"Days is home," smiles Kristian Alfonso, relaxing on the patio outside
the show's NBC studios. "and Hope is the best character I've played. I've
always described her as a diamond in the rough, always waiting for the next
facet to be cut."
"Days is home," smiles Kristian Alfonso, relaxing on the patio outside
the show's NBC studios. "and Hope is the best character I've played. I've
always described her as a diamond in the rough, always waiting for the next
facet to be cut."
Alfonso has sparkled as Salem's most enduring young heroine since she walked onto the Days of our Lives sound stage for the first time. "I had done a movie of the week (The Star Maker, opposite Rock Hudson) and that was it," marvels Alfonso. "I was petrified. Everebody was so seasoned here, and I was so young and had no idea what I was doing. The director would say, 'Find the light.' 'What light?' There were, like, 1000 lights. Whenever I was panicking about lines, I would subconsciously think: Say them really fast. No one will notice."
Today, Alfonso is an accomplished pro who has long settled into Salem society. Despite two exits -- she left Days in 1987, resurfaced for 13 weeks in 1990, and returned full-time in 1994 -- Alfonso always comes back to her daytime roots. Not that Alfonso, who has enjoyed success in primetime (Falcon Crest, Melrose Place) and film (Joshua Tree) doesn't think about branching out. "Lately, I've been a little lackadaisical because I've been so busy -- thank God! And the jobs I have done over the past few years were because I'd been approached. I'd like to do more film. I'd love to do a romantic comedy." Still, Alfonso has no plans to fly the coop -- her storyline over the last year (Hope giving up her son, then teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown) has been topnotch. And Alfonso considers the dual role of Hope/Gina the best work she's ever done. "It was a great challenge," she confesses, adding that she didn't know how big the story would be at the outset. "I would have had a huge panic attack if I had! They told me slowly, 'Kristian, we're going to do a couple of little flashbacks.' Then, 'We're going to do this.' Little by little they kept adding to the pie."
Losing JT ranks a close second. "It was a great story," she says, noting that the melodrama unfolded during "a pivotal year in my life as well. Being pregnant and having this wonderful family to go home to every night. Then, coming in and crying over losing a child [on-screen]."
Alfonso's family began to expand when she wed attorney/businessman Danny Daggenhurst on Oct. 6, 2001. Her voice softensas she discusses the man who captured her heart. "I don't feel there are any words to describe what a wonderful human being he is. He fills my heart. He is a great husband." There was an instant attraction. "I looked into his eyes and we had a moment. It touched me deeper than anything ever touched me before."
While the couple dated, they downplayed their relationship to sons, Gino, 12, from Alfonso's previous marriage, and Spartan, 9, from Daggenhurst's. "The boys didn't know we were together, which allowed them to become friends first," explains Alfonso. "So there wasn't anything territorial. It was a no-pressure situation. And there's no favoritism, which is the way it has to be. We explain to the boys, when one is getting reprimanded for something, the same goes for the other."
Alfonso, a strict mother, stands by her style of parenting. "I tell the kids it would be much easier for me to say, 'Go, do what you want. But in your future, it's not conducive to your needs, because you're not always going to get your way.' That's life," Alfonso maintains. "Danny is the same way. We both have the same morals and upbringing."
Alfonso and Daggenhurst's first child together, Jack, was born last July. "I don't think either one of us wanted to have another child," Alfonso admits. "Then, Danny and I found each other. The more our love grew and the closer we got, we were like, 'Oh, God! We would love to have another child.'"
As for the secret to her success with on-screen husband Peter Reckell, Alfonso says, "We try to keep Bo and Hope's relationship new and refreshed. We want the audience to feel that they can laugh with Bo and Hope and enjoy the little quirks about them. The silly things, like the fact that Hope can't really cook. Then she'll make something and be like, 'You know what? It's edible. You're shocked, right?' It's keeping all those little things up that's important."
As is professionalism on the set, and the actress credits Frances Reid (Alice) with being her role model. "Frances is always prepared, and she questions things," reports Alfonso. "She'll say, 'Wait! This is not right.' She's taught me to be on top of things. Don't come to work and call it in because there are 10,000 people out there who can do your job for you -- and do it better." Days fans, however, would beg to differ that there could ever be a better Fancy Face.