Alison Sweeney

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SOAP STAR STATS

Alison Sweeney (Sami, DAYS OF OUR LIVES)

Vital Statistics

The 411

Alison Sweeney may have been sweet 16 when she joined DAYS, but fans soon found themselves loving to hate her not-so-sweet character. Though she was young, the Los Angeles native had already amassed an impressive set of credits as a child actor. She appeared in her first commercial (for Kodak) when she was 5, then starred alongside Mimi Kennedy in FAMILY MAN, as well as with Barbara Eden, Jennie Garth (Kelly, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210) and David Tom (ex-Paul, OLTL; ex-Billy, Y&R) in A BRAND NEW LIFE. Being a devout DAYS fan, Sweeney was thrilled to land the part of psycho Sami, for which she's won five Soap Opera Digest Awards. Off-screen, Sweeney does share one trait with her character: a love for competition. In her spare time, she enjoys participating in many sports, including horseback riding, kickboxing, skiing and swimming. She's also appeared on many TV competitions, including THE WEAKEST LINK and FEAR FACTOR, where she endured lying in a tank filled with snakes and bugs.

Sweeney married longtime friend Dave Sanov in a beachside ceremony on July 8, 2000. In 2004 she released her first book, All the Days of My Life (So Far), detailing her life as a child actress, her battle with weight issues, her relationship with her husband, and her appreciation for her loyal fans. She gave birth to her son, Ben, on Feb. 25, 2005, and returned to DAYS a few months later. She hopes to take her talent behind the camera and become a director. In her spare time, Sweeney enjoys cardio training, yoga and basketball.

In 2007, Sweeney added another job to her resumé, serving as host of NBC's popular reality show, THE BIGGEST LOSER.

Et Cetera

—Is a skilled equestrian
—Started out playing violin like her mother, a professional musician, but decided to go into acting instead.
—Took classes at UCLA
—Took Bryan R. Dattilo (Lucas) to her high school senior prom
—Speaks Spanish
—Won the soap-actor edition of WEAKEST LINK that she appeared on.
—Her husband appeared on DAYS in February 2005 as a cop who pulled over Lucas
—Lost 35 pounds in 1999
—Her son's room is decorated with an airplane motif, complete with his name written in clouds
—She is keeping a blog (at her Web site, www.alisonsweeney.com) about being a first-time mother.

Career Highlights

TV Roles
THE END OF INNOCENCE (Stephanie) 1990
A BRAND NEW LIFE (Christy McCray) 1989
FAMILY MAN (Rosie Tobin) 1988
YOU RUINED MY LIFE (School Girl) 1987
THE PRICE OF LIFE (Young Alice) 1987
LAS VEGAS (Caroline Pzarchik) 2004
AMERICAN DREAMS (Miss USA) 2004
FRIENDS (Jessica Ashley) 2001
MAD TV (Herself) 2000
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE (Karen) 1986 and 1988 (Note: This was not the same character)
I MARRIED DORA 1987
ST. ELSEWHERE (Chrissy) 1985
WEBSTER (Beth) 1985
SIMON & SIMON (Second Girl) 1984
Film Roles
The Price of Life (Alice,1987)
The End of Innocence (Stephanie, 1990)
Game Show Appearances
PYRAMID 2003
WEAKEST LINK 2002
FEAR FACTOR 2002
SEARCH PARTY 1999

Memorable Quotes

"[Watching my screen-test] was painful. In the makeup room, they said I was like Jan Brady. I was bouncing around, and my hair was swinging. I was doing the show like a sitcom. It's funny to look back and see how little I knew. I'd acted my whole life, so I knew about cameras and all that kind of thing, but I was definitely playing it like a little-kid actor." — Soap Opera Digest, 2/11/03

"I feel when you're working as a soap actor, there's no real time for you to have attitude or to be young. I learned that right away that you can't be a kid here. When you're working on a show that does at least a complete show every day, and you have to know 30 pages of dialogue a day, then be ready to come in tomorrow and do the same thing again, nobody really wants you to be in the limelight entertaining yourself and messing around." — Digest, 7/11/00

"I felt not just the pressure of being on TV and wanting to look like my peers and the other actors on the show, but also I felt the weight of the eyes of all these fans watching me." — On her dramatic weight loss, Digest, 5/21/02

"At 16, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I'm on DAYS OF OUR LIVES.' Looking back, I can admit it was more the thrill of my job that kept me working at it. I've gotten past the novelty of being on TV. I've worked a lot all my life, but it was a sign that I was finally succeeding, and that was what kept me going." — Digest, 8/18/98

"It was creepy to think that this is going to happen to me someday. It was so soap: to go through four days of labor and then have a C-section." — On Sami giving birth, Digest, 2/27/96

"I love that Sami is really aggressive and doesn't give up. If she has a goal or an ambition, she goes after it. She needs other things in her life. If her goal was school or a career, the audience would cheer her on, but because it's her love life, they think she is selfish." — Digest, 10/22/96

Alison Sweeney's Actor's Page>>>

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