Alison Sweeney, who left DAYS in 2014 after a hugely successful 21-year run, will be back filming in May for an extended visit tied to big storyline. Here, the actress talks about coming home again.
Soap Opera Digest: Welcome back! When were you first contacted by the show?
Alison Sweeney: It’s funny because I’m pretty sure it happened right at the same time that article we did for MURDER, SHE BAKED came out, so it was right around the MURDER, SHE BAKED premiere at the end of March.
Digest: What was your reaction?
Sweeney: I was super-surprised, actually, to hear from them. I mean, fans are always asking me to go back, and I’d heard rumblings through my friends who still work in daytime that people talk about me at work. But I was really surprised when [Co-Executive Producer] Greg Meng texted me out of the blue.
Digest: What happened then?
Sweeney: I texted him back. I said, “Sure, I’d be happy to talk to you about it. What are you interested in?” So, he asked me to come back for a storyline and asked me what I’d be available to participate in and for how long. From my end, it takes a little bit of logistics with projects I’m working on. And unfortunately, this year’s been hard for me because of my knee injury, so I had to push some stuff back. So, I figured out a schedule, blocked out some time that I had available and we figured it out! I’ll be shooting in Salem in May and June.
Digest: Since we can’t talk story specifics yet, what was your reaction to the pitch?
Sweeney: I was really happy about the story they told me they are going to tell. When I left the show originally, I was like, “If there’s ever something you need Sami for, call me. I want it to be me. I would want to do stuff like that.” This is that kind of story, so I’m really happy to be back to participate in it.
Digest: After the initial conversation with Greg, did you have further discussions?
Sweeney: Yes. We have a new head writer at DAYS, Ron Carlivati. I love how I use the word “we”. I still talk about DAYS like I’m there — it’s my home. I still feel very connected to everything that happens there. In the past, that was always a really important thing for me, to make sure that whoever was writing the storylines understood who Sami is, because I think it can be easily misidentified by people who might not have been part of the show’s history. So, when I was talking to them about coming back, I really wanted to stress that I feel there are parts about Sami that the fans really miss, and I know because they tweet me and they post on my Instagram and my Facebook page every day. So I wanted to emphasize that that’s the value really in me coming, and that’s what I would want to come back for, is to give the fans that feisty, troublemaking, pot-stirring Sami that they missed.
Digest: Are you nervous about returning?
Sweeney: Yes! I’m quite nervous. I thought about it when I went back last time because I had been gone for a year, and they needed me for that really difficult, emotional storyline [of Will’s death], and I was nervous then. Now, it’s been two more years and a long time since I have screamed, gotten angry, cried, hit someone, or memorized 60 pages in a day, so I’m very nervous. In fact, I have a pit in my stomach talking about it right now. I’m pretty sure I’ll be sleeping with my scripts under my pillow for osmosis. I’ve been shooting movies, but it’s not as difficult as what we do in daytime. I mean, there’s really nothing as difficult as that, or as intense.
Digest: What are you most looking forward to about coming back?
Sweeney: I am extremely excited to see everybody again. I miss Sami, I miss the high stakes of it all. I miss getting to see all my friends. I can’t wait to visit Kristian [Alfonso, Hope] and Lauren Koslow [Kate] and Deidre [Hall, Marlena], and Bryan [R. Dattilo, Lucas], of course. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone.
Digest: Are you happy that it’s going to be a longer visit than last time?
Sweeney: Yes, I’m excited that it’s a little bit longer this time than the last time when I was just there for five or six shows or whatever it was. This time, Sami’s back in town for a while, so I think I’ll get a real story arc out of it and some fun stuff. Hopefully, Sami’ll be up to her old schemes. Playing Sami is such a high. There’s such a thrill to this character and her drama, so it’s the opposite of the characters I’ve been doing lately. I found out from someone that Sami has quite a bit of money, as it turns out. It’s funny, that’s something I’ve never had to deal with, but I feel like I need to ask around to find out what people have been saying Sami has been doing for two years so I don’t miss out. I think that someone told me there was something with Belle, like Belle gave the money back? That’s not cool. I’ll have to deal with that [laughs].
Digest: When you left, you were always very open to coming back, and now you’re making your second visit. Is this what you had hoped for?
Sweeney: Yeah! Totally. This is exactly what I had envisioned and hoped for, just the opportunity to come back and be a part of some big moments in Salem and still get to do the other projects that are so important to me and my career, and still take my kids to school and make lunch, and help them with homework and be at [son] Ben’s soccer games and stuff. So, it’s awesome. The family time has been the biggest thing for me in that I have time to spend in the day-to-day with my family as opposed to fighting to find the key moments.
Digest: What else do you have planned, work-wise?
Sweeney: I have another fun mystery movie that I found based on another novel that I’m developing to shoot in the fall, and a Christmas movie that I’m shooting this year, so I have three movies that I’ve been working on for this year, and there’s a lot of scheduling involved.
Digest: After this, any chance you would come back again?
Sweeney: Sure! I mean, this is great! As long as everyone feels like they come away with what they want from this return, or my visit, then there’s no reason not to do it again.
