With Tenacity And Pluck, Day's Stephanie Cameron Took Over Melissa Reeve's
Roll -- And Made it her own.

Born On: June 25
First Commercial: Murry Bicycles
What her Parents say about her Job: "They don't like the kissing scenes."
Favorite SEINFELD episode: "Bizarro Jerry"
The Language she wants to learn: Spanish

Talk about Grace under pressure. Back in November, 1995 fan favorite Melissa Reeves abruptly quit Days of Our Lives, giving no notice. Disaster seemed imminent: Reeve's character, virtuous heroin Jennifer Horton, was slated to appear in about a billion upcoming scenes, and there was quite literally no time to rewrite anything. Even Stephanie Cameron.

I had my first audition on Tuesday, by Friday I was hired, and then we had to work all day Saturday," recalls the actress, whose previous on-camera experience was limited to commercials (Sprite, Baby Ruth) and a brief walk-on on Bold and Beautiful. All told, Cameron taped 11 episodes on her first five days on the job -- no small feat, considering the knew little about Jennifer and even less about soaps.

"The pace was insane, nine or ten shows a week for a while,"she says, "and it was kind of overwhelming. When it died down, I was like, 'We're only going to do one show a day from now on, not three? Oh, okay,' " Meanwhile, her determined movie won over her co-stars, even the ones who were especially close with Reeves. "It's always really scary walking into a situation like she did," says Jaime Lyn Bauer, who plays Cameron's on-screen mom, Laura. "But she's really started to click; she's great."

While Cameron's kamikaze casting makes a great story, it's not exactly her favorite matter to discuss. To wit:

Digest: You realy weren't hired under ideal circumstances
Cameron: Well..I got a job. What can I say?
Digest: But it must have been difficult to step into the middle of such a messy situation.
Cameron: First of all, I don't know why [Reeves] left. There are rumors, but ... I don't know if it was ever been set in stone. And it doesn't matter. Everybody was totally professional.
Digest: DAYS was actively trying to get Missy back. Were you ever told you might not last?
Cameron: No.
Digest: Were you bothered that they wanted Missy back?
Cameron: I'm not taking anything personally. It really has nothing to do with me. I mean, it does, and it seems like it should, but it doesn't. The only thing [Reeves and I] share is that I took over her character. I really made a point of not getting too involved, because I have no control over it anyway. What am I going to do? I'm just going to do the best job I can.
Digest: You actually bear a strong resemblance to Missy.
Cameron: Well, some people have said that. I've never seen her in person.

And that's about all she has to say on the subject. Cameron is, however, more than effusive when discussing everything else about DAYS, like Jenn's recent escapades. "I get frustrated sometimes," Cameron laughs. "Like when Laura had that laser surgery to wipe out her brain -- I call it a Stefanotomy -- and then Jenn brought back the same doctor who performed it to help her!"

The memory makes her grin, but nothing gets her beaming like the mention of co-stars Mark Valley (Jack) and Jason Brooks (ex-Peter). "They're both extremely funny," she reports. "In fact, they had a contest to see how long I could keep a straight face. They were like, 'Let's see how many words it takes to get her to smile.' "

Actually, if you want to make Cameron smile, all you have to do is bring up international travel, which she loves, loves, loves. At age 16,s he left her home in Virginia Beach and spent six months modeling in Paris and Tokyo; the experience gave her an expanded out-look on life. "Then," she signs, "I had to go back and finish high school."

Modeling logically led to acting class; acting led to Los Angeles, where Cameron moved upon graduating high school. She's been California dreaming ever since, particularly after her boyfriend of two years, actor Bob Williams, came along. Trying to get her to talk about him is like asking her to discuss Melissa Reeves.

"We met through a mutual friend," she says. And? "We go rock climbing alot." And? "And we don't want to embellish on it any more than I have."

But the actress is happy to disucss her on-screen love life -- or lack thereof. With Jenn's feelings for Jack constantly seesawing, isn't there any other man for whom she might have feelings?

"Umm...." Says cameron, thinking. John Black? Bo Brady?
"Mel Gibson," she says brightly.
 

© 1997

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