Dick Van Dyke, 97, to Guest Star in First-Ever Soap Opera Role on 'Days of Our Lives'

Dick Van Dyke is trying something new.

The legendary actor, 97, is set to appear as a guest star on an upcoming episode of Days of Our Lives, according to Access, which will mark his soap opera debut.

Van Dyke — who recently competed on season 9 of The Masked Singer — told the outlet that he and series star Drake Hogestyn attended the same gym and he took things into his own hands to see about a role on the show.

"I said, 'Don't you have any parts for old people? Come on give me one.' And he took me seriously and got me a part!" Van Dyke told Access.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The star is set to play what Access described as "a mystery man with amnesia." Reacting to his role, Van Dyke told the outlet, "I have played old men before, but comedy old men. [This is the] first time I have ever just played my 97-year-old self."

To prepare for his part, the Mary Poppins actor said he watched some soap operas to get the perfect delivery down — especially for those intense moments that require a bit of dramatic flair.

"Some of the people have been doing it for 20 years," Van Dyke said. "That's all the homework I can do, watch one and see how they do it. The other thing, you have to hold, 'duh duh,' there's the sting of music and we've said something exciting."

Van Dyke's longtime friend and All My Children alum Carol Burnett even gave Van Dyke some advice in a video shoutout: "Make sure you know all your lines, because they don't do retakes."

Earlier this year, Van Dyke chatted with PEOPLE about how he can't bear to watch himself on TV, and typically avoids reruns of his hit series like The Dick Van Dyke Show and The New Dick Van Dyke Show.

"When we made those, [there] were three commercials in a half an hour. Now there's about six commercials in a half an hour. So our old show is just cut to pieces," he explained. "I can't bear a look at it."

Van Dyke's wife, Arlene Silver, said that her husband will "talk about himself as he's another person" when he happens to catch himself on TV.

"When he's watching The Dick Van Dyke Show, he'll talk about it like, 'Look at him doing whatever,' " Silva — who Van Dyke wed in 2012 — noted.

New episodes of Days of Our Lives are available on Peacock at 6 a.m. ET weekdays.