For half a century, Deidre Hall has taken on all kinds of disasters in the dramatic town of Salem, Illinois, as the star of “Days of Our Lives.”
There was a time (actually, it happened twice) when her character, Dr. Marlena Evans, was possessed by the devil and even levitated.
In Sunday Funday, the people of Los Angeles tell us step by step their ideal Sunday in the city. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Or the time a serial killer, who was actually Marlena under hypnosis, seemed to kill several beloved characters. Stories from the long-running show have become legendary, and in March, while promoting “Hail Mary,” actor Ryan Gosling even thanked Hall, admitting he was a fan, praising the hard work of soap actors and calling her an “OG acting inspiration.”
But Hall's real life in Santa Monica is much quieter than her character's, and she likes it that way.
“When I bought my house in Santa Monica, I didn't realize how wonderful it would be to live near Montana Avenue,” Hall, 78, says of the popular shopping spot. Every day she walks to Main Street with her golden retriever, Riley, and enjoys Pilates, art, and good food along the way. “The owners of the farm market We even keep dog biscuits, so guess where the dog wants to go every time we walk: to the farms, of course,” he laughs.
When she's not filming the daily soap opera, which airs on Peacock, Hall enjoys raising monarch butterflies, exploring Montana shops and restaurants, and hosting movie nights at home with her two children.
This is what a perfect day in Los Angeles looks like for her.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
7 am: Breakfast and dog walk.
I usually start the day with a protein shake, feed our golden retriever, and take him for a walk. She is a phenomenal girl. When we adopted her, her name was Riley, but I thought I'd name her after Mrs. Hughes from “Downton Abbey.”
10am: Church and garden time.
After walking the dog and going to church, I like to spend some time in my garden. I'm not a natural gardener, but I really enjoy it. I started raising monarch butterflies because my identical twin sister, who played my twin on the show, planted a butterfly garden. Monarchs are amazing because they are transitional. Every year they travel from Mexico to southern New England, but it is becoming more difficult. Their number has decreased by approximately 80%. To help, I plant milkweed, which is what they need to survive. I buy my milkweed at the staghorn garden on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. Julie, owner of the nursery, is lovely and has a wide variety of milkweed. Monarchs always seem to find my garden. Julie was also raising some caterpillars and cared a lot about them. We talked about how important it is to help butterflies. That's why I do this. Sometimes I get milkweed with eggs and Julie knows her butterflies are going to a good home.
1:00 p.m.: Walk to Montana Avenue for lunch.
I live near Montana and love taking long walks, going to Pilates, and trying the great restaurants nearby, like Kitchen R&D and The The Earth. I'm a big fan of waffles at the patio kitchen. Just a few days ago, I had chicken salad on raisin bread with an Arnold Palmer and it was delicious. It's right in Montana and has a nice outdoor seating area. It's one of my favorite places. La La Land always has a long line in the morning, which is perfect if you want a coffee. They serve coffee, donuts, croissants and avocado toast. There is plenty of outdoor seating and you can even bring your dog.
2 pm: Take a look inside a watch store.
There's a small clock shop on Montana Avenue that's closed on Sundays, but if you stop by, you'll see all kinds of clocks: floor clocks, table clocks, and wall clocks. The owner is excellent at fixing them. I once bought a wall clock from MacKenzie-Childs, but it didn't work. And it really bothered me because it matched everything else on my counter. I took it to the owner and said, “I love this, but I can't make it work.” Fixed it immediately. His name is John, but I call him Geppetto. And we all know why. It really has a magical touch.
2:30 pm: Visit to a neighborhood art gallery.
Ten Women Gallery It is directed by 10 artists, who exhibit their work there. I was drawn to some watercolors there, bought some cards and talked to one of the artists. She told me, “You seem to love watercolors,” and mentioned that the artist who painted them, Pamela Harnois, lives in Los Angeles and teaches nearby. I got the name Pamela and found out she taught at Brentwood School of Art. Her gift inspired me so much that I started taking private lessons with her on Saturdays. That gallery is where I discovered my love for watercolor painting.
3 pm: Grab ice cream at Rori's.
The other day, my long-term girlfriend wanted to buy ice cream and she said, “Let's walk to Rori's Artisanal Dairy.” It's a small store in Montana, near Lincoln. They make it all themselves, using local ingredients from grass-fed cows and no added hormones. The place is family owned and probably has the healthiest ice cream you will find. They change flavors frequently, but my favorite is salted caramel.
6 pm: Family dinner and movie night at home.
Kitchen R&D It's always busy, so my kids, who are 31 and 33, cook. They come and together we prepare salads and cook dinner. There is a neighborhood grocery store called Montana Farms, a small family run place that has everything we need. There everyone knows each other and people bring their dogs. We try to have a movie night every Sunday. Sometimes the day changes, but we always make sure we have one night a week to cook and sit down as a family. Maintaining that tradition has become really important to us. My kids are excellent cooks, which is funny because they definitely didn't get that from me. [Laughs]
9 pm: Take Riley for one last walk and visit the neighbors.
After dinner, I take my dog for a walk. It's a great way to meet the neighbors. We always go around the same block. We have met a lot of people and since she is a golden retriever, she loves meeting everyone.
10 p.m.: News, knitting. and time to sleep
I'm a news junkie, so I usually watch everything on the news before I go to bed. I have a long-standing passion for knitting. Lately, however, the news was making me lose control.
