that are just hours of flashbacks of his history," Hall shares with PEOPLE Deidre Hall is revealing how the late Drake Hogestyn 's legacy will be honored. In an interview with PEOPLE at a Days of Our Lives fan event on Nov.