Interview: Soap Stars Share the Magic of the Holiday Season, Part 1

Alison Sweeney (pictured, Sami, Days of Our Lives): I get to experience the magic of Christmas all over again with my son, Ben. A funny memory I have of Christmas last year is Ben kept saying to everyone “Very Christmas!” instead of “Merry Christmas!” It was the cutest thing!

Eric Winter (ex-Rex, Days): My favorite Christmas tradition was always the part where I’d wake up and my mom — or was it Santa? — would place my stocking on my bed for me to have when I’d wake up. For some reason, the fun stuff I’d get in my stocking would be more exciting than actually sitting around the tree and opening gifts. To this day I still get a stocking from my mom.

Eileen Davidson (Ashley, The Young and the Restless): I was born and raised in Southern California, so snow around the holidays just never happened. In fact, I had never seen snow before. So when I was about 8 years old, my mom and dad took me and my six brothers and sisters up to the local mountains (about a three-hour drive from home) for a week over Christmas. They had rented a log cabin for us. We got a tree from the forest and woke up Christmas morning to a blanket of white snow everywhere. It was a very magical Christmas!

Marsha Clark (ex-Hillary, Guiding Light): Since GL taped a month or so in advance, we always got a jump-start on the Christmas merriment. Because the sets were decorated for the season and story lines were involved with the holiday festivities, our Christmas celebrations (in Springfield) started in November!

The wonderful Charita Bauer, who played matriarch Bert Bauer, was our “Santa,” distributing her own thoughtful hand-picked gifts to the cast and crew when Christmas actually arrived (in New York) in December.

Charita and I both lived near each other and would often leave work at the same time. Some of my fondest yuletide memories are of walking home from the studio with Charita through the snowy streets of Manhattan, listening to her hilarious stories and peeking at the holiday audio-animatronics displays in the store windows. Actually, Charita’s warmth, kindness and humor kept the holiday spirit going year-round!

Kyle Lowder (Rick, The Bold and the Beautiful): I moved to New York with my family when I was 3 years old. I believe there is no place like Christmas in New York. I know I am not the only one who feels that way. It is the absolute tradition — I’ve been doing it ever since I moved away from home, and now my wife joins me on the trip. Always Christmas in New York with the family. My parents live only about 30 miles north of Manhattan in the suburbs. So we’re always down to Manhattan seeing the Rockefeller Center tree, the 5th Avenue windows, and everything you can do tradition-wise in Manhattan, we are there doing it. That is something I make an effort to do every year. I’ve missed only two Christmases in New York since 1985, and that’s because my parents were living in Tokyo for my dad’s job. But if they are here, I am in New York with them, and I hope that’s a tradition that never ends.

DAYS: Such a Tease!

NEXT WEEK:

Melanie guilts Max into inviting her to the Brady Christmas gathering.

Maggie gives Chloe a new ornament, but Chloe drops and breaks it.

Theo runs away from Lexie and gets lost.

Doug dresses as Santa to read the Christmas story to the kids in the hospital.

Victor fires Brady and Philip from Titan.

Thursday – Stephanie admits that she’d have a problem with Max moving on with Chelsea .

Friday – The killer pinpoints Rafe’s (Galen Gering, pictured) location.

B&B: Such a Tease!

· Brooke is determined to put a stop to Stephanie’s vendetta.

· Bridget searches for the truth.

· The Forresters gather for an emotional “goodbye.”

· Thorne’s (Winsor Harmon, pictured) secret comes back to haunt him.

· Rick ignores his family’s request.

GL: Such a Tease!

•Natalia and Olivia settle on a new living arrangement.

•Lizzie suffers a mental collapse.

•Daisy decides to move in with Grady (Kane Manera, pictured).

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•Shayne proves to be a danger to himself.

ATWT: Such a Tease!

•Brad discovers Craig’s ruse and prepares to go to the police.

•Meg (Marie Wilson, pictured) goes to rescue Paul, but ends up needing rescuing of her own.

•Lily opens a door to Derek’s past.

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•Katie breaks down, unsure of what to do­.

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GH: Such a Tease!

Jason is offered the deal of a lifetime.
Sonny and Claudia get to know each other better.
Lucky reaches the end of his rope with Sam.

Sam makes a daring move.
Claudia tells Jason it’s too late to make peace with Sonny.
Tracy doesn’t fall for Luke’s latest stunt.

Sonny starts to warm up to Claudia.
Johnny and Maxie (Kirsten Storms, pictured) try to put their awkward moment behind them.
Robin and Patrick plan their first Christmas as a family.

Jason realizes that Sam could be in danger.
Claudia is chilled by a message from Jerry.
Tracy isn’t buying Luke’s declaration of love.

Time is running out for Sam.
Jason tries to make a deal with Sasha.
Jerry plays a deadly game with Claudia.

OLTL: Such a Tease!

Tea (Florencia Lozano, pictured) causes a commotion at Todd’s arraignment.
Brody inadvertently causes Tess to come out.
Rex faces financial troubles.

Tea is Nora’s worst nightmare.
Tess tries to trick Brody into doing her bidding.
Cristian makes a surprising announcement.

Brody turns the tables on a vengeful Tess.
Tea is up to something.
Bo lights the Christmas tree in Angel Square.

Marty squares off with Tea.
Blair can’t ignore John’s interest in Marty.
Moe helps Dorian do a little bit of soul searching.

Tea grills Marty on the witness stand.
Cole threatens to kill Todd.
Sarah has it out with Cristian about Vanessa.

AMC: Such a Tease!

Bianca gets an earful when she drops in on Reese’s (Tamara Braun, pictured) father.
Taylor opens up to Frankie about her feelings for Brot.
Amanda tries to get JR to fall off the wagon.

David reminds Erica that she owes him one.
Krystal wants to know what David’s up to with Amanda.
Annie attacks Ryan when he visits her at Oak Haven.

Aidan fills Annie’s head with lies about Ryan.
Bianca’s insecurities about her and Reese’s relationship grow stronger.
David blackmails Joe to get what he wants.

Zach and Reese are forced to reveal their secret to Bianca.
Jake and Taylor run interference for Brot.
Randi’s past catches up to her.

Myrtle’s family and friends remember her with love and affection.
All of Pine Valley gathers to pay tribute to Myrtle.
Zach ensures that Myrtle will never be forgotten.