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What do you when you need a heavy-hitter to spark renewed fan interest? You call up fan favorite Alison Sweeney, that’s what you do! That’s right soap fans, longtime Days of our Lives star Alison Sweeney is returning to screens this fall as Sami Brady-DiMera!
As first reported by Soap Opera Digest, the popular fan favorite report to set in May and tape through June. Due to Days of our Lives’ production schedule the earliest she’ll hit screens is sometime in October, and there’s no telling how many episodes she’ll film in that time.
With a packed schedule that includes starring in Hallmark’s Murder, She Baked series, being an author and spokesperson, the actress said it took a little juggling to make it work, especially while recovering from a knee injury. “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.”
Sweeney departed Days of our Lives in 2014 after 20 years of playing Salem’s most infamous trouble maker-turned-heroine. She returned in the fall of 2015 for DAYS’ 50th anniversary when Sami and Lucas’ son Will was brutally murdered during a polarizing and controversial storyline. The show also teased the possibility that Sami’s husband EJ was still alive!
The actress was very vocal about her unhappiness with the decision to kill off Will. Sweeney sounded off on the story in an interview with Soap Opera Digest in the fall of 2015. “I felt betrayed and hurt that they were doing it. I had a crazy reaction that I didn’t want to do it and I didn’t want to go be a part of it because I was upset. And then I feel like I went through the five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, then coming to terms with it. I had to deal with it. Personally, I think it’s a big mistake. I am sorry they did it but, of course, I had to go there and mourn. I haven’t seen every scene that Will has done that put them in this situation, but I think there are other ways they could have handled it. It breaks my heart that there is no Will anymore. There have been a lot of storyline that I haven’t agreed with, but I always understood the motive behind them and the value of getting the audience riled up. I’m a company girl and I’ve always been supportive of that. But this particular story point is something that I just don’t agree with and didn’t from the moment they told me. And I don’t understand why they did it.”
The announcement of Alison Sweeney’s return comes at a good time for lapsed fans who may have tuned out. The soap still has 3 months of material to air from former head writer Dena Higley, but this news is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s gonna be #LongSummerDAYS until storylines from new head writer Ron Carlivati and story consultants Sheri Anderson & Ryan Quan begin airing.
How do you feel about Sami’s return? Are you for it, against it? Tell us your thoughts.
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