Though it’s been over three decades since she made her soap debut, Melissa Reeves still marvels at the fact that she moved west as a teen and carved out a career as an actress. “We used to watch CHIPS and CHARLIE’S ANGELS and all those shows and be like, ‘Oh, California,’ ” she recalls. “I mean, it wasn’t even a reality that you would think of going to California, especially in my little town in 1980. And then I end up working there and living there and having so much of my life there.”
Portraying DAYS’s Jennifer — she’ll mark 32 years this September — has become an integral part of her life. “It’s funny, I was just talking to someone on the Brady Pub set yesterday and they were like, ‘How long have you been here?’ And I was telling them when I got the job, I was 18 and I was like, ‘This is rad! I got a three-year contract. I have a job for three years!’ And then it just starts going by these little sections of time, and then all of a sudden you go, ‘Oh, my goodness, this show is so woven into my life and into my story and into my family.’ It’s just incredible that this little three-year stint turned into a legacy in my family, something for my grandkids to know. I just never thought about the long-term wonderfulness of having this job.”
Nowadays, Reeves splits her time between California and Tennessee, where she and hubby Scott are living in an Airstream while building a new house. “The kids have moved out, so we’re completely downsizing everything,” Reeves shares. “We are having a ball and we love it. It’s like camping every single day.” Traveling back and forth is also fun for her. “I’ve always loved to fly. I really do. Scott would always tease me, ‘I’ve never seen anyone like the airport as much as you.’ But I get to live here and work in L.A. I get the best of both worlds. I remember being a little girl and thinking, ‘God, I would love to fly on an airplane all the time.’ And here I am. It’s kind of funny. I just turned 50 and I never thought I would be some jet-setter flying all over the place. But I’m not going to complain. I’m just going to be grateful and get on that plane and
go to a great job and then come and live on a farm.”
As far as turning 50, “I wasn’t sad, I was excited,” she enthuses. “I was like, ‘Wow. 50. That’s awesome. I’m half of 100!’ I always remember my mother-in-law saying, ‘Honey, your age is this number, but in your brain, you feel the same way you did when you were 20.’ And I totally get that now. Sometimes I go, ‘Oh, wait a minute. I’m 50. I cannot wear that.’ But in your head, you still feel very young.”
Wih daughter Emily dating, and son Larry preparing to wed fiancée Olivia in December, Reeves says she is more than ready to be a grandmother. “I told Larry and Olivia, ‘Don’t do any of this waiting. You start having those babies right away. There’s nothing to wait for. You’re never going to have enough money. You’re never going to have the right job. You just do it. And it works out. Trust me. We’ll be the best grandparents! We can babysit! Don’t even worry about that part!’ We have so much fun with our kids, we love them so much. We’re like, ‘Oh man, they’re so awesome. Why didn’t we have more?’ ”
Twenty-seven years into their union, the Reeveses are going strong. “We’re just so grateful. I feel like we probably have a better marriage now than we did when we got married. We love it.” The duo had a scare back in March when Scott was rushed to the hospital in Tennessee while Melissa was working on the DAYS set. “It was so weird because I left the day before to come back to work, and [Steve] Burton [ex-Dylan, Y&R] and Scott were on their way to the airport. I remember the day that I left, Scott was like, ‘Man, I just don’t feel right.’ I was like, ‘Well, honey, just rest. You have this whole Port Chuck tour coming up and that’s going to be so crazy.’ And then on the way to the airport, he was like, ‘Steve, when we get to California, I’m just going to go to the ER and just get, like, a checkup.’ And Steve said, ‘We are not getting on a plane if you feel like you need to go to the ER.’ ” Though the doctors thought there had been damage to his heart, “They went up his wrist into his heart and they found nothing,” she reports. “They said, ‘We don’t even know why this happened. Your vitals are perfect, you’re super-healthy except for this crazy enzyme that they said triggered something to your heart, but we can’t even tell you what it is.’ And now, he’s doing amazing.”
Which is how she describes her life in general these days. “It’s blissful,” she smiles. “Never ever ever in my life would I have thought that I would be living in Tennessee and California. And we love it. And with DAYS, it’s the only job I really ever had since I was a teenager, so it’s your family in good times and bad times. It’s just great.”
Future Watch
With new Head Writer Ron Carlivati on board at DAYS, Reeves is looking forward to seeing what he has in store for Jennifer. “I think a couple of people called him, but I’m like, he’s been around this town. He knows daytime. He’ll do his homework, research our characters, see who we are, where we come from, what our thing is. If we all trust each other with our jobs, it should all work out. I’m not a lighting director, so I don’t want to tell them what to do. I’m not a writer, so I don’t want to tell them what to do. I’m not a makeup artist. I’m not a hairstylist. I trust all of them in their positions to do what they do.” But she would like to see her alter ego follow in the tradition of her grandmother, Alice. “I have always had this amazing affinity for Frances Reid [ex-Alice], and if I could just walk into how she was a mom and a grandma, that was really a sweet thing to be. She didn’t have to always be in a relationship. She had her great love, Tom, and then he was gone. But she was still a very prominent part of her community and family. I love being a mom on the show and I love being a grandma, and that sort of mirrors my life, I guess. Every time I sit in that chair in the Horton living room, I get kind of weepy because that was Frances’s chair. There’s just so much life in that set.”
Just The Facts:
Birthday: March 14
Hails From: Eatontown, NJ
Family First: Married Scott Reeves (ex-Steve, GH et al) on March 23, 1990. They have two children: Emily, 25, and Larry, 19.
Grass Is Greener: The Reeveses live on a farm in Tennessee. “We’re going to have our own company. It’s called Revival Roasting Company, but we’ll also have Revival Farm, and then we’re going to have apparel and products. We’re just branding this little company of everything we love about living on a farm.”
Burton Way: Reeves did not fly from Nashville to L.A. with good pal Steve Burton when he was on Y&R as Dylan. “No, because Steve flies first-class and I don’t [laughs]. He’s up in the lounge and I’m sitting by the gift shop waiting to get on.”
Best Travel Tip: “Roll your clothes and shove your socks, panties and jewelry in your shoes. It takes up less room in your suitcase.”
No Submission: Despite a strong storyline in 2016, Reeves opted not to submit herself for the Daytime Emmys. “I just get really nervous, the whole idea of picking a show and judging what’s good and what’s not good. If the audience likes it, I’m golden. That’s all that matters. It’s a wonderful night, and it’s fun, but nobody likes to be judged by their peers.”
Getting Social: Follow her on Twitter @missyreeves4 and on Instagram @missyreeves. “The other day I was like, ‘Hold on, something’s wrong because now I’m posting more about my cows than my kids. This is bad. I need to put some stuff up about my children.’ ”
