and the Beautiful. The producers had narrowed it down to Pettis and another actor when he booked Theo. On October 23, 2020, it was announced that Johnson had been hired to recast the role. A representative for the series said "Cameron is excited to be making his daytime drama debut on NBC’s Days of our Lives stepping into the role of Theo." According to a statement from Ron Carlivati in Soap Opera Digest, Pettis declined to come back to the series which led to a recast. Johnson made his debut on November 6, 2020. In preparation for the role, Johnson "binged the series" to make sure he was up-to-date on current plots and "I went on the fan pages for Theo and found his backstory, so I did all my homework." When he learned of Theo's autism, Johnson explained that he "did a deep dive on autism and tried to do what I could to incorporate that because I didn't want to lose that, obviously." On his first day, Johnson said "I was completely nervous, I was out of my mind." Development Characterization and portrayal The 2015 casting call for Theo described as a "gorgeous African-American male" who is a "high-functioning" autistic teen. Pettis later said Theo has "relatable likeness to him" that would make viewers want to know him. Though Theo definitely has a mind of his own, "I don't think Theo is much of a manipulator" Pettis said of the character. "Theo's moral compass is pretty high" the actor stated. Pettis later described Theo as the "White knight" of Salem. While his actions may not always reflect it, Theo is "always coming from a loving place." He continued that "Theo is a fully rounded character I could see a lot of myself in." Pettis said he can sympathize with Theo's "social discomfort." Similar to Lexie, Theo has a very "caring nature." By the time Pettis stepped into the role, Theo has been living with autism for more than half his life. While Pettis keeps Theo's condition in mind, he made an effort to see "Theo as a person first" instead of some "autistic kid." This allowed Pettis portray Theo with "more humanity." Pettis described stepping into the role as a bit intimidating. "It was a scary process when I started filming because you can totally play this character so over-the-top, and get backlash for it." He further explained,