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Play Kristi For Me
Paradise Lost (episode SL-315; first aired 1/31/97)
The Sliders land in a coastal community where no one seems
to be over the age of 35 and they soon discover the small town's dirty
little secret. -Fox
Written by: Steven Stoliar
Directed by: Jim Johnston
Music by: Stephen Graziano
Guest Stars:
Lara Steinick as Laurie Miller
Rob Youngblood as Sheriff Burke
Will Schaub as Parker
Pat Gebhard
Kristi McDaniel as Alice
Co-Starring:
Jeff Markey as Bud
Gordon Jennison as Fred
Todd Babcock as Michael Levy
From Beth's Days Page
Play Kristi For Me
Life Is A Game For DAYS's New Star Kristi McDaniel
Interview By Jacqueline Metcalfe
To see scanned photos of this article click below
Part One (133K)
Part Two (177K)
The text of the article is below for your convenience.
"I wasn’t all that nervous, insists Kristi McDaniel, who managed to snag the part of DAYS OF OUR LIVES’s latest ingenue, Sarah. I thought there would be one or two other girls. [There were] five. McDaniel’s audition was the first time she had every done blocking (rehearsing a scene to match camera shots). Blocking right there [on the set] was pretty weird, because I’d only be in front of the camera for three little commercials and that’s really nothing, she reveals. She did the best she could and then waited for The Call. I knew I did [well], but it’s nothing you can control. My agent phoned and said, You got the job.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, cool.’
Until then, McDaniel’s only real knowledge of soaps came from watching ALL MY CHILDREN and LOVING. I watched LOVING because I was in love with Trucker and the girl he was with - Trisha! Then something happened to them, and I didn’t watch it anymore. And now? She’s getting hooked on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, of course.
Her first DAYS included learning everything there was to know about working in television. Fortunately, co-stars Mark Valley (Jack) and Jason Brooks (Peter) took her under their wings. One day, I asked Jason, ‘Can you give me some advice?’ and he just gave me a load. Like, ‘Kristi, we might be joking around, but 5-4-3-2-1 and we’re totally into it.’ [He said] to take it seriously. McDaniel is doing that, but admits that without much experience, some days are difficult. When I have only a few lines here and there, I have the worst mindblocks, she confesses. It’s so hard to have something really small to say. You have to have energy.
The young survivor is quickly learning to roll with the Salem punches, though. My character got a job as a stipper [at the Blue Moon] and I had to wear this skimpy, backless outfit, the actess recounts. They used three pads and put tape on the dress and on my boobs - and it still didn’t give me cleavage. It was so uncomfortable that when I went home I was like, ‘I’m getting a boob job.’ It made me so depressed.
Fortunately, clearer heads prevailed, and McDaniel left nature alone. One reason for her young-but-level head is her close relationship with her mom. Although her folks are going through a divorce, McDaniel says she’s coming through it relatively unscathed. It’s fine, she asserts. They still have a great relationship, so I guess I’m lucky. The actess feels so close to her mom that they are moving in together in the Hollywood Hills. We’re like friends, she shares. I can pretty much take care of myself, but she’s my shelter right now.
While her new job sounds overwhelming, it’s an opportunity McDaniel has been ready for since nursery school. I’d be caught in my mom’s lingerie having tea parties, McDaniel laughs. Or, she’d hear moaning and groaning in the bedroom, and she’d open the door. My friend would have a pillow, and I’d be delivering [a baby].
McDaniel was so intent on launching her career that she talked her parents into letting her take a high school equivalency exam at 16. The test was so easy, she marvels. I was thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to fail.’ because I thought there were trick questions. McDaniel passed with flying colors, which meant no more formal schooling. She then enrolled in acting workshops and expanded on the performance skills she had honed through seven years of ballet, tap and Hawaiian/Polynesian dance lessons. Huh? I really wanted to get into the belly dance, but I kinda got it mixed up with the Hawaiian, she giggles. I just wanted to shake my hips and have fun.
One thing she won’t do is shake her hips in the fast lane when she turns 18 next month. I’ll be able to legally go to stupid clubs, she sniffs. I went to this place [recently] to watch a band and everybody smelled like smoke. That whole scene is disgusting. And her love life? I’m single, she states, but you know, you always have your little ‘guy friends.’
She’ll be making lots more ‘guy friends’ - now that she’s added a top-rated soap to a Pizza Hut spot on her resumé.
Just The Facts
Birthdate: Febuary 7, 1978 Hometown: Sun City, California
She Listens To... Portis Head, Garbage and PJ Harvey
Sis Stat: Kelly Ann is 20 and married
Hot Wheels: "I'm about to go
pick up my first car ever - a pink Mustang convertible, 1967."
Biggest surprise about soaps: "I didn't know guys watched soap operas
until I got the mail."
Left up to McDaniel, there will definitely be another smooch with Valley. The newcomer says that her one beef with Sarah is the character's naiveté - so she's devised a way to eliminate that problem and satisfy the fans who want to see Sarah and Jack get together. "This is the vision that my cousin and I talked about." McDaniel confides. "One day, I pester and pester Jack, and he won't talk to me. Then later, he's at a party and I walk down a staircase with a ballroom dress on and he's like, 'Whoa!' He thinks I'm the most beautiful girl he's ever seen."
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