Theo Carver

Theo Carver
Kyler Pettis as Theo Carver
Days of Our Lives character
Portrayed by	Chase and Tyler Johnson (2003–04) Kavi Faquir (2006–07) Amyrh Harris (2007) Terrell Ransom, Jr. (2008–15) Kyler Pettis (2015–)
Duration	2003–04 2006–
First appearance	May 29, 2003 (2003-05-29)
Created by	Dena Higley
Introduced by	Ken Corday and Stephen Wyman
Classification	Present; regular
Profile
Other names	Theodore Brandon Carver
Occupation	Student
Residence	Salem, Illinois
240px Terrell Ransom, Jr. as Theo Carver
Family Family DiMera Parents Abe Carver Lexie Carver Half brothers Brandon Walker Half sisters Lani Price Grandparents Benjamin Carver Rita Carver Stefano DiMera Celeste Perrault Grace Brooks (adoptive) Uncles André DiMera Tony DiMera (legal) Benjy Hawk Theo Carver Jonah Carver Peter Blake (adoptive) EJ DiMera Cameron Davis Chad DiMera Aunts Kristen DiMera (adoptive) Renée DuMonde Megan Hathaway Karen Carver Grace Jeffries (adoptive) First cousins Jett Carver Steven Hawk Johnny DiMera Sydney DiMera Grace Brady Thomas Deveraux

Theo Carver is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network, currently portrayed by Kyler Pettis. Introduced in 2003, Theo was created by then-head writer Dena Higley, as the son of Police commissioner and eventual mayor of Salem, Abe Carver (James Reynolds) and his wife, Dr. Lexie Carver (Renée Jones). Theo was initially believed to be the biological son of Abe's illegitimate son, Brandon Walker (Matt Cedeño), however a DNA test later confirms Abe is Theo's father. The character is named after Abe's deceased brother, Theo (Rusty Cundieff). The role was originated by two unaccredited child actors in 2003. Chase and Tyler Johnson appeared in the role from September 2003 to November 2004. Kavi Faquir portrayed the role from April 2006 to June 2007. Amyrh Harris had a one-episode guest stint in the role in December 2007. The role was most notably portrayed by Terrell Ransom, Jr. who made his debut on May 20, 2008. Ransom's biggest story would come in the form of Theo being diagnosed with Autism and its affect on his parents' marriage. Ransom vacated the role of Theo in July 2015, following the decision to rapidly age the character into a teenager, when Kyler Pettis took over the role in November 2015.

Storylines

In the summer of 2002, Abe Carver (James Reynolds) announces his plans to divorce his wife Lexie (Renée Jones) for her attempt at kidnapping a child and trying to pass it off as their own. On the rebound, Lexie sleeps with Brandon Walker (Matt Cedeño). Lexie later reveals she is pregnant and a paternity test proves Abe is the baby's father. Abe and Lexie reunite and as she gives birth to her baby on May 29, 2003, Brandon is revealed to be Abe's long lost son. Brandon's new wife and Lexie's rival Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) later reveals that she tampered with the baby's original paternity test to make sure Abe believes he is the child's father. Fortunately, a DNA test later confirms that Abe is Theo's biological father. In September 2003, Abe is presumed dead when he is shot on the day of Theo's christening. Fortunately, Abe is revealed to be alive in 2004 and the family is reunited. After Lexie's latest affair, in 2006, Abe wants to divorce her and sue for custody of Theo. However, Lexie is presumed dead in January 2007 before the divorce is final leaving Abe to raise Theo on his own. Fortunately, Lexie is revealed to be alive several months later. In early 2008, Lexie is appointed to the chief of staff position at the hospital. In June 2008, a 3 year old Theo (Terrell Ransom, Jr.) is diagnosed with autism which puts a strain on the Carvers' marriage. Lexie later walks away from her position at the hospital to spend more time with Theo. In the fall of 2008, Abe decides to run for mayor and the parents struggle with the idea of forcing Theo to live a life in the public eye. In December 2008, Theo runs away from Lexie and gets lost. Fortunately Abe and Lexie's friend Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) tracks the boy down and brings him home. In 2009, Theo starts making progress with his condition when he acknowledges Abe and Lexie as his parents for the first time. Over the years, Theo forms bonds with his grandfather Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo) and his uncles EJ (James Scott), Chad DiMera (Casey Deidrick) and Cameron Davis (Nathan Owens) as well as his cousins. He is also very close friends with Bo and Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso)'s mischievous daughter Ciara Brady (Lauren Boles). In 2012, Lexie passes away leaving Abe to raise their son alone. Theo later reveals that he has been communicating with his late mother.

In November 2015, a 16-year old Theo (Kyler Pettis) attends Hope's wedding with his father and spends most of his time with Ciara. During the reception, Theo is with Joey Johnson (James Lastovic) when Joey passes out. Theo initially panics, but eventually calls Lani Price (Sal Stowers) for help, and Joey is rushed to the hospital. Later, during the fireworks for the Salem bicentennial, Ciara (Vivian Jovanni) kisses Theo. Theo bonds with Lani over baseball and is quite shocked when Abe reveals that Lani is his older sister and Abe's daughter from a previous relationship. He confides in Joey because he doesn't know how to react and Ciara assures him that having a sister can be a good thing and Joey later accuses Theo of having a crush on Ciara. Theo comforts Ciara when her father, Bo passes away from a brain tumor. Theo later starts receiving insulting text messages from an anonymous bully and he tries to hide it from Ciara. Lani later finds out and he swears her to secrecy. Theo later confides in Abe and Lani about his crush on Ciara. When the bullying continues, Lani lets it slip to Abe and demands answers from Theo. Theo pleads with Abe to leave it alone but questions why people are so cruel. Theo is shocked when Ciara reveals that her stepbrother Chase Jennings (Jonathon McClendon) is the one bullying him and he furiously confronts him. Ciara comforts him and tries to convince him to forgive Chase.

Development

Autism diagnosis (2008)

"I would love to raise up a generation of people who embrace the differentness of these kids... These kids don't sit still in class the same way, but you know what? These kids are being mainstreamed. And if you don't have a kid who has autism, you will have a kid who has an autistic kid in his classroom. I just want the sense of 'we can't pretend they're not out there anymore... Embrace the autistic kids that you're going to find in your lives now because it's a growing population and we isolate them or we love them. It's a choice, and Days of Our Lives is choosing love."

Higley on the purpose of the story. (2008)

On May 20, 2008, a five-year old Terrell Ransom, Jr. joined the cast as the 3 year old Theo. In 2008, Ransom family relocated to Los Angeles Terrell, Jr. could pursue his entertainment career. The family hadn't been living in California long when he signed with an agent and landed the role of Theo a couple of months later. In June 2008, it was announced that NBC and Days of Our Lives had partnered with the organization Autism Speaks for a storyline in which the 3 year Theo is diagnosed with Autism. Ransom's mother Katrina revealed that she wasn't aware that Ransom would be playing an autistic character until her son was officially cast. The plot was written by head writer Dena Higley who was inspired by her own 20-year-old son Connor, who was diagnosed at the same age as Theo. However, it was the network's idea Higley revealed. Executives were pitching story ideas and when the subject of autism came up, Higley discussed her own experiences with her bosses and they immediately green lit the story. Higley admitted, "I never would have pushed the story uninvited" because she knew how painful it would be for her family to talk about. In an interview on the organizations website, Higley said "We're telling the profound and life-altering story of a child with autism from his parents' point of view." The story focuses struggle for Theo's parents to accept Theo's diagnoses "and ultimately, their ability to find life-affirming hope in the midst of learning how to live day to day with this disability." NBC's Senior Vice President Bruce Evans praised the plot decision and said "We are hopeful that this storyline will serve as a resource for our viewers." Alison Singer, Executive Vice President of Communications and Awareness for Autism Speaks said the story "realistically portrays the emotional trauma every family faces when a child is diagnosed with autism." Singer also praised the show for its commitment to raising awareness about the "autism crisis." In a television on NBC's Today, Higley revealed that she used dialogue from her real conversations with her husband Mark about their son. Renée Jones, who played Lexie, admitted she didn't know much about the condition or "the emotional toll that it takes on a family." James Reynolds, who plays Abe, welcomed the story seeing it as chance to "showcase" what so many families go through. Jones said it also gives those viewers who have personal experience with autism the chance "to have what they're going through validated in some way." Days would become only the second soap to address the issue of autism after ABC Daytime's All My Children which introduced the character of Lily Montgomery (Leven Rambin) in 1993. However, it was the first time a soap had featured a diagnosis and the effects of said diagnosis. Higley said the storyline would play out long term. To help with the story, the producers brought in a researcher from UCLA to help out on set. The very outgoing Ransom loved to smile and interact with his cast mates, something that the character would have to keep to a minimum. However, the young actor was able to take direction very well. Ransom's mother revealed that her son didn't have a personal acting on on set to assist with his scripts and that she worked on the material with him. "His mannerisms that you see on-screen just comes naturally." Ransom also picked up things from his castmates. The series wanted to tell the story from the diagnosis, to the reaction, and how Theo could eventually live a normal life. In story, Abe and Lexie notice the young Theo is lacking in verbal communication and he didn't say many words. Reynolds later explained, "Theo had 30 or 40 words in his vocabulary, where a child at that age should have 500 words or so." The parents also notice Theo doesn't make eye contact with them and doesn't interact with other children.

Teen years (2015–)

In March 2015, it was reported that the series had released a casting call for the role of Elijah, a "sweet" 16 year old. The full casting notice described the actor as a "gorgeous, African American male" and described Elijah as a high-functioning autistic which led to speculation that the character was Theo. Jamey Giddens of Daytime Confidential reported that Dena Higley—who had just been rehired to write the show's 50th anniversary wanted to continue telling Theo's story. Ransom vacated the role of Theo on July 9, 2015. On August 12, 2015, it was reported that actor and model Kyler Pettis had joined the cast of Days of Our Lives as a recast of Theo Carver. Pettis had recently made a guest appearance on Showtime's Ray Donovan and also appeared in the web series, Old Dogs & New Tricks. Pettis made his debut on November 3, 2015. Pettis, who had previously auditioned for The Young and the Restless, auditioned for the role of Theo opposite his on-screen dad, James Reynolds. He got a little bit of information about the character, specifically Theo's autism to prepare for the screen test. Pettis revealed that he was a bit nervous when he first booked the role but has since settled into his job. "It's awesome to be one of the new youngsters on the show" Pettis remarked to Soap Opera Digest. Pettis later said Theo has "relatable likeness to him" that would make viewers want to know him.

Reception

Terrell Ransom, Jr. became quite popular in the role of Theo. Lori Wilson of Soaps.com said the young actor "wasted no time capturing the hearts of Days of Our Lives viewers." Wilson herself said Ransom a "major reason" the autism story was so "compelling." In 2009, Ransom was nominated for the Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV series - Recurring Young Actor." In 2015, Ransom was pre-nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series. Omar White-Nobles of TVSource Magazine praised the decision to age Theo into his teen years just in time for the show's 50th anniversary. "I may be 29, but I'm a fan of the multi-generational aspect of the continuing narrative." However, the initial announcement led to some viewers being worried that Theo's autism would be cut out with the casting of "pretty boy" actor most were relieved when the writers decided to continue Theo's autism storyline. Pettis made quite the impression during his debut and Coryon Gray praised the actor for his "spot on" and "believable" portrayal of the autistic teenager. Gray also labeled as one of the strongest new actors in the teen scene. Michael Goldberg of Serial Scoop praised Pettis for his portrayal as Theo confronts a bully and declared that Pettis "transcends his role." Goldberg said that Pettis portrayed Theo's autism with "ease." Cindy McLennan from SoapShows described Pettis as a "godsend." McLennan gave Pettis a grade of "A+" for his portrayal and said the actor "managed to make our sweet Theo both relatable and unique." While Pettis definitely looked the part, McLennan said "Pettis has delivered with aplomb." She continued that the actor had "deftly played a character who is not neurotypical without making his character a parady." In March 2016, Kyler Pettis debuted on TV Source Magazine's fan poll at #7 on the top actors list.