Alison Sweeney spent 22 years portraying the character of Sami Brady on Days of Our Lives, and this week she finally snagged her first Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. Sweeney announced last year that she would be leaving the soap opera in order to pursue a multitude of other projects, but she remained totally invested in the character and her work until Days sent Brady off to start a new life in Hollywood, conveniently leaving the door open for the actress to return. She also talked about her return for the show's 50th anniversary. Why did this year click for Sweeney and what made her scenes stand out enough to merit an Emmy nod? Even she is not exactly sure.
Soap Central caught up with Sweeney and asked her her thoughts on what made her more worthy this year.
"You know, I have no idea. Like quite literally, I don't know. It's tricky. Maybe it was just better?! But I was really proud of this episode because I thought it had a lot of levels. There were a lot of things about it that were interesting to me. Like technically, anyone who has ever worked on a soap would know how technically difficult it was to do those scenes. I mean, an entire act with just two people talking. It was an almost 20-page scene, and you know, and there were three of them, and everybody knows they didn't give us all day to shoot it. We still had the rest of the show to do," explained Sweeney.
The actress also took a second to address the rumors regarding her returning to the soap to help celebrate Days's 50th anniversary this November.
"That answer is the same answer I've had since the day I told executive producer Ken [Corday] that I was not going to renew my contract, which is that I'd love to be a part of the 50th. And as you read a bit on Twitter, I'm hoping it works out!" said the actress.
Are you surprised Sweeney has been honored with an Emmy nomination based on scenes that aired a year ago on a show she has since departed, or do you think it has been a long time coming and that Sweeney's nod is the perfect way to really wrap up her run as Sami Brady? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
