Alison Sweeney on Escaping the Child Star ‘Curse,’ Self-Care and Hallmark Movies (EXCLUSIVE)

With her breakout role as Sami Brady on the hit soap opera Days Of Our Lives, Alison Sweeney, became so popular at age 16 that she brought home four Soap Opera Digest Awards and a fan-voted Daytime Emmy. Getting famous that young can be a challenge, but the now 48-year-old says she luckily evaded the child star “curse” that so many other young actors succumbed to. 

“I’m grateful and lucky that my parents encouraged me to pursue acting when I was young. It was always my dream. But my parents said if I got bad grades or behaved badly on set, there would be no more acting,” Sweeney shares with FIRST for Women as our cover girl (get your copy here!) “Some parents give their kids candy to do a scene again and it was never like that with me,” she explains. “I was the one who wanted it and my parents were generous enough to let me make that happen.”

Sweeney’s dream has certainly paid off, as she went on to host the reality series The Biggest Loser while concurrently starring on Days, and has been a fan-favorite on the Hallmark Channel since 2013. Her latest movie, A Sprinkle of Deceit: A Hannah Swensen Mystery premieres on Hallmark Mystery October 4th, 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CT.

Read on to see what the  busy wife, mom of two and advocate has to say about self-care, her Hallmark movies, her soap opera days and even her biggest failure. 

FIRST for Women: What’s the best advice you’ve received?

Alison Sweeney: There are always a lot of things going on with being a parent, a career or any other pursuits you might have and the best advice I’ve gotten is to just compartmentalize things and do the best you can. Stay true to you. Whether I’m working or doing things at home, I  stay in the moment.

MUST-READ: Hallmark’s Victor Webster Teases New ‘Hannah Swensen Mystery’ Role and Reuniting With Alison Sweeney 

FFW: How do you cope with stress?

AS: I try to break down what that stress might be and not look at the overwhelming picture of everything in front of me, which would definitely stress me out more. I try to itemize things and take on little parts of them at a time, seeing what can I do right now to move forward with it and come up to solve the problem.

FFW: What was your last act of self-care?

AS: When I’m working, I wear heels and I try to take them off in between takes and  put on a pair of comfy slippers. I give myself a break and it’s not always easy to take because I’m running around, learning my lines and looking at scenes. These can seem like simple things, but for me, self-care is slipping into slippers because it’s much needed.

FFW: What do you like to do in your downtime?

AS: I read all the time . . . I love a good book. I like to watch and binge TV shows with my husband and get engrossed in them together. I’m learning to play golf, but I don’t know that I’d describe it as relaxing. Right now, we’re watching House of the Dragon. We really like that show.

FFW: Your upcoming Hallmark mystery movie is Hannah Swensen: A Sprinkle of Deceit. Can you give a few clues as to what that title might refer to?

AS: Hannah is a baker and is always looking for a clue based on her experience. It’s funny how we work to include her skill set in something that might solve a murder. One of my favorite moments from an earlier movie was when she knew the time of death because the person had put a pie in the oven and Hannah could see how overdone the pie was. Hannah’s skills always add to trying to solve the murders, and they will always justify her getting into trouble and not calling the police.

FFW: Are you a baker at home?

AS: I love to cook and bake, but I try to avoid the pies, cookies and cakes. I bake together with my daughter and son. It’s a great way to spend time together. I love a classic chocolate chip cookie, and my second favorite would be an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, so I can tell myself it’s a little bit healthier than the classic one.  

FFW: Hannah ultimately gets herself in dangerous situations before finding out the truth of a killer’s identity. Are you a thrill seeker yourself, or are you more cautious?

AS: I’m definitely not a thrill seeker. I like to exercise and work hard, but I’m not putting myself in situations where I’m avoiding death. I jump horses competitively, so that’s a little bit of a dangerous situation. My daughter is a jumper too. I take time off from it when I’m shooting a movie and I ride five days a week when I’m not working. 

FFW: You’re involved with the American Humane Association. Can you remember your first pet? And what do you feel animals give back to you that humans cannot?

AS: Pets are the best. My first pet was the family dog that we had when I was little. She was a rescue German Shepherd. She was such a sweet dog. She would run around the backyard with me and play catch and Frisbee. She didn’t really like other people. We were really lucky to have her a long time. 

Animals bring a smile to my face every time and they help you look beyond yourself. If you take the dog for a walk, you nurture them, and nurturing something like that is very important.

MUST-READ: Animal Advocate Beth Stern Talks Fighting Stress and Finding Joy in Our Furry Friends (EXCLUSIVE)

FFW: You’re also an ambassador for Stand Up to Cancer. The disease has touched most people’s lives in some way. How has it touched yours?

AS: My grandmother died of cancer. I’ve had friends who have had cancer. It’s devastating. And I’ve had basal cells on my skin. I’m a little bit leery of the chemicals in sunscreen. I always used a lot of it and now I try to be more covered up. I wear long-sleeved shirts and a big hat. When I’m at the beach, I stay under an umbrella. I really measure out the amount of time I’m in the sun.

FFW: What was your first big failure and how did you bounce back?

AS: I really tried to lose weight as a teenager working on Days of Our Lives. I was doing all the wrong things. It was so horrible, because I thought I was eating healthy while I was falling for every fad in the book at the time—I’d be eating low-fat, no-sugar cookies or sugar-free ice cream, or salad that had Caesar dressing on it. I wasn’t losing weight and was really struggling on my own.

I definitely felt like a failure at the time. It took a long time for me to figure out my body and exercising and eating right for myself. Then I ended up hosting The Biggest Loser and it was so fulfilling to educate people because they think they’re doing the right thing while literally doing the opposite.  

All in all, I think resilience is the key. It’s about not giving up, and it’s not that you get knocked down, but it’s how you get back up.

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