Victoria Grace Knows Her Days Of Our Lives Character Offers Vital Representation
On "Days of Our Lives," Wendy Shin (Victoria Grace) has definitely had a complicated love life. Recently, she was torn between Tripp Johnson (Lucas Adams) and Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman), egging the guys on to compete for her affections. But after a while, Wendy realized that Johnny still had unresolved feelings for his ex-wife, Chanel Dupree (Raven Bowens), and chose Tripp instead, sending the heartbroken Johnny off with just a peck on the cheek.
At the 2023 "Day of Days" fan event, Grace and Adams were on hand to discuss their characters with Soap Hub prior to an extensive meet and greet with the gathered fans. Grace marveled at the praise many of them showered on her for being such an important example of vital representation, noting, "Whenever there's an Asian in the crowd ... they'll come up to me and say, 'It's amazing to have an Asian on the show.' It's a great step forward in terms of representation."
While we haven't met Wendy's mother just yet — Grace described her as "a mystery" — she's had several interactions with Tripp's mom, the seemingly reformed criminal Ava Vitale (Tamara Braun). On working with Braun, Adams enthused, "I love her to death. She's one of my favorite people ever. Whenever we see each other on the schedule, and we know we're working together, it's like, 'Wow! Cool!'" The soap star also previously addressed how representation factored into her playing against an onscreen mother.
Grace feels more work needs to be done for proper representation
In April 2023, TV Insider spoke with Victoria Grace about her career, and when the topic of Wendy Shin's mother came up, the actor shared that she'd love to be able to dive into their story someday. "I'm always so thrilled to have more family members on-screen," Grace said. She also related her experience portraying an Asian person in TV and film, recalling, "Growing up, as a child actor here in Hollywood, it was so hard being paired in a family. [Shows] haven't always put an Asian family [into their shows]."
But, when asked if representation has evolved over time, the "Days" star heartily agreed, remarking that, "There's been more of a concerted effort across the board to get POC [people of color] — actors, directors, writers, producers — out there." However, Grace feels that more work still needs to be done, citing, "The Hollywood Diversity report shares that Asian [American actors made up 5.6% of lead roles, 6.4% of overall cast]."
Thankfully, things have improved significantly in the time since her career began. Although we've seen Wendy's brother, Li Shin (Remington Hoffman), and her father, Wei Shin (Clyde Kusatsu), the identity of Wendy's mother remains unknown. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time before we learn more about her family.