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Welcome Back. Over the last 35 years,
my next guest has survived an
exercisim, amnesia, a kidnapping
and a plane crash on one of tv's longest running
soap operas, "Days of our Lives."
Please welcome the very talented, Deidre Hall.
Deidre: (signs) Welcome.
Q: Wow.
Q: A survivor.
Q: You are unstoppable. D: (laughs)
Q: Welcome! You are unstoppable. D: Spread it around!
You have played Dr. Marlena Evans for 35 years.
D: Yes.
Q: Brought her to life. Welcome, welcome to the show.
D: Thanks, and welcome queen (signs "queen")
D: Sign language. Yes, well it's the letter "q" and then
then we think of the banner, like royalty across the chest.
D: And, then you can finger spell "Latifah." Q: Thank you!
Q: What is the craziest thing that you have ever survived on the show?
D: Well, there is no doubt that it was the exorcism. I mean, possession!
D: Wait, I did survive the exorcisim too.
D: So, I was possessed by the devil for about 8 months.
Q: They even levitated you! Now, that's some good tv right there.
D: When I die, that moment will flash before my eyes. I'll be floating off beds...
Q: Your twin sister was on the show, right? Playing your twin?
D: Yes, my twin sister played my evil twin. My twin, Andrea Hall Gengler, who lives in Virginia and teaches special education,
who was not an actress by training. That would be her on the left.
She played my evil twin, which was especially fun for me.
And then she played Hattie Adams, the curmudgeon at the local diner. Does everyone remember her?
D: Yea, yea yea...
Q: How did it feel to have her on the set with you?
D: It was sort of an out-of-body, because I was there.
And, that's sort of my job and my place. And, then she was there.
She didn't know how to do all of the stuff. So, I was pulling her coat tails. "Come over here. Find your light. No, over here."
Q: Be evil. Just be evil.
D: (laughs) You can do that.
At one point, she was given a scene where she was meant to cry.
You know, soap operas are all about crying, and I had spent many years perfecting crying.
So, I told her, "you know crying isn't easy. So when you get to the scene where you are supposed to cry, don't go "boo hooo!"
Don't be over the top. Just be really quiet. And, she said "no, no I can cry."
And, I said, "but when you can't...." you know we can all cry in the bathroom while looking in the mirror. But when you can't, don't resort to looking foolish.
And she said, "no, I can do it." And, I thought, "you smart aleck." (laughs)
So, I was right off stage when it was her turn to cry, and she did it. I said, "how did you do that?" She said, "it was easy. I've been watching you all of these years."
(Laughs) Twins. Twin Sisters. If you can do it, I can do it. Q: That is so funny.
But, that probably made her feel good about herself, to be just like her sister. Now, I hear that Days of our Lives is about to make history. Tell us about that.
We are. Marlena has been ordained, and I am about to marry Sonny and Will on the show.
It is the first gay wedding. And, it is so delicious. Q: And you brought us a clip. D: yes, I brought you a clip. Q: Let's take a look.
Music playing, everyone sits. "Thank you all for coming to this joyous celebration of love and commitment."
Q: Alright now! D: That's all you get. Yes, it's a great, great show and they put a lot of energy into getting it right.
Q: But, I'm looking for the curveball. Who's going to jump out of where! I guess we'll have to watch. D: Yes, guess you'll have to watch.
Q: I had a show "Living Single" back in the day and there was a wedding scene.
There's something about wedding scenes. Even playing the wedding scenes, there's something emotional about it.
D: It's that fantasy thing! Q: It is! D: We get emotional. When we put the slips on our head...
to be the bride, it goes so far back into our imagination when
I was in the ceremony, and I thought, "I'm about to say those words" and suddenly it got real.
It got pretty serious for me. I thought "wow." Not that I haven't said them before myself...
It's a big moment. There's something very sacred about it.
Q: Speaking of a big moment, you are about to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! D: I am! Q: Well deserved!
D: You have yours. Q: I do. D: Talk about that moment.
It's such a...I'm so excited for you about it. For me, it was the
realization of a dream. Being a 17 year-old, walking the streets of Hollywood Boulevard.
You know, all of those miles of stars, from where it starts, to where it ends. Just all of those miles, walking and seeing all of those people that I grew up watching.
And loving the people in this business. And now, you're going to be an inspiration for so many others.
You know, the dream of making it. D: It is.
There's sort of a two-prong response to it.
One is, that you've finally gotten invited to the party. You've really gotten invited.
And, you've been living so long. Q: Girl, you should have already been at that party. I mean, demonic posession,
plane crashes...what does a girl have to go through?
The other thing is, that one day, my children will walk their kids down those streets and say, "come here, let me show you something that meant a lot to Grandma."
It's so very touching. We are saps about it. Q: I am so excited for you.
Q: Congratulations, you deserve it. D: Thank you! And, on yours too.
Q: We are going to take a break, but when we come back, Deidre is going to teach me how to be a soap star!
Right after the break. We'll be right back.
I'm with the amazing Deidre Hall, who is about to teach me how to be a soap star!
But first, during the break, I went and got you a few gifts, my books "Kitchen Closeup" and "How Does She Do It? A Beauty Book."
Both available on deidrehall.com, and "Days of our Lives: Better Living" which is available on Amazon.
Q: I like that picture of you in here, I've already looked through this.
D: There's a naked picture in there. I mean, naked face. Q: But look at the sparkle!
Q: It's time for drama! D: Let's play the game! Q: You're a soap legend, will you show me how it's done?
As we play..."As the wheel turns..."
Here's how it works. We're each going to spin this wheel. And, whatever it lands on, we have to act it out.
How does that sound, y'all? (Audience cheers)
And, since you are the queen of soap stars, I think that you should go first.
(Laughing) Q: Alright.
Are you guys ready? D: Can you take a hit?
D: Didn't know I could carry a wallop, did you?
That was some good slapping, Deidre Hall. Ok, here I go.
Gasp. Alright.
D: (laughs) Q: How was that? D: I love that!
That was really good! Q: Was it good? D: Better than good.
Q: I've got to pass the bar. Or, meet you. D: You've raised it.
Evil laugh. Q: Look into that camera. D: It's been years.
D: Now, you give me evil laugh! Give me evil laugh!
Q: I'm so excited about your evil laugh!
I'm going to work on it. I'm too happy.
That was a good evil laugh. Ok...how about...
Dying breath? You've probably done that a few times.
Oooh, she's good.
That's it. That's it right there.
You can't go any further. You have to leave it right there.
Deidre Hall, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for Days of our Lives.
It airs weekdays on NBC. We'll be right back.
Wow. (Audience cheers)