Say it isn't so! Alison Sweeney, who has portrayed Sami Brady for over 21 years, announced today on the Ellen Degeneres Show that this year will be her last on the long-running (and sole surviving) NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives.
Sweeney debuted on the soap when she was only 16. I'd already been watching DOOL for a few years before that, so I've seen her entire tenure as Sami, who could be deliciously bad and honestly good depending on her storyline. It'll be hard not to have the character on the show. Somehow, I thought she'd be like All My Children's Susan Lucci, on for another decade at least (Lucci spent 41 years on AMC). But Sweeney said she wants to spend more time with her two children, write more books, and, I imagine, continue her job as host of NBC's The Biggest Loser. I personally don't know how she's done all that and more for so long, knowing how much work goes into being a major character on a soap (with often some 80 pages of script a day to learn).
For me, I truly hope they don't kill Sami off. I'm sure Sweeney would like the opportunity to return to the show if it came about, as so many of her costars, including Deidra Hall, Melissa Reeves, Kristin Alfonso and Drake Hogestyn, have done. I highly doubt they would recast the role. It's Sweeney's and hers alone ... at least that's how it should be. On the other hand, I can't think of a reason Sami would leave Salem, being that so much of her family, including her four children and one grandchild, are there, and she is very much ingrained in their lives.
However her exit is to be, the writers have quite a task ahead of them. Here's hoping they do Sami - and Sweeney - justice in her departure.
Oh, did I mention Sweeney got to work with my man-crush Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) for three years?
Here's to your final year, Alison!
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