Crystal Chappell's Memoir

[Vee]

Kristian Alfonso needs to eat more, yes. And she can be very cold onscreen, which is why she's often soared when playing the villain/psycho. I very rarely buy Hope the mom, Hope the earth mother. My first and most lasting memories of Hope Brady are of the exotic, amnesiac "Gina" opposite Lisa Rinna's earthy Billie. That's all I've ever really seen and believed.

But KA earned her place and does the work, however good or bad what they give her, usually bad. And unlike CC, she doesn't make a public disgrace of herself.

[Sindacco]

I remember CC praising the "Carly hooked on drugs" story.

[NothinButAttitude]

OK. I'll relax off that reassurance.

[DRW50]

Maeve also allegedly had to put up with some real ugliness on AW and probably on GL too. If she was a bitch over something like protecting her character, then good for her. The main reason Vanessa wasn't run into the ground was because Maeve knew when to leave.

I remember GL as having many strong, complex male characters, far more than most soaps. Characters who respected women but also stood up to them. If there was some raging attitude of sexism onset, then it presumably never got to actors like Zaslow, Grant Aleksander, etc. considering that they weren't exactly known for being pushovers.

[baller]

a million 1+ to this.

I don't know why I am shocked at her pandering to make another buck (or 9) off of the those over-invested lesbians (hasn't she taken enough of their money) but its just becoming more and more sad.

[Susan Hunter]

It appears that Crystal doesn't have many fans here, which is fine. What she does off screen, who she tweets with, etc. doesn't really matter.

I think someone needs to give the entire Days cast and Ken Corday a wakeup call. The 90s are over, you aren't #2 in the ratings and you aren't one of NBC's most profitable shows any longer. You're on the last place, worst written, worst produced show. Suck it up, leave your egos and issues, and who you will and won't work with, and salary demands at the door. Work together to get the show in a place where maybe you can get some of those niceties back, but until then shut the f up and do your job.

[DRW50]

I agree, but I doubt this autobiography will do much of that. It sounds like CC was a huge problem backstage in both her runs as Carly.

[ChitHappens]

There are no words to describe how much I loathe New York/Tiffany!

BOT: I'm just not sure why I am supposed to care about CC's memoirs? Someone sell me on this, please.

[DRW50]

Well, she shows her ass on the cover, if you're into that.

I actually liked her quite a bit on GL and it's just been a long ugly slide since. It's like Lindsay Lohan does daytime (again).

[Gray Bunny]

I really don't think the DAYS actors have egos [anymore]. Whatever diva 'tudes they once may have had (Deidre, Kristian, Susan Seaforth-Hayes) in the past, I think they're all pretty much teamplayers by now. They know it's 2013 and they're lucky the show is still on the air, they were all excited for the little 2011 reboot, Hall and Hogestyn more than likely returned at a fraction of what they used to be paid, Alfonso and Reckell took steep paycuts in 2009, Doug & Julie are lucky to get cameo appearances, Joe Mascolo isn't getting offers to join any other soap and is taking the scraps DAYS is giving him. In all honesty (and this isn't meant to begin another actor bashing), the only DAYS actor who seems to have clout in recent years is Alison Sweeney (i.e. constant frontburner storyline, chances to direct, chances to write, has a successful primetime gig).

[will81]

So all this talk about diva attitudes and bakstage difficulties makes me wonder. Between 1995 - 1998 Days was sitting at number 2 in the overall ratings, a position it hadn't held consistently before (or possibly since the 70's). It seems pretty clear that the show devoted a large chunk of screen time to Marlen/John/Kristen, and I feel Dee, Drake and Eileen helped carry the show through its success. Though it was quite an ensemble show at the time, the trio seemed extremely important to the ratings.

Was there ever any problems between them or resentment or jealousy from others. I know other actors received attention in the soap press so maybe it wasn't a big deal, but just curious.

[Sindacco]

I remember reading somewhere that Kristian Alfonso was jealous of Eileen Davidson's airtime or if it was that she played several characters. Don't know if it's true or not but it was around the same time that Kristen and Susan left that the Princess Gina story started.

[Wendy]

In a similar vein, I remember rumors of Deidre Hall feuding with/jealous of CC during Round 1 of CC's Days tenure because of CC's overwhelming air time. That seems to be the "thing" that gets passed down from feuding actor to feuding actor.