Days Of Our Lives actress Alison Sweeney has revealed that her mother, Polly, once removed her from a potentially ‘inappropriate’ situation when she was working as a child actor and said she is ‘so grateful’ for how her parents looked after her.
Alison, 47, landed her first television role at the age of four and always ‘wanted to be an actor.’ She has praised her mom and dad for never leaving her ‘alone with anybody’ when she was working as a kid, and also for implementing strict parenting rules in order for her to pursue her dream.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Alison touched on recent claims that have come to light from her fellow actresses, such as Rebel Wilson who accused her Grimsby co-star, Sacha Baron Cohen, of ‘sexually harassing’ her, and Sharon Stone, who claimed she was encouraged to sleep with Billy Baldwin when they were filming 1993 film Sliver.
‘I completely have so much compassion… my God, these heartbreaking stories are just devastating and I can see how it could have happened,’ Alison said, before adding: ‘But I’m just grateful that that’s not my story.
Alison Sweeney has revealed that her mother, Polly, once removed her from a potentially ‘inappropriate’ situation when she was working as a child actor
Alison began working professionally at the age of four and made her television debut in a Kodak commercial
The Days Of Our Lives star said that she always wanted to act from a young age, but her parents implemented strict parenting rules
The actress, pictured here as a child with her mom, said that her parents never left her ‘alone with anybody’
‘It’s really hard to compare the industry [now] to what it was 20 years ago because people are talking about this stuff in a way that was never discussed when I was growing up as a teenager and a young adult in the 90s and 2000s, and obviously before that.
‘I am so lucky, I’ve been working professionally since I was four years old and my mother and my father were very involved in my career and every day on set, and I was so lucky to have that experience and the opportunity.
‘I can only speak to my own journey but I wanted to be an actor, I loved it so much, I wanted it since I was four years old, and so I can’t believe sometimes I wake up and this is my life.
‘So, my parents were never in a situation of trying to pressure me to do the job or learn my lines or whatever. I was the driver of that, I wanted to be there.’
The blonde actress, who has reprised her beloved role as Hannah Swensen in the new Hallmark movie One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery, explained that her parents had ‘a really important power structure in place’ when she was acting as a child.
‘The punishment if I was bad would be that I would go home,’ she said. ‘They’d say, “if you don’t keep your grades up, you don’t get to do the acting thing,” that was always the response.
‘I was driving and so my parents were able to maintain that kind of dynamic with me, I can’t even describe to you how grateful I am now looking back on it, having that kind of important parenting in place.’
She continued: ‘And also, my parents felt the same way about producers and directors. There was one situation, one time where my mom saw something and she was like, “We’re leaving right now, we’re not doing that.”
The blonde star is best known for playing the role of Sami Brady on the NBC soap opera Days Of Our Lives
Alison told DailyMail.com that she is ‘so grateful’ that her mom was ‘very involved’ in her career
Alison, pictured here with father Stender, grew up in Los Angeles so she didn’t have to relocate to follow her acting dream
As well as an actress, Alison also works as an executive producer and wrote her latest project
‘My parents just didn’t allow for that, for me to be exposed to anything inappropriate when I was child, and they never left me alone with anybody, ever, that would have created that kind of opportunity for someone to take advantage. They just didn’t tolerate it.
‘And I just trust that that was instinct on their part. I mean, certainly we were in an era where people didn’t talk about stuff like that, people didn’t know, but my parents were like, “that doesn’t seem right and we’re not doing it, nope,” and I’m so grateful.’
Speaking about the pressure that comes with children getting into the industry early on, Alison explained: ‘There is, unfortunately, often a financial sacrifice parents make to give their kids this opportunity to go to Los Angeles.
‘I’m from LA originally so I didn’t have to move anywhere but lots of kids move to LA to act and audition and immediately it throws everything out of balance when you’re relying on the child to work to make a living for the whole family.
‘It changes the entire situation in a way that is so hard for families. It’s so hard for everybody.’
After making her television debut in a Kodak , Alison landed roles in TV shows such as Webster and Tales from the Darkside before making her first appearance on Days Of Our Lives.
Alison is best known for her portrayal of Samantha ‘Sami’ Brady on the NBC soap opera, a role she played under contract with the show from January 1993 until October 2014.
After making sporadic appearances since then, she returned as a series regular in 2021 but hasn’t been on the soap for quite a while now as she’s been ‘focused on producing and starring in movies’ such as One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery.
Alison, pictured here in 2015, said it was ‘really hard’ to compare the acting industry now to how it was years ago
The actress pictured with her husband, David Sanov, and their two children, Ben and Megan
Alison has reprised a very familiar role for the new Hallmark movie One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery
When asked what it is that always draws her back to playing the role of Hannah Swensen, Alison said: ‘Playing her is so much fun and playing opposite Barbara Niven and Lisa Durupt and just this whole cast is just so near and dear to my heart, and they feel like family so I have such a great time working with them.
‘And the audience’s reaction to Hannah and her world and solving these mysteries brings so much joy to me and I love it a lot.
‘They love solving the mysteries along with Hannah, they love Hannah’s interaction with her family and her sister and, you know, a potential love interest, and a plan. It’s so fun to get such a strong reaction from the fans over the years.’
One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Friday, April 5 on Hallmark Mystery.