Sami Brady

Samantha "Sami" Gene Brady DiMera is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives, portrayed by Alison Sweeney. The character was born on-screen during the episode dated October 16, 1984, and her birth date was later SORASed to October 16, 1977. Introduced by then head writer Margaret DePriest, Sami has been portrayed by Sweeney since January 22, 1993. Sami is known for her failed relationships with men, her children and her manipulative trouble-making ways. She has been described as vindictive and the girl "you love to hate".

In April 2015, it was announced that Sweeney would reprise the role of Sami in honor of the soap's fiftieth anniversary celebration.

Casting

The character was portrayed by seven child actresses. They were: Ronit Arnoff (1984), Lauren Ann Bundy (1985), Jessica Davis (1985–86), Tiffany Nicole Palma (1986), Ashleigh Blair Sterling (1986–90) and Christina Wagoner (1990–92). In January 1993, Alison Sweeney took over the role of Sami as a teenager. This was not her first role on the show; she had previously portrayed Adrienne Johnson as a child in 1987. Sweeney has cited Deidre Hall (Marlena), Drake Hogestyn (John) and Wayne Northrop (Roman) as influences on her career playing the role, stating: "I learned so many lessons from them". Sweeney has said "I remember my first day at work. I was so excited to be a part of a show that I'd been a fan of". The actress also recalled her audition, and said "My first two weeks on the show I was sneaking around Salem, so there weren't a lot of lines to memorize. My first scene was with Wayne Northrop (then-Roman Brady), who pulled a gun on me and said something like 'Freeze or I'll shoot!'"