Ahead of the Tuesday, July 15 episode of the “Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart” podcast, CBS released preview clips of the episode featuring “Days of our Lives” star Deidre Hall as a guest.

In the episode, Hall discusses her experience screentesting for the role of Marlena Evans on the Peacock exclusive daytime drama series, recalling that there were several women in the room who were also looking to land the coveted role she has played since making her debut in Salem in 1976, plus how a devoted fan helped establish the in-person fan experience.

“I was screen testing, and they usually try and have people not in the same room, obviously, the actor(s) might be able to see each other or see our screentest, and I happened to see a couple of women, and I thought, ‘Oh, my word. Look who’s testing for this,’” Hall said, recalling the day of her audition.

Deidre Hall, Rebecca Budig, Greg Rikaart
CBS

A few weeks after the screen test, Hall got a call informing her that she had landed the role, but her initial response was far from a positive one. She noted, “I knew, as actors in their craziness know, if they chose me, everybody else must have turned it down. There must be something wrong with this part, so [I thought], ‘I’m turning it down too!!!” 

That decision didn’t last as she would later get a call from her agent at the time, who reached out wanting to know what was going on, reminding her that she was the one who told them she wanted to do a soap. In response, Hall exclaimed to her agent that she wasn’t the show’s first choice for the role, which discouraged her from taking the part. 

“Yes, you were!” the agent chimed in, saying in response, to which Hall excitedly replied, “I was?” in her best “You like, you really like me” moment.

At that point, she told the agent, “Well, I love that part. I would love to do that part.”

In a separate clip, Hall discusses being part of the first-ever fan meet and greet, sharing a story of a fan who had written to her during the days when soap stars were getting fan mail as their primary source of feedback. 

“This is the days when we got fan mail, and the days we read it, too. I got a letter from a woman who said her mother was going blind and she’d been a fan of the show for a while. When they asked what she wanted to see before she lost her sight. She said, ‘I want to see Deidre Hall in person.’ Truly, you couldn’t make that up. And I thought, ‘Okay, well, come on. Here we go.’ And so, at that point in time, there were about six or seven actors on the show that had a fan club. So, I knocked on their doors and I said, ‘You got fans who need to see you.’ And ‘okay, fine.’ And we had the very first, what we call lunch break at the Sportman’s Lodge in the Valley, and there were about 125 people there.”

Hall went on to share that the woman attended the event, sitting in the front row, and got to see the actress up close in person, marking what would become a multi-year tradition. “The second year it was 500 people, and the third year it was a full-blown stage production with 2,500 people at the Hollywood Palladium," said Hall. 

Watch clips from Hall’s appearance on “Soapy” below (click the play button).

Hosted by Rebecca Budig (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) and Greg Rikaart (“Days of our Lives”), “Soapy” is a new audio and video podcast that dives deep into the legacy, fandom, and enduring appeal of soap operas. Available on Audacy or wherever podcasts are found, full video episodes are released every Tuesday through September 30 on the CBS brand YouTube channel.

The podcast premiered on Tuesday, July 8 with an episode featuring guest Eric Braeden (Victor Newman, “The Young and the Restless”) that has since garnered more than 41,000 views on YouTube. 

Subsequent episodes releasing this month include interviews with Sheila Ducksworth (Executive Producer, “Beyond the Gates”) on Tuesday, July 22 and Lauralee Bell (Christine Blair, “The Young and the Restless”) on Tuesday, July 29.

“We decided, since we knew each other so well, that we should interview all the people that we know, and people that we don’t know, in this genre,” said Budig, while introducing the first-ever episode of “Soapy.” Chiming in, Rikaart noted, the podcast was also a way to “celebrate our genre, coming from a place of love and reverence, and respect, for the incredibly challenging, hard and fun work that we get to do in daytime soaps.”

Additional episodes will include interviews with Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos, “General Hospital”), Tracey Bregman (Lauren Fenmore, “The Young and the Restless”), Marc Cherry (Creator, “Desperate Housewives”), Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer, “The Bold and the Beautiful”), Eva LaRue (Natalia Ramirez, “General Hospital”), Christian LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin, “The Young and the Restless”), Cameron Mathison (Drew Cain, “General Hospital”), Karla Mosley (Dani Dupree, “Beyond the Gates”), Lawrence Saint-Victor (Carter Walton, “The Bold and the Beautiful”), Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman, “The Young and the Restless”), Heather Tom (Katie Logan, “The Bold and the Beautiful”) and Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree, “Beyond the Gates”).

Produced by the Paramount Multiplatform Production Group, “Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart” is executive produced by Mike Benson. Andrew Pemberton-Fowler serves as producer.

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This article first appeared on Soap Opera Network.

Thank you @Errol! I will have to watch this. Love me some Deidre Hall. 

Chandler Massey and Will's coming out story is discussed. 💕

Loved this episode. Greg is great and obviously loved by Deidre. This podcast is a hit! Thousands of views. Looking forward to seeing the rest of them.