All The Days Of My Life (so Far)

by Alison Sweeney

  In the true tradition of soaps, however, the truth did come out on the day of Sami’s wedding to Austin, no less (I’ll get to that story later). Anyway, when Lucas finally learned that his night of love-making with Sami had produced a baby, he became furious. (Carrie gave her a solid right hook across the jaw—that’s still a fan-favorite moment!—and I’ll write more about that unforgettable punch later.) After all, Lucas was upset not only because he had been deprived of enjoying the first two years of his son’s life, but also because Will believed that Austin was his dad. And Sami had used Austin’s love for Will to drive a wedge between Austin and Carrie.

  Lucas became almost crazed with anger. He couldn’t contain his contempt for Sami. He became just the latest in a long string of Salemites whom Sami had manipulated and antagonized.

  The 11-Month Pregnancy

  Okay, let me tell you, I am exhausted from trying to keep that whole story straight in my head. And I’ll admit I had to look up more than a few incidents to include all those details. But let’s step back for a moment and talk about Sami’s pregnancy. When we taped that story line, it turned into one of the more challenging periods of my time on Days. I was only 19 years old, and let me tell you, portraying a pregnant woman was unlike anything I’ve ever done in front of the cameras.

  Let’s put this into context: I do plan to have children myself some day, and I really look forward to the experience of carrying a child for nine months. Of course, on Days I wasn’t really pregnant—I was just playing a pregnant woman on TV. So to look the part, the wardrobe department created a padded undergarment for me to wear. A heavily padded undergarment. It was very uncomfortable…both physically and in other ways, too.

  As I’ve mentioned—and will discuss in much more detail later in the book—I’ve struggled with my own weight at various times in my life, including while I’ve been on Days. And with body image in mind, I’ve got to admit that it was definitely horrifying to see myself in the mirror with a big, padded belly. Of course, I knew that it really wasn’t my own stomach that was getting bigger. But as they added more padding every few weeks, it didn’t do much for my weight-conscious ego.

  Every few weeks, I’d go to the wardrobe department and find that an extra pad had been added to the undergarment. Just what I needed! There were moments, particularly as I’d really become completely immersed in my character and the pregnancy, I sometimes would actually get frightened (as in: “I can’t believe this is happening to me”). By the end of the “pregnancy,” all I needed was a fake white beard and a red outfit, and I could have worked as a department store Santa Claus during my off-hours! I was absolutely huge! (If you’re a mom, I really don’t have to explain this to you, do I?)

  By the way, did I mention that I may have also set a record by having the first 11-month-long pregnancy on television (or probably anywhere else, for that matter)? That’s right—11 months! The actual taping of these Days episodes extended over an 11-month period—more than a pregnancy would last in real life, of course. But fans of the show never complained about the time discrepancy—either they were so caught up in the story line that they didn’t notice, or they were so intrigued with Sami’s pregnancy that they didn’t want it to end. And at times it seemed like it never would!

  As you can imagine, when Sami finally gave birth, she was ready for the baby to arrive (or at least I was!). But nothing is easy in Sami’s life, and those delivery scenes were pretty challenging. Sami ended up being all alone in her parents’ old house, in her old bedroom, when she went into labor. The phones weren’t plugged in, so she couldn’t reach anyone or call for help. So there she was, terribly frightened as she went through several cycles of agonizing labor pains.

  Fortunately, Sami was finally discovered by Austin, and was rushed to the hospital. But her ordeal continued (and how well I still remember it!). She endured a full two episodes of additional labor in the hospital, with no end in sight. Finally, and mercifully, her obstetrician interceded and decided that an emergency C-section needed to be performed.

  Amazing, isn’t it? It was so soap to go through four episodes of absolutely agonizing labor and then have a C-section.

  By the way, these “labor” scenes are always difficult to shoot. For one thing, as a 19-year-old actress, I had absolutely NO idea what real labor felt like for a woman. All I had to base my performance on was movies I’d seen. There was a makeup artist standing just offstage, ready to spritz me with water to make me “sweaty”…and then I was practically hyperventilating with all the heavy breathing and screaming I was doing. At the end of those days of shooting, I was exhausted and definitely wary of the whole process. Dave and I certainly want to have children some day, but hopefully my real-life experience won’t be anywhere as strenuous as Sami’s!

  Austin at the Altar

  The unusual relationship among Sami, Austin, Lucas, and Carrie just kept getting more entangled. And all the while, the role of Sami continued to be so much fun to play. Each time I’d pick up a new script, I’d be on the edge of my seat, wondering what kind of quicksand she and the others would be sinking into next. And along the way, it was such a blast to be in so many scenes with such great actors and good friends—Christie Clark (Carrie), Bryan Dattilo (Lucas), and of course Austin Peck (Austin).

  Let me give you an example of how the lives of these four characters were so often intertwined. As I mentioned, Lucas had taken a liking to Carrie, and at one point he started doing some plotting of his own. He told Sami that if she would just lose a little weight, and pursue Austin more aggressively, she could drive a wedge between Carrie and Austin—clearing a path for Lucas to win Carrie’s attention. (Just what I needed—someone to tell me to go on a diet! Give me a break!)

  The thought of chasing after and snaring Austin sounded wonderful to Sami, of course. But as always, things didn’t go according to plan—at least not the plan that Sami had in mind. In fact, before the plot could play out, Carrie and Austin decided to get married—and Sami was absolutely beside herself. The wedding was all set for St. Luke’s Roman Catholic Church—the same church where Marlena and Roman had been married a decade earlier.

  If you were watching in 1995, you might remember Carrie and Austin walking down the aisle in their gorgeous, elegant wedding. The weddings on Days really are something to behold. (They draw a huge viewership, and they’re fun for the actors, too.) The best part is, you never know if a wedding in Salem is actually going to take place—more often than not some terrible event takes place to stop the proceedings. This one, of course, was no exception. Sami had run away from home days after sleeping with Austin (and Lucas). Lucas found her barely surviving in Seattle (of all places) and brought her back to Salem just in time to have her appear at her sister’s wedding. But seeing Austin marrying her next of kin was more than she could bear. So she took action, as only Sami could!

  Compliments of Sami, one small unexpected glitch arose during the Carrie–Austin nuptials. Never one to refrain from creating bedlam in other people’s lives, Sami chose the ceremony itself to make an announcement guaranteed to ruin even the best-laid wedding-day plans: She faked a fainting spell (a common soap pregnancy syndrome!) and when she “came to” she told the gathering that the groom (aka Austin) was the father of her baby! That’s right—it happened right there during the ceremony, before the vows could be completed.

  Well, it wasn’t true, of course. Austin was not the baby’s father. But who can be bothered with facts at a time like this! That wedding day would definitely be something to remember.

  Sami at Her Worst

  Sami’s manipulations were barely beginning. Without spending the better part of this book recounting every last detail (I think I’ve done enough recapping already), suffice it to say that the scripts sure kept me busy with one Sami psychodrama after another. Sami worked hard to persuade Austin that he really was Will’s father. Then all of their lives took a bizarre twist when the baby was kidnapped by Sami’s neighbor and ended up in Europe
. Ever the schemer, Sami convinced Austin that the best way to get the child home was for Sami and Austin to go through a marriage ceremony. So in Paris, Sami and Austin actually tied the knot (although if Austin had known the truth at the time, he might have decided that the knot would fit better on a noose around Sami’s conniving neck!). Sami, of course, was ecstatic with this turn of events, and when Austin agreed to marry her, she finally felt she could claim the trophy that she had sought since she first set eyes on him. But as for Austin, he was much more inclined to consider his marriage to Sami as one of convenience, simply for the sake of Will and his safe return home. He didn’t show much interest in consummating his marriage with Sami on their wedding night, and much to her chagrin, the marriage was eventually annulled.

  Meanwhile, Carrie and Austin ultimately did get married, but somehow we knew that their legal union wouldn’t last forever, nor would Sami ever accept a life without Austin. That’s just not Sami’s style. When I saw the next few scripts, I realized how correct I was. Marriage license or not, Sami was determined to destroy the Carrie–Austin bond, and I braced myself to play Sami as she had never been seen before.

  The scriptwriters sure didn’t disappoint. Sami started by getting a hotel room next to Carrie and Austin’s honeymoon suite, and in behavior that might have qualified her for a job with the CIA, she spied on them having sex. At one point, she even concealed herself under their bed (could it get any kinkier?!).

  Shall I continue? There were several false starts that could have brought Sami and Austin back together, perhaps for good. (Wait—is anything “for good” in Salem?) However, there were always unexpected, last-minute speed bumps that arose in Sami’s path that disrupted any fantasies that she had for a lifelong relationship with Austin. As recently as 2002, Sami was once again on the brink of marrying Austin, this time in Las Vegas. She had finally won the man of her dreams, the man she had been chasing for years—or at least that’s what she thought. But just before the couple was about to recite their wedding vows, Austin overheard Sami talking to Lucas, and describing all of her deceit and lies to win Austin’s heart. My line (or actually Sami’s) was, “Austin’s never going to find out the truth. He believed me then and he’ll believe me now!”

  Well, Sami, not exactly. Austin was stunned by Sami’s unwitting confession, and their wedding plans dissolved instantly. The next step was an easy one for Austin: He stood her up at the altar, furious over her dishonesty and ignoring her desperate pleas for forgiveness. There were two episodes where a heartbroken Sami fruitlessly begged Austin to take her back, pleading, “I don’t regret what I did because I did it for love. I did it because I love you.”

  That girl is really something, isn’t she? Austin turned a deaf ear, rode out of town, and left Sami to bake alone in the Las Vegas sun. The best part of it for those viewers who find watching Sami as appealing as the sound of fingernails on a chalk-board is that she always does it to herself. It’s such beautiful justice that her own words did her in, silencing her smugness, at least for a while.

  Sibling Rivalry to the Max

  As you’ve already surmised, Carrie and Sami were like oil and water. It’s hard to think of two sisters who had more contempt for one another (and so different than the relationship I had with my two real-life brothers). Christie Clark (who played Carrie) and I are actually friends in real life—when I first started on the show, she was like an older sister who took care of me—but you’d never know it by our bitter on-screen relationship and an occasional slap, smack, or slug here and there.

  Of course, Sami has been involved in many other feuds along the way, including her long-time battle with Kate (played by Lauren Koslow), who more than once tried to expose Sami for her many schemes—although most of the time, Sami was able to tap-dance her way out of it, somehow turning the tables to make Kate look bad for saying the things she did. (My personal take is that Kate and Sami have always been similar types of people. So that means that they’ll either be best friends or they’ll hate each other. In this case, Salem wasn’t big enough for both of them, and their nonstop feud was almost inevitable.)

  But back to that memorable Days scene when Sami’s scheming for Austin became more than Carrie could stand, and she unloaded on Sami with a slap heard ’round the world—or at least ’round TV sets in every part of the world! The truth can be told that Christie and I rehearsed that slap sequence a number of times, and she was never supposed to make contact with my cheek. During the rehearsal, we moved at what is called “half speed,” showing the cameramen what was going to happen so they’d be able to follow the action. In true Hollywood fashion, Christie was supposed to swing, miss my face by at least two or three inches, and I was supposed to stumble backward like Muhammad Ali had just landed a right jab on my chin (fortunately, thanks to camera angles and good acting, you don’t have to actually strike someone to make it look like the real thing). Well, everything went fine in rehearsals—but with the camera rolling and the bright lights turned on, it was a different story. We had never practiced the scene standing on our marks (I realized afterwards), and when it really counted, Christie was closer to me than she had been during our practice sessions. So when she swung, my face got in the way of her hand’s trajectory.

  Christie’s hand planted a hard slap right onto my cheek. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be hit, and it literally spun me around. I lost my balance and tumbled over. On the way to the floor, my head banged into a nearby piano. I may have used a four-letter word or two on my way down. (If I did, I plead “temporary insanity”!)

  Now, in the script, I was supposed to be knocked out cold by Carrie’s slap. Well, for a few moments there, I wondered whether method acting had come to Days, and whether I was really about to lose consciousness!

  Of course, it wasn’t intentional (Right, Christie?). While I’m at it, I must tell you that Bryan (my dear, sweet, supportive friend) thought it was hysterical that I was cursing like a sailor. He literally ran off the set holding his hand over his mouth so that I wouldn’t hear him laughing at me! I have managed to forgive him for his treacherous behavior, and now I definitely have a sense of humor about the whole thing. But the camera guys still tease me about it.

  Before the piano stopped resonating, production called a “five.” Once I regrouped, we reshot the scene, and this time it went according to plan (for which I’m eternally grateful!). Take two was the one that audiences saw when the show aired. In the meantime, if you ever need a sparring partner, Christie might be a perfect choice!

  Driving Sami up the Wall

  I know that over the years, Sami has deserved her share of slaps (as well as a clenched fist or two on occasion). But perhaps nothing can compare to the pounding she took from Austin—or to be more accurate, from Austin’s car. Now, playing Sami, I’m used to portraying a character who lives life on the edge. I’ve been called on to do a lot of crazy things in Sami-land, but when they told me that I’d be hit by a car driven by Austin—or, more accurately, hit by his car twice!—it did get my attention.

  Poor Sami really was hit by Austin’s car and slammed into a wall. It happened on New Year’s Eve, not long after Sami had decided to take Austin’s car and he had reported it stolen. She finally returned it to the police station, where Austin retrieved it. But as he drove away, the car accidentally shifted into reverse and struck Sami, propelling her into the wall—more than once! (I can only imagine what Sami’s New Year’s resolution was at that moment—perhaps just to live to see January 2nd!)

  Now, by this point, fans were very familiar with (and perhaps sick of) Sami and her insane shenanigans, and probably some of them would have loved to have seen Austin’s car screeching at about 90 miles per hour or more right at me. In fact, you won’t believe some of the letters I received after that episode. One of my “fans” wrote, “Too bad he didn’t hit you a third time!” (Ah, the warm feelings that Sami stirs in our viewers!)

  Sami did survive her run-in with Austin’s car, but just barely.
She underwent emergency surgery at Salem University Hospital, had a near-death experience that would give anyone the shivers, and finally awoke from her coma, thanks in part to a guilt-ridden Austin sitting for hours by her bedside. When she awoke, she was suffering from amnesia and temporary paralysis below the waist.

  Let me tell you, lying in that hospital bed playing a critically injured Sami was a real challenge. Every day, I was fitted with bandages around my head, a collar around my neck, needles in my arm, IV drips overhead and an oxygen tube helping me breathe. For weeks, my most stylish attire was a hospital gown!

  It wasn’t exactly how you picture glamorous soaps!

  During this time, as Sami struggled with amnesia, she convinced Austin to marry her for the sake of Will, who she believed to be their son (at least at the moment). But when her memory returned, and she realized that Austin hadn’t fathered her baby after all, she decided to fake that she still had amnesia—and we were on our way toward another of Days’ famous wedding days.

  Plans for that Sami-Austin wedding actually moved forward, right up to the day of the ceremony. But just moments before their marriage was to become official and with Sami dressed in an absolutely gorgeous wedding gown, Carrie burst into the chapel to halt the proceedings and deliver a literal knockout punch to Sami’s wedding plans—and to her cheek!3 Carrie and Eric (Sami’s twin) had unearthed the information that Lucas, not Austin, was really Will’s father. As you can guess, after Carrie’s slap the wedding plans instantly dissolved.

  As I’ve written, Lucas was furious about being deceived. When he learned that he, not Austin, was the father, he made a decision that would create absolute chaos in Sami’s life: He fought for the custody of little Will. I’m sure the lawyers on both sides—and their bank accounts—couldn’t have been happier with all the legal maneuvering!