DAYS Exclusive: AnnaLynne McCord on Cat’s ‘Head Over Heels’ Feelings for Chad

I Keep On Fallin’: Cat (AnnaLynne McCord) remains utterly smitten with Chad (Billy Flynn).

Chad and Cat embark on a date orchestrated by EJ after he gifts his little brother the prize he won at the hospital’s fundraiser auction. The generous (and slightly slick) move could reignite things between the Days of Our Lives duo, who abruptly went their separate ways when Cat’s ruse of posing as Chad’s late wife Abigail was exposed. Actress AnnaLynne McCord chatted with Soap Opera Digest about revisiting the potential coupling and Cat’s “head over heels” feelings for Chad.

Soap Opera Digest: Chad was definitely perturbed at the idea of EJ going out with Cat. What were Cat’s thoughts on EJ bidding on her, Chad’s reaction and how the date panned out?

AnnaLynne McCord: Cat obviously wanted [the bidder] to be Chad, but he was up for auction too, so she didn’t think that was a possibility. I think the writers thought that might’ve been a little too on the nose. So the EJ side was actually kind of fascinating. Cat was like, “What’s going on here?” She actually was quite curious about it. And she doesn’t mind Chad getting mad about it, because what girl doesn’t love a little jealousy or protectiveness? Cat totally took note and was kind of playful with the fact that she knew Chad was genuinely worried. She also tried to calm his nerves, saying that everything was going to be fine. But there was a little sprinkle of her liking how protective he was being of her, and that made her feel that he cared maybe more than he was saying.

Digest: Does all this give her hope that maybe Chad could fully forgive her and that they could eventually date like two normal people?

McCord: Everything gives her hope. The wind blows, and she gets hope [laughs]. She’s like, “Maybe this is my moment!” But then she’s quick, in front of people, to be like, “I shouldn’t hope for this.” She knows what other people think, but deep down she is just a hopeless romantic. In every moment that there’s even a glance in her general direction from Chad, it’s a possibility of something more.

Digest: Do you feel like Cat has been smitten with Chad pretty much from the get-go?

McCord: Yes. It was very early on, when she saw how much he loved Abigail. She got a little lost in the character she was playing when Chad recited his wedding vows to her. That’s the moment you really saw Cat be like, “Oh, no. This is not how this was supposed to go down. I was supposed to do the thing I was supposed to do and then wash my hands of this family and this moment. And now here’s this beautiful man, and he’s just got such a deep love [for his wife].” I feel like with women we have the ability — even if the love’s not directed towards us — to open to the energy of a masculine [energy] who’s showing up so beautifully for a feminine [energy]. When Cat saw that love that Chad had for Abigail, it opened her. She got stuck in that little trope, and now she’s hopelessly smitten.

Digest: How happy was Cat that EJ gifted his date with her to Chad?

McCord: She was over the moon. Chad was quick to be like, “It’s platonic.” And Cat was like, “Yeah, of course. Obviously platonic.” She had her little stutter moments. But, still, she was getting more time with this man that she’s in love with, so she’s not mad about that at all. They had a lot of playfulness in figuring out what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. And it unfolded in a way that Chad didn’t expect, that’s for sure.

Digest: Does this platonic night out together lead to anything? Does it open the door to the possibility of Cat and Chad moving forward?

McCord: Chad still has a tentative nature in this, so he will take two steps forward and then three steps back. Cat gets a little [hope], and then it gets pulled away. But within that, she gets these really beautiful moments with him. He’s not fully at the place where it’s like, “Oh, we’re going to do this more often or in a more than platonic way.” But, again, Cat’s being in this space of hopefulness, and Chad’s giving these little sprinkles that he’s enjoying this a little bit more than he’s typically expressing — those moments of potential all come through, and Chad shows up for them.

Digest: After Cat was initially exposed as a fraud pretending to be Abigail, did you think the possibility of a real Cat/Chad romance was over? Or did you think there was a chance it could be revived?

McCord: I believe in the magic of existence, especially when we’re storytellers and we’re creating, right? But that was a big one. That was a hard one to come back from. The nature of Chad’s character, who he is and how he shows up as a man and as a person in the world, lends itself to the potential more so than perhaps the next character. So I think Cat is letting herself be a little hopeful. Again, she’s tentative when it’s public. She’s shy about it. She doesn’t think she deserves it. She feels terrible about what she did, but there’s a shift that only time can create. They say that time heals all wounds. I don’t know if it necessarily heals everything, but it certainly can put enough space between you and the wound that it stops being so triggering.

Digest: Is that time approaching for Cat and Chad?

McCord: They’re getting to this place where they’re having enough interactions between running into each other here and there, other people being involved in things that they’re involved in, and being brought together. They’re starting to see if extenuating circumstances weren’t happening, Cat would never have [pretended to be Abigail]. So there’s a forgiveness that starts to build in Chad’s heart. I think that Cat’s beginning to feel that it’s really real this time. He’s told her this before, but now she’s starting to believe it.

Digest: What are Cat’s feelings for Chad at this point?

McCord: I mean, let’s see. If I could make my entire body flush 50 shades of red, I would definitely do that for Cat, because I think that’s what she feels every time she sees Chad. Her entire body just goes flush. She is shy. She is embarrassed. Her knees go weak. He is the top for her. The highest level of man is the man who shows up for his family, the man who deeply loves the wife who is no longer with him, and therefore creating that unrequited aspect. Someone who has the capacity to love at that level is her dream. So Cat is head over heels.

XJJohnson/jpistudios.com

Little By Little: Cat is doing her darndest to rebuild the trust she lost with Chad when posing as his late wife, Abigail.