All The Days Of My Life (so Far). Alison Sweeney
Close the door? That wasn’t in the script!
I suddenly started to become unglued. What if I forgot to close the door? Or what if I didn’t close it just right? What if the door slammed? Could it cost me the job? Don’t mess this up, Ali.
Patrick sensed that I was starting to melt down.
“Don’t worry about the door,” he told me gently. “It’s not a big deal.”
I managed a smile. Patrick’s words were very comforting. He was so reassuring and the pressure lifted a little. I felt back in control. And, guess what? I did close the door. It didn’t slam. And, of course, I got the part!
Waiting for the News
After Wednesday’s screen test, I returned to school for the rest of the week, sitting on pins and needles waiting for word from the studio. They seemed like the longest days of my life.
On Friday, my agent finally got a call from the producers saying that I’d been hired. My agent contacted my mom, who immediately called my high school. Minutes later, when my classmates and I were filing out of my geometry class, one of the office assistants met me at the classroom door and handed me a note.
“From your mom,” it read. “You got it!!”
Yes, there were two exclamation points at the end of the note. I felt like adding a thousand more.
My reaction? I was almost delirious. I screamed. I literally jumped for joy. I almost couldn’t control myself. (Hey, I was 16 years old!)
So just how good was I on that screen test? Obviously, good enough to get the part. But let me put it in perspective: A few years ago some of the Days cast got together in my dressing room and we watched the videotapes of all of our screen tests, which Austin Peck (who played Austin Reed after Patrick Muldoon) had tracked down in the Days video library. Oh, my goodness! We were so bad!! Every one of us! We roared with laughter watching those tapes. Bryan Dattilo (Lucas) got some ribbing over the short gym shorts he wore on his videotape. I laughed so hard over how my bouncy walk had my “Jan Brady” hair swinging all over the place. We teased Austin about how different his voice sounded…well, the list goes on and on. Julianne Morris (ex-Greta), Arianne Zuker (Nicole) and I couldn’t get over the now-out-of-fashion clothes that we wore with pride in the early ’90s. It’s not one of those videos that you want to share with the world.
But here’s the good news: We were able to laugh at ourselves because we had grown so much as actors since we had auditioned for Days. That’s one of the blessings of working on a soap. You’re acting all the time, one day after another, with new opportunities to refine your acting abilities and develop your talent. Here’s the way I think about it: As a soap actor, you know that even if you’re unhappy with your performance in today’s episode, you always have tomorrow to make things better (even though today’s episode might continue to bug you for a while!). Because you’re acting so much and so often, you’re always growing and always learning something new about yourself and the craft of acting. When you look around you and recognize how talented the cast and crew are, you realize everyone there is at the top of his or her profession, and they all have something to teach you if you’re willing to learn. Not only that, but your character is developing and changing as well, which continuously presents you with new acting challenges and demands. And the twists and turns in Sami’s life have never allowed me to become blasé about playing her.
Into the Fire
On January 6, 1993, I began my new life as a cast member of Days of Our Lives. What a day!
If you thought I was nervous for the screen test, you should have seen me on that first day of playing Sami. I was absolutely petrified. Shortly after I arrived at NBC, I got a tour of the set, and was introduced to the cast. Everyone—and I do mean everyone—was so friendly and supportive, to my great relief. I don’t know why I was anticipating anything else, but being the new kid on the block, I just wasn’t sure if I’d fit in and how I’d be accepted.
Well, those fears were certainly unfounded. The cast embraced me, and everyone behind the scenes—from the makeup people to the stage crew—couldn’t have been any nicer. In no time at all, I felt like part of the family. But still, do you know what worried me the most? In the first few days, I was scared stiff that I’d accidentally call the actors by their characters’ names. (Can you imagine me introducing myself to Matt Ashford, and calling him “Jack”?) Those are the kinds of embarrassing scenarios that created some sleepless nights.
During that first week, I got my feet wet in a few scenes, but without a lot of dialogue. In fact, Sami was introduced slowly to the TV audience, and (as you might expect of Sami) in a most peculiar way. In fact, in the viewers’ first glimpse of her, she was lurking around Salem, shrouded in a dark hat and coat. She made a phone call…but did not utter a word. I didn’t even have to put on makeup for those scenes, since there was only a shot of my arm, or a camera angle from behind my shoulder, keeping me concealed in shadows. From the start, Sami was a mysterious character. Millions of Days’ fans must have been asking themselves, “Who is this person and what is she doing in Salem?”
On the third day, Sami turned up at her parents’ home. She peered under the doormat, but didn’t find a house key there. So she removed her hat, pulled a bobby pin from her long, blonde hair, and used the bobby pin to break into her parents’ house. Sami’s father, Roman (played by Wayne Northrop at the time), heard the commotion that Sami was creating, and grabbed his gun. He snuck around the side of his house, confronted Sami in the shadows, pointed his gun at her and shouted, “Don’t move.”
Sami froze. After a few tense moments, I spoke my first words on Days:
“Daddy, don’t shoot me!”
Fortunately, Roman didn’t fire the gun. If he had, my career on Days may have ended right then and there.
A Little Help from My Friends
Ironically, in my first few months of playing Sami, she gave no hint of becoming the sassy (and, let’s face it, sometimes obnoxious) character that she turned out to be. In fact, in those early days, Sami was a sweet, “good girl,” and Marlena (played by Deidre Hall) and Sami had a close, loving relationship. But I’ve had to remind die-hard fans about Sami’s innocent beginning many times—how could they forget? I ask myself!
From the beginning, I was lucky to be surrounded by actors on the set of Days who were not only talented, but were always generous with their advice and guidance. I learned so much just by watching the seasoned cast working around me. What a wonderful experience to be in scenes with actresses like Deidre (Marlena), who is not only brilliant at what she does, but has always been willing to offer suggestions and words of wisdom. It’s amazing how quickly you can learn in that kind of environment. From the start, working with Deidre has given me an incredible opportunity to grow as an actress.
Looking back, I was actually a little hesitant at first to ask questions of someone of the stature of Deidre, who created the role of Marlena in 1976 (she once described her role on Days as “my longest-lived relationship”). But then I figured, “Which would be more embarrassing—to ask Deidre a foolish question, or to make a foolish mistake with the cameras rolling?” The answer to that one was obvious, so I asked again and again—and she couldn’t have been nicer (and always has been!). I think Deidre could see that I was interested and eager to learn. So she was always receptive, always helpful, and definitely someone