Darin Brooks News

We typically stay out of the personal lives of soap opera stars.

But this rumor is too juicy to pass up:

Might Days of Our Lives star Darin Brooks be dating Heroes star Hayden Panettiere?

The pair were seen this morning in Los Angeles, both having just returned from Hawaii for grand re-opening of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel over the weekend.

Does a mere photograph mean these two are hooking up? Of course not. But Panettiere is acting a bit fishy by covering her face; she also recently split from boyfriend Milo Ventimiglia.

Darin Brooks and Hayden Panettiere: Possible new couple alert?

In a fun new feature in Soap Opera Digest, Darin Brooks reminisces... about being naked!

The Days of Our Lives star thinks back to his five favorite scenes on set, and we thought female readers might be interested in the following one:

"Being handcuffed in the elevator during the Las Vegas storyline. This girl was getting back at Max for punching out a guy who was touching Stephanie on the airplane earlier. So she got Max naked and acted like she wanted to have sex with him. Then she handcuffed him to one of the rails in the elevator, took his clothes, and left.

All these other ladies were coming onto the elevator, while Max was just standing there naked. It was a fun little scene, and I had to stay there handcuffed to the elevator in between takes. And, of course, I was wearing that flesh-colored underwear they make you wear when you're supposed to be naked. When we were taping it, there were visions going through my head.

I kept thinking of Michael J. Fox in The Secret of My Success. Remember the scene where he's chained to the elevator? His assistant is standing outside, and when the door opens, he's flashing his muscles. That's totally what I was thinking about."

Darin Brooks was recently interviewed by Soap Opera Weekly. The magazine asked the Days of Our Lives star about a certain new co-star...

Soap Opera Weekly: What was your reaction when you learned veteran daytime star Roscoe Born (Trent) had been cast as your dad?
Darin Brooks: I actually didn't know until a couple of days before he started. The [Days of Our Lives] producers were kind of keeping it under wraps. Ed Scott (co-executive producer), Noel Maxam (supervising producer) and Kathy Foster (director) kept coming up to me, going:

"So, are you excited? You know who your father is going to be, right?" I'd say, "No, nobody told me yet." They'd say, "Oh, okay. Never mind. Just know that we're excited, and it will be good. He's a really good actor."

Weekly: Have you learned anything from working with Roscoe?
Brooks: He's a man of surprises. He likes to do things to surprise you, catch you off guard, and maybe get you into a special moment or place during a scene. One thing I've learned now is to surprise him back. I throw it back at him sometimes and see what we can do. So far, it's been great.

Why does Max hate Trent so much on Days of Our Lives?

It's because Trent is the character's biological father and "he doesn't understand why his father, his flesh and blood gave him up," Darin Brooks (pictured, Max) said Soap Opera Weekly.

How does Max deal with his rage? Tune in this week and find out!

Darin Brooks portrays Max Brady on Days of Our Lives.