Days of Our Lives Arianne Zucker Looks Back on Her Time in Salem, Crushing on Jensen Ackles and More

Glamour: Did you ever have a crush on Jensen?

Arianne: Yes, of course I did. [Laughs]

Glamour: Did you guys ever date?

Arianne: No, no. We'd go out as a group and have a great time at dinners, Halloween parties, that sort of thing. It was a lot of fun.

Glamour: So why didn't you date?

Arianne: Well, I had a boyfriend at the time. So, we didn't date, and then he ended up leaving the show and getting, Supernatural. He's been on there ever since.

Glamour: When was the last time you talked to him?

Arianne: I don't know, probably 10 years? Maybe on the phone? Yeah, it's been a long time.

Glamour:When you think back over the years, what story line was the most fun to play?

Arianne: I absolutely love working with John Aniston. When our characters were like the comedic act—you know, married but hate each other—the lines that they gave us were so much fun. His delivery is amazing. He's just a wonderful man. I really enjoyed that part, and again, how much I learned from him. [The current story line] is really, really, emotionally charged. So is the baby-switch story line, because I don't think anybody thought it was going to last two years. It was just a gift, and it involved a lot of people, which was nice.

Glamour: What story line gave you the most anxiety?

Arianne: When Nicole had to seduce Victor and was in lingerie and all these little things. John Aniston was so intimidating to me, and I had to be sexy and dance around him. I didn't know myself like that at that age. I was a very naive, very, very naive 23-year-old. I was so uncomfortable until I wasn't, and it took me months to figure out how to be sexy! At least to me. I was a nervous wreck. I was awful.

Glamour: And on top of that, it's Jennifer Aniston's father. [Laughs]

Arianne: "Hey Jen, what's up? I'm seducing your dad! Not doing a good job of it!"

Glamour: Have you ever met her?

Arianne: I haven't, but when Kyle [Lowder] and I were still married, he was on Friends and said to her, "You know, my wife plays your dad's wife on the show." She's like, "How old's your wife!?" [Laughs]

Glamour: You've gotten to work with so many cast members over the years. What's one of your favorite behind-the-scenes stories?

Arianne: Oh, my gosh, we used to work here really late, and when we had time, we'd watch everyone's screen tests [from years ago]! My favorite one was Brian Datillo's. That's a goody. We'd grab the VHS tapes and bring them downstairs, and we'd all sit down together and make fun of our screen tests. It was so much fun!

You Might Also Like