Deidre Hall Wants Marlena to Face ‘Serious Illness’ on ‘DOOL’ (Exclusive) [Video]

As Deidre Hall nears nearly 50 years of playing Dr. Marlena Evans on Days of Our Lives, the daytime legend still has a short list of things she’d still like to play.

Hall’s character has endured through outrageous circumstances as falling out of a window, hysterical amnesia, kidnapping, being targeted by serial killers, being replaced by an unhinged lookalike, surviving a plane crash and not one but two demonic possessions. And now, Hall knows what she’d like Marlena to face next.

“Marlena has never had a serious illness – I mean, unless you’re counting possession,” Hall, 76, tells PEOPLE exclusively, with a chuckle.

Hall says she’s eager to get a storyline that would see her psychiatrist character contend with a life-threatening malady with some genuine dramatic stakes, something that might resonate deeply fans of the show.

She also has a real-world skill that she’s like Marlena to share: “I know sign language,” she reveals. “If …