“Days of Our Lives” star Deidre Hall has called the cast and crew of the show her ‘second family’.
Talking to knoxnews.com, the actress, aged 68, who has played the role of Marlene Evans since 1979, revealed how the on-screen family of Days of Our Lives is her second family.
“It’s the people I get to live with two or three days a week and year after year,” Hall said.
She is one of the oldest and most iconic stars of the show and has won several awards and received numerous nominations for the role of Evans, which she has portrayed for more than 32 years.
The beautiful starlet, who has been married and divorced four times added: “Living with them through their triumphs and their tragedies and their excitement and their growth, it truly is a second family, and I know people say that in the industry, and for ours, it truly is ... the genuine respect and affection is so extra ordinary ... that it’s just a safe place to be.”
Hall and her remaining cast members from the NBC soap opera attended a book signing event at the Titanic Museum on October 31. They celebrated the anniversary of the show by showcasing the book named “Days of Our Lives: 50 Years,” a book with a collection of photos that reflect the show’s history. The book has been penned by author and co-producer Greg Meng and the event saw Kristian Alfonso, Lauren Koslow, Stephen Nichols, Jen Lilley, Melissa Reeves, Bryan Dattilo and Thaao Penghlis, Hall and the writer himself at the Pigeon Forge signing.
“Days of Our Lives” has always been popular for its controversial and outrageous storylines and the book features all those.
Talking about the book, Hall told: “This book is a love story to the fans.”
The veteran actress even called to mind few of her favorite storylines of the show, which included the one with Marlena and Samantha Evans. The character of Samantha Evans was portrayed by her real life sister Andrea Gengler, which according to Hall was something remarkable. She also remembered the possession storyline, where her character gets possessed by the devil. She admitted that it made quite a great impact on her.
“Possession, obviously will be on my tombstone. That was notorious and insanely well-received, and it was cutting new ground for daytime,” said Hall. “Daytime had not done that sort of cheeky, outrageous, irreverent story before.”
The mother of two children added more to her favorite list. She stated that the heartbreaking storyline where Marlene’s son dies of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome shattered her.
“I did the first crib death ever on television,” said Hall. “I was told, ‘We’re going to do this, and we’re not sure how we’re going to do it, whether or not the audience will be forewarned ...’ and at the end of the day, the executives decided that a mother who walks into that room doesn’t get a warning, and so they said not to. ... It still kills me because it’s such an unspeakable tragedy, and what they wanted to see was how does Marlena do it? How does she survive it? And her life flew apart, but it was brilliantly done.”
The actress recalled that at the time of her audition, where she almost lost the part of Marlene. She said that she auditioned alongside several famous faces and thought that she was going to lose any way. But, luck was in her favor and she won the part.
Hall admitted to being skeptical regarding the role as it was turned down by almost every famous people who auditioned with her. Maybe Hall was destined to get the part and become famous as a result. The actress, during her 32 year old career in the Days of Our Lives, has been accused of having plastic surgery procedures to gain the timeless beauty she possesses even now in her late 60s.