Sonny Kiriakis is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. The role was originally portrayed by Freddie Smith. Sonny is the only biological child of Justin Kiriakis (Wally Kurth) and Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis (Judi Evans). Sonny's birth was announced in 1991. Developed under head writer Dena Higley, Sonny was introduced in 2011 by executive producers Ken Corday and Gary Tomlin as Justin and Adrienne's openly gay son – the show's first regular character to be openly gay. His major stories included a gay bashing storyline and the development of his romance with Will Horton (Chandler Massey) who is just coming to terms with his own sexuality. In 2014, Will (then portrayed by Guy Wilson) and Sonny marry, becoming the first male-male couple to legally marry in the history of American daytime television drama. Sonny is also known for his friendship and business dealings with Chad DiMera (Casey Deidrick, later Billy Flynn) – a friendship that nearly gets him killed when their sports website is taken over by an illegal gambling operation. In 2014, the series introduced Sonny's closeted first love, the famous baseball player, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) and a romantic triangle develops between Sonny, Paul, and Will (who also falls for Paul). The character of Sonny was momentarily written out of the show by his relocation to Paris in August 2015. Smith later briefly reappeared as Sonny in October 2015, before returning again as a regular in July 2016. In February 2020, the characters of Will and Sonny were written out, with Smith's last appearance as Sonny airing in September 2020. The characters were to return some time in the future. A year later, in September 2021, the role of Sonny was recast with Zach Tinker, who took over for the Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem one week limited series after Smith turned down the offer. Tinker would start appearing on the main series in March 2022. Sonny is one half of the show's first same-sex super couple, with Will Horton. The couple is commonly referred to by the portmanteaus "WilSon". Smith won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2015, and earned a nomination for the same award in 2013. Sonny's arrival on Days of Our Lives in 2011 began an era of storylines featuring gay characters in prominent roles on Days,