Suzanne Rogers - Michael Fairman On-Air On

Days Of Our Lives
WITH AYOUTH INJECTION IN HER CHARACTER'S LIFE,
CTRESS SUZANNE ROGERS SAYS SHE FEELS LIKE THE FABLED
LADY, BUT THERE'S ADISTINCT ABSENCE OF THE WORD 'OLD'
n this revealing TV SOAP
interview, Days Of Our Lives
star, Suzanne Rogers says
that after 37 years in Salem,
she feels like she has a new lease
on her soap opera life, thanks in part
to her increased interaction with the
younger characters. She also talks
candidly on how she feels about a
move to revisit her character Maggie's
Myasthenia storyline, a disease
the actress herself has suffered
and which is now in remission.
I
IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFICULT
FOR YOU IN THE AnERMATH OF FRANCES
REID'S (ALICE) PASSING TO LEARN
YOUR ON-SCREEN HUSBAND, MICKEY
WILL BE KILLED OFF...
"It was very hard when I was told that they were
going to remove the character of Mickey from
the canvas ... and knowing that John Clarke
(the original Mickey) is still alive."
YOU WERE FABULOUS IN THE SCENES
WHERE MAGGIE FINDS MICKEY DEAD:
WERE THERE MIXED EMOTIONS PLAYING
THIS OUT ON SCREEN?
"I had very mixed emotions, and having a picture
of John as Mickey there to relate to was hard,
You just try to remember the past and all the
scenes we had together for years and years."
YOUR OTHER HOT STORY IS BETWEEN
MELANIE (MOLLY BURNEn) AND MAGGIE.
DO YOU AND MOLLY GET ALONG?
"She is a wonderful actress, that's the first
thing. And truly, from the very first day we
were together, I thought 11er energy was so
similar to mine when I came on the show,
when I was her age, I just latched onto her.
I think Maggie really thinks she is Melanie's
surrogate mother, I don't care if Carly (Chrystal
Chappell) is her biological mother or not! There
is something we have; the relationship is sweet
and tender. It's informative when I try to help
Melanie with her problems, It's a lovely story."
HOW DOES IT AFFEO MAGGIE WHEN
CARLY SHOOTS MELANIE?
"Obviously she goes into shock. On the heels
of her husband passing away and now her
Melanie, who she thinks of as a daughter,
we don't know whether she's going to live
or die. It's a traumatic time in Maggie's life."
AS IF THAT WEREN'T ENOUGH TO
COPE WITH, MAGGIE MUST RESUME
HER BAnLE WITH MYASTHENIA GRAVIS.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAl?
"Gary Tomlin, (Co-Executive Producer, pulled
me into his office and told me that they're going
12 MAR 31-APR 14,2010
Interview
to bnng up the Myasthenia. I said, 'It's not
something I'm thrilled about', and he seemed
surprised. When I did this before, I was in the
throes of the illness. It's now been in remission
since 1995 and it's something that is in the
back of my memory. It's not something I like
bringing up. I (have) to approach this as an
actress who has a part to play. I certainly don't
want to do anything that will trigger anything.
There is no cure for this (and) I don't want
to bring it out of remission. I don't think the
audience understood it the first time we did
it. When you don't see something, it's hard to
have empathy. It was in my face the last time,
because it was in real life; they are now
going to give her the illness in her limbs.
We have not done a lot on it yet, but Gary
did tell me it's not going to be a major
Myasthenia Gravis storyline."
reason she started to drink was she
was imagining somebody was watching her,
and it was the mother. That was a favourite
of mine. I was not thrilled about the
bludgeoning storyline when, in seven weeks,
someone tells you are going to die. Having
said this, the go-around of my story is
wonderful. I love the scenes with Molly and
me. I am the 'woman in the shoe'; I have
so many children to play with now! I don't
use the word 'old' as you may have noticed,
but that is how I feel. I have wonderful and
exciting people to work with."
MAGGIE IS A RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC:
DO YOU WANT HER TO TAKE A DRINK,
SINCE YOU WON THE FI T DAYTIME
EMMY FOR SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BECAUSE OF THAT STORYLI E?
"I don't know. Maybe, if I had my druthers
I would want that as opposed to the
Myasthenia. But I am not the writer.
I am an actress. I will do what they give
me to do. I don't have to love it, but I will
play it to the nth degree."
WHAT SHOULD FANS KNOW
ABOUT THE DISEASE?
"It's of the neuromuscular diseases:
Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease
and Lupus. It's the lesser of all of them.
They are degenerative and this is not.
Stress is definitely one of the reasons
it comes out. At the time I first got it,
I had just gone through a divorce and
the attitude on the show of giving 18­
to 35-year-olds the bulk of the airtime
was prevalent, so the stress of, 'Oh God,
where does this leave me?' was difficult.
There were things I did not handle well
and this came out as result."
WITH ALL THE HEARTACHE
MAGGIE IS IN FOR, DO YOU
FORESEE A NEW LOVE INTEREST
DOWN THE LINE FOR HER?
"It would be lovely. I so enjoy what
I am doing now though; I get to play
with everyone, and I am playing with
all the kids: Mia (Taylor Spreitler),
Nathan (Mark Hapka), and Melanie."
WHAT IS MARK LIKE to WORK WITH?
"He's lovely. I am so enjoying playing with
Kristian Alfonso (Hope) too. Truly, there were
so many new cast members I wasn't used
to working with, and I thought, 'How nice to
have a scene with this person ... and have
Maggie give Hope advice about Bo'."
YOU JOINED THE SERIES IN 1973: AS
A VETERAN OF THE SERIES, HOW DO
YOU FEEL ABOUT DAYS RIGHT NOW?
"When I first came on the show, I was the
new kid on the block. Everybody was there
to do good work. It was a well-oiled working
machine and everybody seemed to enjoy
what they were doing. The series has gone
through a lot of ups and downs and ins and
outs. Then we went through the killings and
the budget cuts. Right now, the group of
actors that are here ... I get the same feeling
when I first came on the show; everybody is
there not for the money, but for the work.
I think it shows and I think the work on the
air is wonderful. Right now, it's clicking."
AmR NEARLY FOUR DECADES ON
THE SHOW, WHAT ARE YOUR TWO
FAVOURITE 'MAGGIE MOMENTS'?
"By far it's the red shoes story. I think also
when Janice's mother came back and took
her away from Maggie. Mickey had been
in an institution and Maggie had started to
drink, and lhat was the reason she lost her
daughter. It had never been done before on
daytime. It was an unusual story, and the
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