Just B with Bethenny FrankelDays of Our Lives legend Deidre Hall joins Bethenny and reveals the cheat code that was discovered on Soap Operas. Find out what she thinks about the Real Housewives franchise and how the two compare. It's double the drama!
Deir dra Hall is here a soap opera legend is amongst us five thousand episodes. Actress Deir Drahal is best known for her portrayal of Marlena Evans on NBC's daytime drama Days of Our Lives, whom she has played for over forty five years. She is officially the longest running soap actress ever, just passing the five thousand episode mark. Absolutely incredible, possibly unprecedented. This is just be with Deirdre Hall. Let's get into it. So how many how many soaps are there left?
Four?
Four? Wow? So when when soaps started leaving television? Were you nervous?
I think that what ended up happening was Greg Ming, who was our executive producer, saw the trend it's getting more expensive to shoot them and blah blah blah, revenue might not be there. And so he figured out a way to start wrong word, just cutting cost and you know, cut out a rehearsal, cut out of this, cut out of that, do more shows in a day, you know, take a week off once a month. So that he really cracked the code on how to do it on a budget. I am persuaded as why we lasted as long as we have because because the other shows can't do it.
Well. Oh so he has a gift for it that other shows don't have, Like he just was a masterminded.
That's early on he figured out and we, you know, we we began making changes that had been made to make us come in under budget.
Got it? Okay, So I'm going I might go all over the place because I'm just I'm just going with what's interesting to me. And when I've jumped off the page and you, so, do you what do you think of Housewives? Like? Do you feel like that's like a real a reality show, soap opera? Does it do you? Does it remind you of what your characters doing?
No, don't. I don't watch any of those shows.
You don't watch You don't even know what they're doing. You know.
My problem with those shows is that they're relying on women fighting. And I'm not a fan.
I got it, agreed, I get it. It's I know. And it's funny because I watch a lot of really high profile people talk about it and watch it, and I think and then they do feel a little guilty about it, because why it's kind of why I left without being sanctimonious and better than because I was there and created a lot of success there. But it got to a point. There's a point where you're like, this feels a little icky. I can't really justify this, so it's why I was asking. But they do feel a little like soapish. You're playing a character and you wouldn't really in your real life do the things of the scripted character that you were playing. So it's it's different. This is real women, and I think that people that are watching want to They battle and struggle between oh, that's not real or they're not making it real enough and really thinking it's not real. So being okay with how toxic it is, does that make any sense, like forgetting that it's actually real women fighting and forping each other's hair, that they forget that it's not scripted, it's real women. So it's like a blurred line there I make any say.
I just dislike all of it.
Yeah, got it? Okay. So did you think are you a person that likes consistency and you have loved just knowing exactly what not to expect because every day is different, but that you have a level of consistency and comfort and like you. You have a life that you've carved out and curated in being on a soap for so many years, I mean unprecedented, Like, what does that mean to you?
That's the greatest gift. It's you know it it it. I think it's the best of show business. I think it allows me to first of all, pay my mortgage, but secondly to be in the same place with the same phone number, in the same dressing room, and the same co stars and the same here and makeup people, and that that's a recipe for creativity. I'm not always having to audition, create a new part, work with new people that I'm not sure of, don't have to travel. My kids can come to work with me. When they were babies, they did, could bring a nanny to work. It's just it's the best, the best. And in terms of performance, we also get to play every beat of an emotion. So in nighttime shows, you might be in you know, one scene in five telling the story and day and days, or in soaps you're telling every frame of the story that you're in.
Interesting. I'm friends with Kelly Ripper, good friends with Kelly Rippa, and we've talked about the comfort level like of just choosing a job where Mark would take roles and go travel and do movies and different things where she liked that consistency of having young kids and knowing where she's going. And interestingly enough, she landed another job that has a similar aspect to it. You know, she knows where she's going to be in the morning, she knows what it entails. There are other things that she can do to do promotion for it or other deals, but by and large, she's had a very consistent life. And I think that that is something that mother's parents do crave and there's something nice of to not just worry about where your next paycheck's coming from.
Well said yeap, love to tell you. I think she's just terrific. I enjoy watching her.
Yeah, And she could do anything she wants, and she could be a business mobile and do a thousand things and be all over the place, and she chooses to, you know, layer one thing in at a time, Like she wrote one book recently took her all this time and she wrote it. She put her whole body into it. And then she'll launch a podcast, so she'll layer one thing into the batter versus like what I do, which is so many different things, which can be very tiring. And yeah, so I think that that's something. And did you were you tempted to do other things to leave? Did you feel like the grass was greener? How did you stay in this same place and evolved for all this time? How did you know you shouldn't be jumping ship and doing something else, particularly when you were younger.
Well, the the disadvantage of soaps is is sometimes we're considered the step children, which I think is a device of we don't have the money for you know, three hour lighting. We don't have the time for a three hour wardrobe fitting, or don't have a lot of time to rehearse over and over and over. It's what makes it spontaneous. Oh, then you were asking something, I've lost my train of thought.
Now when were the times that you thought you might jump off? You know? I left the Housewives at a certain time, and other people stayed on for fourteen, you know, fourteen seasons. And some people are those people that want to jump and then maybe come back or do it differently, and some people want the consistency and also don't care what people think because you're creating your own life. There are a lot of things that I could do for a lot of money. I don't want to do them because I have to like live in my own body and my own house with my daughter, and I could go back for millions of dollars to the Housewise, I don't want to do that. Like, so you don't want to do other things, I think you've probably had other choices other so you know what, For.
A while I did. I did a show called Our House for two seasons with Wilford Brimley. We all know Wilford, and it was a totally different animal because it, as you know, filming takes a long time and there's a lot of sitting around, a lot of waiting once again other people playing all the beats in the story. I loved it, and I missed my daytime. And I've done Hallmark movies, I've done other things. But I like what we talked about, coming to the same place where with the same people, having my life exactly as the one, and I don't have to work five days a week. I rarely do, so it gives me all. Yeah.
I think the messages about people curating and creating their own career and everybody thinks I remember when I got a talk show, and I remember I had had too much to drink, and I was with a girlfriend and we were going to a party, and I said, what the hell am I getting myself into? Because everybody thought that it's something that I should want because it was so big and the numbers were and I felt suffocated instantly, and it didn't matter if I could make ten million dollars a year. I just it was directing traffic and when we come back and next up, and I just had ten people on me by seven am, asking questions. And I hated it. And so it didn't go on a second year, and I felt guilty because I didn't want it to get picked up again, but I wanted it to for the two hundred and fifty people that were working on or whatever it was. I didn't want to do it. So often in life we think we're supposed to want something, whether it's who we're supposed to marry, or what where we're supposed to live, or how big our house is supposed to be. I didn't want that, no different than I don't want a house that has thirty bedrooms, Like I wouldn't want that, even though other people look at that on TV and think that's amazing. I think it looks dreadful. So that's why I talk about this. That's why I think it's fascinating your career and has it been because there are only four soaps and you said you mentioned paying your mortgage. It's a very successful show to be on all these years. So do you have leverage in negotiating? And do you make more money every year? And you know, have you felt like you just are happy to have job security or you do have some leverage, Like there's a dance going on with the people that you work for and that your fans would be frustrated if you weren't there, Like how does that work negotiating? Not specifically, but just dynamic.
I think longevity is a good thing. I think having a long fan base, a passionate fan base is a offully good for us. You know, we recently moved over to Peacock, so it was a real thought process of how do we how do we help our people find us because it's not so easy to do, you know, and if you're not accustomed to to to you know, to streaming, how do they do that? But what we found is most people found us and a lot of new people found us, and then was at one point there was a number you could call if you can't find us on Peacock called this number We'll talk you through it, And there was actually, I think there was a period of time where there was a sense off coupon if you if you hadn't gotten Peacock yet, come on, we'll help you get it. So the people upstairs were very clever about helping our audience find us, and for the most part they did.
And they did. That's interesting because I was talking to someone very successful in media the other day. We were talking about Bravo and he was saying that he's like, Bravo is streamers for old people, meaning like they have to get used to going on going online. There's there's YouTube, there's Instagram, there's Peacock, there's you know, I don't have all the apps. Like it's overwhelming. So I'm inspired by and moved by the fact that you were saying that they came because it's a different audience than you know, young Instagram TikTok or YouTubers that are finding extreamers. That's the only way they watched TV, and they watch it on their phone. So I think it's fascinating that you're saying they came. A lot of them came.
And the good part about it is that on Peacock we are all day long. So where you used to have to be in front of your set at twelve or five o'clock wherever you were, suddenly you can get up at six in the morning and while you're getting ready to go to work, you can throw it on or it's there in the evening. So the advantages obviously were easy to find any time of day.
Interesting. The many of the people you work with, you'd like a family. I work this is like a family. I mean, you've been working with them forever.
Forever, forever, Bill and Susan Hayes obviously the king of me in a daytime. I've been here for many, many many years before I got here, and the same thing, same hair and makeup people and for the most part, lighting cameramen. That people change out, obviously, but it's a family, and we're all pulling as hard as we can in the same direction to make it easy for everybody.
And it's great. That's how it should be. That's kind of a change that I've noticed overall in the world about you know. I hear myself saying to my assistant a lot, like because I'll be aware, Oh you're working until eight o'clock this day, Okay, make sure you take a day off, like make sure you balance that out or you know, you want people to have work life balance. It's not the same as it used to be. I mean, I work really hard all the time, and I'm always thinking that's who I am. It's just my body. But I'm very aware and want I want people to be happy, like you want people to be happy, because then they're excited, like they're inspired. I'm working on a project right now and all of us. What did I say the other day, there's no drama. We're all excited and it's good. The outcome is good. But like we have no master. We're just all collaborative and we're at different levels. As a twenty two year old's kid, there's me, but we all there's no ego. That's what I was going to say. When you work in an environment, there's no ego, and everybody seems the same, whether it's my assistant, a twenty two year old camera guy, my housekeeper, we're all the same. Like it's really fun and I like that environment. So you're describeding a whole crew and cast that all are just saying this is not this is There's only four there are only four soap operas left. But we all like our gigs. So let's like move the boat forward and all, you know, be slightly uncomfortable in certain ways but excited in other ways, and keep it moving.
That's it. That's it, And everybody's giving a hundred percent.
And everybody's giving one hundred percent. So have you and your character fused? Like? Is there crossover? Are there blurred lines? I mean, do you see yourself in her? And do you see her come into your real life, your non camera life.
You know, you can't do this many pages of dialogue every day without having some ability to play from yourself. You know, Marlene's not a character to me. She sort of is who I am, and we have the same belief systems and family values and all that. Because that's easier for me. That's easier for me to play her if i'm if I sit inside her comfortably, I don't have to stretch way out of my own bounds to play her.
And have you you mentioned doing other projects? So does this move really quick, and you like moving quickly like this shorthand to what you're doing, meaning when you talked about like you get to imbibe the entire character, and when you went over to do a movie or something, it's slower. And I noticed that I once did a part on I thought it was like Royal Pains or something, and I thought it was very tedious, like now we got to get the other stiff. Oh, I thought we were done, Like I want to get the cameras up and let's go. And that's why I can say I just started shooting a YouTube series two weeks ago because I and I had all these different TV offers, but I didn't want to talk to a network, do a press to where someone was telling me to do. I didn't want bulk. I just wanted to, like, get the cameras up, let's do what I want to do, edit it, and weeks later, like it's ready, and it's it's twenty minutes. It's not short. It's a real episode. But I don't like a lot of bulk, and I like movement. So you kind of described that you feel at work like you understand the beast, you understand the game, and you guys get to do a lot and like, get it done. It's not that, it's not it doesn't have to be that deep getting a product out, Is that what you're describing.
We do an enormous amount of pages a week. We bounced between eight and nine shows a week, so that's a lot of work. But it's been figured out. Just the rubrics on it seems to work. And we can bind shows, we can bind scenes, We change sets at a certain point so that we're not moving cameras all the time, we're in the same wardrobe. They figured it out, they've cracked moving on how to do a lot.
And you did, and you've and you've cranked out five thousand episodes a yeah, So what kind of record is that? Like, has anyone who's done five thousand? I mean, I don't know, but that just sounds like staggering to me.
It did to me too, and I thought, oh, Shirley Johnny Carson, No, wait, maybe maybe, and that I couldn't think of anybody that would have been in a position or a show long enough doing it five days a week to have kind of come up with those numbers.
So we don't have any comps. We don't. You don't know of any Do you have a star on the Walk of Fame?
Not that I do.
Oh okay, that feels like five thousand. That feels major, major bag alert, that's major.
Yeah. Yeah. And so went jar that was huge. I was that just was just that was a moment.
Where is it?
It's Hollywood and Highland?
That's so? And you have you brought like and your family's gone to see it? And like, have you walked on it since you got it? Have you been?
My family's been been to see it. Yeah.
Now you have how many kids?
You have too?
Two? And you are married? Still? Nope, you're not married. So you've been a single mom for years?
Ye gosh, yes, I guess I have. Yeah, probably fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years.
And what do your kids do?
My my my eldest is uh is working for Golden Voice. You know what Golden Voice is?
No, what is it?
Okay? They put on concerts, Oh, coach, it comes from Golden Voice and the Yeah, and my youngest is still in school. Oh nice, okay yea.
And so they didn't want to go into like performing or the entertainment industry in this way. They like, interesting, do you feel that what level of recognizability do you have Have you had a normal life outside of work, like walking around are you getting recognized all the time or it's really like a sprinkling.
I live in a small town. The people there know me, uh, other than Santa Monica obviously, and uh uh, it's it's just not a big deal, you know, I'm not I'm not walking the streets in New York where you seeing strangers, you know, moment after moments and realizing that, oh I think I know her. You must get this. Sometimes I'll think somebody will say did I go to school with you?
Yes?
Because it can't quite place yes.
Out of context exactly. No. I bring that up to certain people because I feel like it's not to be fame is not to be underestimated, meaning like there's nice when you when you when you meet someone and you're like, what's the level of fame? Because there's an arc where if you've crossed over that you really can have a lot of discomfort in your life, and there's a point where it can be really nice and you can engage with people who really recognize you and connect and say the right thing in the sense that they'll not be invasive, but respectful and understand. And it's a really nice experience that someone appreciates your work and what you mean. And I can imagine someone like Taylor Swift literally cannot walk outside of her apartment and that feels suffocating and like you can't be a normal human being. So while I would if I went to a mall or like a food festival, I would be attacked every two seconds, but I don't do that that often. And I can go to a Dollar Tree store and be recognized, but in a very fun way, you know what I mean, Like it's not or go to CVS and I feel like I often say I'm the Justin Bieber of CVS. But it seems like there's just a recurring theme of you creating the light work life balance that you wanted and kept kept working on very diligently. So what are you working on besides do you work on other what do you do besides work?
Like?
What is what are your hobbies and what are the projects are you're working on? And you know what goals do you have?
Now, I've got a garden. I love my garden. It's tomato seasons, so it's going to be gaspacho season and oh yeah, yeah, I can. I make jams and I can, and that to me is great fun. That's just being home and relaxing and working working in the garden.
You can't, okay, do you know about So I have I have an apple orchard, and I have to now decide which I have decided this morning, unless someone can convince me otherwise. If you have a thriving apple orchard which had died before I moved here, and I didn't realize my house is from seventeen forty three that if you have a thriving apple orchard, you can't fertilize around it, and so you're going to have bees, which then will be on your property or something like that. So the suggestion that the house manager made today because I was like, no, we need I want the apples, and I don't. We want to apple pick on our property and like make apple pie and be apple people. So but I also don't want bees everywhere. So he said, I suggest you get a bee keeper or a bee person that comes, and I'm like, wait, does that mean we're gonna have honey? And so like now I'm leaning into it. So it seems like a cousin to gardening where we can have our own honey. So do you think that's a good idea or a bad idea.
I've got a neighbor that raises bees and produces honey. And I walked down to visitor one day and thought, this is this is of my bandwidth is there's a whole process to it.
But you know, I don't want to be a bee keeper. I want to be a bee. I want to be be adjacent. I want to be like like relate. I relate to bees and and I you know, they can identify as bees, and I'm identifying as a person that wouldn't normally want bees, but I want a relationship with them so we could keep those trees.
Well, you need to learn about bees. You know bees, there are male and female bees, and a lot of them don't sting, right, I want either male and female doesn't sting. And you know that bees sleep holding hands.
You know a little more than the average b.
Well only because they interest me. But yeah, and then you'll love them and then you'll appreciate them, and then you'll love having them around. Okay, you know that's and you know when the bees go, we're all done anyway.
So all right, So you you then you're pro b. Not you're not pro fertilizer in this scenario, you're pro b. I'm pro b, you're pro b. So I'm leaning into the end your pro apple tree, I assume because you're a gardener.
I am. I'm and I'm thinking that somebody has solved this problem for you already. You need to dig a little bit deeper and say, I'm not the first person hasn't Well, I'm not.
The first person that had apple trees and bees. Okay, So I'm gonna do a TikTok on it and my people will comment and they'll let me know what they think. Okay, so great I did. This is not the thing that I thought we'd be talking about, but I'm excited. And I also want you to know that I the best gaspacho on the planet Earth. I know that sounds like a very massive statement, but on the planet Earth is in the Hampton's at a place called round Swamp Farm, and I'm gonna explain why I know it's the best. First of all, I would never pay eighteen dollars for a large thing of gaspacho, like I just wouldn't. That's a lot of money. It is so insane and addictive, and they don't keep a lot of chunks. It's puried, but it is so unincredibly delicious that they won't even give out the recipes, so we have to try to recreate it. But at the end of the season, I buy ten of them and I freeze them and they kind of just last till the next season because I don't need it every I do need it every day when I've opened one, but I don't need it all year. You get you get over it like you did it, and then you need to wait till next month and then you'll be into it again. Because it's like I live, I think about it, I dream about it. I'm going to send it to you and you're not going to believe how good it is. It is not, so we have to figure out how to recreate it with your tomatoes.
Dear dur Oh my goodness.
Okay, it's a big thing. It's zesty, it's perade. It's like just salty enough, and it just I don't know if you sometimes crave salt, but I get dehydrated and need the salt to hold on to thing, and I like, I think about it, like I dream about it. So I'm sending it to you. It's divine.
I'm ready.
I'm waity, you're ready for me, okay, because maybe both of us can figure out what's in it? Yeah, And I feel like I want to kind of go there and say, like I'm allergic to something, so what's in it? So we can kind of like try to navigate. But you know, it's not overly cucumbery, it's not overly peppery by any means. It's just essence of tomatoes and zest. So I'm sending it to you. Yeah, you're gonna freak. Okay, you're gonna freak you. Yeah, I'm gonna yeah, I'm gonna get it. It's start. When does the season start? Like when will tomatoes start to be bountiful?
You get another probably three four.
Weeks, Okay, all right, I'm on it. I'm gonna get your address and we're gonna send We're gonna send it to you. Okay. So you originally wanted to be a psychologist, that was what you wanted to do.
I was in college studying, yes, sending therapy.
Do you believe? Do you go to therapy? I go to therapy. I'm like calling you out but I go to a therapist, and so do you.
I'm not the moment, but I'm a strong believer in it.
Right you had? Do you have like I don't. I'm not at the moment. I have someone, but I don't go every Tuesday at four o'clock, but I have someone to call upon.
Are you do you I've got somebody to call on. Yeah, you do. And if I end up in crisis and have a problem that I need help with, I have no hesitation.
No hesitation, And what do you think about this road that took you on this journey versus being a psychologist, which is quite different peculiar?
Well, I was in school, and I was supporting school obviously, and and I kept having to back up because I kept getting acting jobs, which was supporting school. So at one point I thought, wait a minute, I'll just I'll just keep on acting until I have my career. And then thought, wait a minute, I'm missing something. I seem to have a career. So at that point I dropped out of college and just one full time.
Acting And how were you getting acting jobs when it wasn't even your main gig. That's so hard for some people.
Because I began by modeling, and I would model in those jobs don't last forever. And then and then my agents said, I want to try some commercials. Okay they pay better, Yes they do, I'll do commercials. And then she said, whytn't to try acting? Is it okay?
What?
And you know when Universe was hiring every cute little girl in town to be a nurse or a secretary and got enough jobs. And I was doing a job where I had to approach a scene and with Barry Sullivan when he had a long monologue and bring him some papers and exit the scene. And what I had not realized was it was a long shot and that I actually was meant to go back into the office. But I actually went and sat at a chair and watched him do his scene, and I was in the shot. And that was when I said, uh uh, you can't do this to people. If you want to do this, you've got to get into some classes. So I studied for about twelve years, and yeah, don't don't mess around with this. You're going to be serious about it, get serious about everything.
If you do and do it. If you don't, don't. I'm saying I'm like that with literally every single thing that I do. If I make a coffee, it's going to be good. Like I don't play games otherwise, I'd rather just lay down and sleep. Let's do it or don't. I'm very much like that. And do you do commercials anymore? Because I feel like your skin is perfect, and I feel like you would be great in commercials, not that you need another job.
Well, thanks, I don't do commercials. No, I would, but it just hasn't come up.
I could. I think you should. I think you should be doing like some commercials for like longevity and skin and like I don't know, I'm just looking at you. I would see you in a commercial.
Thank you. Well, I'll make a call when we're done.
Yeah, make a call, say back, and when you go to Cassie Bethanny Frankel says, I should be doing commercials. I think people believe me. Not everybody likes me, deir Jo, but people do believe me. So I feel like that endorsement might go somewhere. You'll let me know and wait till you get the caspacho.
Yes, I'll be contacting you then.
Yes, please? Awesome? Okay, did we forget anything to be missing? Anything? Is there anything you wanted to mention about your family, your life, your business, your show.
I just don't like to feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I'm living my dream, happy with my children, happy with my job, happy with my friends, happy the word live.
You have peace and balance.
They have peace and balance. I'm talking about piece and balance on the show today. How funny you would say that.
That's so weird because I feel that when you're younger, you want a little bit of chaos and things to be a little difficult, and whatever you think is awesome is exhilarating. And now I feel like it doesn't mean mediocrity, but good is great, like calm is good, sleep is good, being I mean bored, you know, hydration healthy, like just feeling alive feels good, meaning feeling fresh. Where we used to be, you didn't care if you didn't sleep, and you didn't even care if you felt like half a wreck. So I feel like peace and balance is extremely valuable, and I do think younger people could stand to learn that.
They'll get to it.
Yeah, they'll get to exactly.
Jalapenos. I put jalapenos in my in my gaspontso.
And it's spicy or not too spicy. It's just giving a tiny.
Kiss enough just to kick.
All right, we're gonna get I'm going to send you this, and this could be a project. We have to figure out how to recreate it, because I'm telling you it's another level. I cannot wait to get it. And I'm not sending you a frozen one, because the frozen ones are good, but they're not like the fresh ones. So I'm going to figure out how to ship it. Maybe some dry ice. I'll do a deep dive on that and let me know. I'll give I'll give them, they'll give you my number, and you'll let me know if I if I oversold.
This, okay, and and and I will in turn send you my recipe.
Okay, fabulous You purae or you like the chunks because I like things period, that's just my own personal preference.
Purd you do like.
I don't like chunky soups. It's like a meal. I don't like goula. I need puree and like because it's because it's because it's peaceful and it's balance, very nice, yes, a piece and balance for perfect awesome. Oh, dear dress, so nice to meet you, and thank you for coming and congratulations on so many milestones with stars on the Walk of Fame, five thousand episodes, piece and balance. Good Spot Show was a lot there, beautiful healthy children.
So nice to nice.
To meet you, awesome, have a great day. She was lovely and beautiful and sweet and from a different world. I don't know anything about soap opera actresses besides Lisa Rinna and Kelly Rippa, and you know, it's nice to learn something about something you know nothing about, about a person you know nothing about, an industry you know nothing about, and just you know, acknowledge someone's success in a totally different space and time. And she was really sweet and I'm definitely going to get her information, get her the Good Spot Show. I never ever don't follow through on something I say I'm going to do. That is something that is just who I am. So I will figure out how to ship this fresh Spot show from the Hamptons and make sure that it's not frozen but fresh. And I'm excited. So yeah, nice to meet dear Jehol and go watch her show. And Peacock
