Interview: Days' Alison Sweeney: "Sami Still Excites Me!"

Even those who don’t watch Days of Our Lives know who Sami Brady is. When Alison Sweeney came onto the Salem scene in 1993 as Roman and Marlena’s scheming, spoiled daughter, she made her mark and never looked back. Sami has lied, schemed and plotted to get what she wants.

However, she is not without heart; it would be impossible to care for this type of character is she were purely evil. Although she is in her 30s, Sami is still a mixed-up kid at heart. And she is rarely without a need for someone to save her.

“I love playing Sami,” Alison tells me. “It still excites me. She’s different every day. Every day I get a script, and it’s a brand-new challenge.”

These days, Sami has children of her own to think about, along with herself — a fact that is not lost on Alison. “I enjoy how she has developed. It’s fun and interesting to go through these changes — parenthood and adult relationships — and that’s part of what makes it so fun and challenging.”

Another challenge, for Sami at least, is trying to hold onto a man. She has been bouncing between Lucas and EJ for a while now, and now it appears that both men have moved on. “She’s had two men fighting over her for so long, and now there are none. She is definitely wondering what happened with that.

“With Lucas, she found a real, adult, mature relationship. Then EJ came along, and he played a bit of the Sami role; he manipulated Sami like she did with Austin.”

While it might seem that Sami is falling into the same traps and making the same mistakes as she always has, Alison can see that with each mistake, Sami is learning and growing. Maybe someday, Sami can channel that into something more productive.

“As an actress, it’s fun for me to be along for the ride,” Alison explains. “But I would love to see Sami get involved with a career of some kind. I’ve always felt that she’s been underestimated in her abilities. If we could get her focused on her career, that would be a good way to vent her emotions and energies.”

Alison has no problem finding productive ways to use her extra time and energy. She is involved in many charitable organizations, her most recent being Thermos’ newest campaign, Hydration for All.

“They approached me to help spread the word, because they were launching their Web site, hydrationforall.com. They’ve asked me to talk about how important proper hydration is for families. It seems obvious that people should know that, but many people really don’t.

“We are especially encouraging kids too. Thermos has some cool containers kids can use, which is helping the environment as well, since disposable bottles are filling our landfills. We are educating kids and making conservation fun for them.”

Aside from her family, Alison has seen firsthand that people need education about proper hydration. As the host of NBC’s The Biggest Loser, she sees that “people don’t have the information. Many people don’t know the basic rules of nutrition. It’s not automatic for everyone. It all starts with drinking more water and less soda and sugary drinks. People simply don’t drink enough water.”

Getting enough water is an important first step toward getting healthy. “In The Biggest Loser, we try to help people get healthy and get active. With this program, we need to get parents to get their kids outside and play and be active.”

Go to hydrationforall.com and see for yourself. There you will find helpful tips, products and programs for helping to make you and your family more healthy and active.