The late actor approved of his character's death scene, which will air in an upcoming episode of the soap opera

“We were rolling the dice, because it’s difficult to tell a story of someone’s death or a character’s death while the actor is still alive; albeit [Drake] was fighting, like a tiger, a very difficult disease,” Corday told Soap Opera Digest. “And I made the choice to, ‘Okay, let’s tell the story.’”

Before actor Drake Hogestyn died following a pancreatic cancer battle, he reportedly approved of his Days of Our Lives character also dying. “We were rolling the dice because it’s difficult to tell a story of someone’s death or a character’s death while the actor is still alive;

Days of Our Lives' star Deidre Hall said that 'lovely tribute shows' have been planned to honor Drake Hogestyn, who died in late September at 70.

"We have shows coming up that are just hours of flashbacks of his history," Hall shares with PEOPLE Deidre Hall is revealing how the late Drake Hogestyn 's legacy will be honored. In an interview with PEOPLE at a Days of Our Lives fan event on Nov.