Alison Sweeney Says Sami Returns to ‘DAYS’ With ‘Unresolved Feelings’ About Losing John Black

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Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) will return to Days of our Lives on Monday, August 4, to spend time with Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) in the aftermath of John Black’s (Drake Hogestyn) death.

For Sweeney, who was unable to make it back to set to film John’s memorial last fall, having the chance to honor the character and his portrayer on air is especially meaningful. “I was so devastated that my schedule didn’t allow me to film the funeral scenes for John Black with the rest of the cast,” she says. “But I had a great talk with [then-co-executive producer] Janet Spellman-Drucker, and she said she and the writers would figure something out for me to return as soon as I was able, which meant so much to me. I really wanted Sami to be a part of the story of saying goodbye to John, as well as being there to mourn with Marlena. As difficult as the subject matter was, I’m really glad they were able to make this happen.”

The scenes with Marlena will be carry a lot of history and heart, Sweeney previews. “It is one of those mom/daughter moments where you really don’t have to say anything,” she notes. “It is just an extremely emotional moment as the hug and cry, and it is really heartbreaking.”

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John’s death strikes Sami deeply — not just because he’s gone, but because of the history between them. “It’s hard to separate how I felt personally about losing Drake, with how Sami felt about John,” Sweeney explains. “I think we all were a wreck about Drake, and it made my feelings very close to the surface to be back on set, ‘in Salem’. But in the arc of the Sami/John relationship, it seems to me that Sami has a lot of unresolved feelings about how she treated John.

“Things she can never make right now,” Sweeney continues. “Especially after the last time Sami was in town and had that talk with [her son] Johnny [DiMera, Carson Boatman], she mentioned that she was going to therapy and that kind of self-reflection would really make her aware of how poisonous she was to John. Even though the writers reminded me that there had been this mea culpa moment where Sami apologized, I still think Sami wouldn’t forgive herself that easily, now that he’s gone and they don’t have years to unwind all that bad blood.”

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For Sweeney, portraying those highs and lows was a gift — one she doesn’t take for granted. “Over the years, I have really come to appreciate how lucky I was to have such a meaty, complicated storyline with Drake and Deidre and Wayne [Northrop, Roman Brady] at the beginning of my career at Days,” she reflects. “For so many reasons. I learned a lot working with them every day. And also, that storyline, the depth of betrayal and anger felt by Sami towards her mother and John, served to motivate and fill years of storylines afterwards. Everything Sami did was colored by that experience. And when she decided to forgive Marlena, she wavered between yearning to forgive and move on with John and quickly blaming him and turning on him the second things went wrong. He was totally her scapegoat for anything and everything.”

The real-life closeness between Sweeney and Hogestyn brought an added depth to their scenes. “I absolutely loved working with Drake,” she recalls. “Every time I got to have a scene with him, even when Sami was terrible to him, I was thrilled to get to see Drake, share the stage with him, joke with him, hear his stories and laugh with him. He really was like a dad to me, and I admired him so much. He was such a great role model on set, always a positive attitude, a professional work ethic, and he never missed a chance to be kind and caring to everyone we worked with.”

One memory of Hogestyn stands out to Sweeney when she looks back on the years they spent working together. “During so many big party scenes that were a main part of the show in the ’90s, ‘2000s, there would be downtime between scenes where he would always have a group of cast and crew gathered around him sharing a hilarious joke or a heartwarming family story,” she recalls. “I don’t know why this one memory sticks out, but I am a bit klutzy in general, and certainly have that reputation on set, and one time I shattered a glass in a scene — before it was supposed to shatter — and Drake immediately stopped to help me clean it up because he didn’t want me to cut myself. I can just imagine his daughters know exactly what I mean — he took over, made sure I was safe, and helped fix everything so that I didn’t have too much time to be embarrassed for my mistake.”

Alison Sweeney / Instagram

Sweeney, who left the show in 2014 after a 21-year run, appreciates that the soap finds ways to include Sami in its storytelling today. “Every time I get to go back to Salem to be a part of the family there, I am grateful,” she says. “I love Sami, I love Salem, I love everyone there. It is a second home to me. I can’t imagine not having it in my life.”

As the show, which just got a two-year pickup to remain on the air until 2028, is poised to turn 60 in November, Sweeney marvels, “What a milestone! I am so proud and honored to be a part of a show that has stood the test of time like Days has, been such an important part of the culture for 60 years!”

Look for her to be back on-camera this fall to mark the occasion. “I was thrilled to be included in the 60th celebrations, and I love that Sami is the kind of character that even with some personal growth, she can still be relied on to come into town and stir things up a bit,” Sweeney teases. “I mean  — who are we kidding? She’s still a hurricane.”

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