Soap veteran and Days of our Lives veteran Suzanne Rogers was turned down for a role for The Young and the Restless because she wasn’t a blonde.
Suzanne Rogers didn’t let rejection get her down. Though she was turned down for a role with The Young and the Restless, she still auditioned for Days of our Lives. She shared her inspiring story, which will resonate with many people who have faced rejection in their lives.
Key Takeaways
- Rogers was rejected by Y&R because she wasn’t a “blonde.”
- She still submitted her audition tape for DAYS.
- Rogers went on to have a successful 52-year career with the soap.
Turned Away From Y&R
In an interview with TV Insider, Rogers talked about how she landed the role of Maggie Simmons on DAYS after she tried out for Y&R. At the time, she wasn’t familiar with the soap genre
“I had never watched a soap. I had done theater, which was nighttime, and matinees during the day, so I had never been home to watch a soap, and I didn’t know anything about the workings of a soap,” Rogers admitted.
Photo Credit: JPI Studios.
She first auditioned for a role on The Young and the Restless. The casting process took place before the soap premiered on CBS. At the audition, executive producer John Conboy noticed that Rogers didn’t fit the part.
“The first thing he said to me was, ‘Where’s your blonde hair?’ And I said, ‘I’ve never been a blonde.’ And he said, ‘Well, in the main story, all the girls are blonde,’” the soap veteran recalled.
Her Lucky Break With DAYS
Rogers wasn’t going to dye her hair for the part. But that didn’t stop her from trying another daytime soap that was on television. She sent her audition tape to Betty Corday, who was looking for the right actress to play Maggie Simmons.
They were casting seven other actresses at the time. But it was Rogers’s audition tape that made the late John Clarke (Mickey Horton) emotional. She drove off, assuming she didn’t get the part, until Clarke waved her down in the parking lot.
“He motioned for me to roll my window down, and he said, ‘You just knocked me out.’ And I said, ‘Oh, my goodness. Well, thank you very much,’” Rogers said.
The audition took place on Friday. She didn’t get a call from her agent until the following Tuesday, when she learned she landed the role. That would be the start of her 52-year career with the soap.
Rogers is still grateful to be part of DAYS. “I can’t believe that I’m still on the show,” she exclaimed. “And I am so thrilled the show is still on the air.”
This is an inspiring story for anyone who’s faced rejection in their career or creative life. As Rogers has shown, never give up. Keep trying until you get your lucky break.
