Over the years, Alison Sweeney has become one of the most recognizable faces on Hallmark, with dozens of credits that include two The Wedding Veil trilogies, several Murder, She Baked mysteries and most recently Love & Jane — part of Hallmark’s “Loveuary” tribute to Jane Austen. To many fans, though, Sweeney will always be Sami Brady from Days of Our Lives. The NBC soap opera has been a huge part of the actress’ career, and in a recent conversation with CinemaBlend, the actress recalled how much fun she and her co-stars had watching their show depicted through Joey Tribbiani on Friends.
Alison Sweeney has appeared on more than 3,600 episodes of Days of Our Lives, dating back to 1987, and apparently when a fictional version of the soap opera became part of Friends’ storyline in the ‘90s — with Joey (Matt LeBlanc) being cast as Dr. Drake Ramoray — it was quite a treat for the show’s real-life stars. I spoke with Sweeney ahead of her new Hallmark movie’s premiere, and she fondly recalled watching Friends satirize her show. In Sweeney’s words:
You know we would watch every week that Joey was on Days of Our Lives. It was such a fun ongoing story to watch on Friends, and it made us laugh. It just had such a sense of humor about what we do, and we just loved it.
Soap operas are known for their melodrama, and the version of Days of Our Lives that was portrayed on Friends was just as exaggerated, if not more, than the actual series on NBC. Joey’s character was involved in a number of fun plots, including Drake undergoing a brain transplant and the fictional surgeon having to deliver twins, “but only one of them is mine.” One can see how Alison Sweeney and her co-stars might have enjoyed such a humorous take on their show.
The actress even guest-starred in one Friends episode — Season 7’s “The One With Joey’s Award” — but not as Sami Brady. Instead Sweeney played fictional Days of Our Lives actress Jessica Ashley, who scoffed after winning a Soapy Award, deeming it less prestigious than her other trophies. Her response upset Joey, who had desperately wanted to win in his own category, and he ended up stealing her trophy. Sweeney “loved the whole storyline,” saying:
So then to get to play a character on Friends was, first of all, amazing. I think that kind of stereotype of the actress who’s gotten all the awards and she just cast it aside and Joey’s reaction. It was just really fun and funny to do it, to get that opportunity.
It was certainly a fun episode to watch, and it’s made even better by knowing how beloved Dr. Drake Ramoray was to the real Days of Our Lives cast. If you want to relive Alison Sweeney’s guest role on Friends, all 10 seasons of the sitcom can be streamed with a Max subscription, and you can catch her latest movie Love & Jane next at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, February 24, on Hallmark.