As a newlywed who babysat in my home, in the afternoons, I fell hard into the soap opera world. In the evenings, over dinner, I would tell my husband all about these fabulous stories and rich characters my daytime hours were filled with. One day, home from work for some reason, Chw caught an episode of All My Children with me (my very favorite) and he was hooked. That was all it took. Sometimes he’d watch recordings, but most of the time he’d simply ask what was going on with the characters he’d also grown to love.
One day I learned a good friend of mine recorded AMC every day to watch in the evening as she ironed. While I’d thought we were good friends before her confession, my love and respect for her blossomed even more after. Eventually, life would happen and I wouldn’t be able to faithfully tune in, but after time away I could easily pick back up later. My very favorite character was Dixie Martin, played by the amazing Cady McClain. There was something about her performance that really drew me in. Many years later I picked up a copy of her memoir Murdering My Youth when I realized a possible reason why, in a sea of women on TV, I’d felt drawn to Cady. Sometimes the wounds deep inside recognize fellow survivors.
Cady has been that sort of full-circle gift for me.
This week’s guest on the Rainy Day Collective Podcast is Cady McClain!
Cady McClain is a history-making three-time Emmy© Award-winning actress. She is the first
woman to have won three Emmys© for three different characters on three different television
shows: All My Children (Best Juvenile, 1991), As the World Turns (Best Supporting, 2004), and
Days of Our Lives (Best Guest Performer, 2021). Her feature directorial debut, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct (featuring Lesli
Linka Glatter, Sarah Gavron, and Naima Ramos Chapman, among others) won Best
Documentary Pro Action at the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival, the Audience Award at
the SOHO Film Festival, a Jury Prize at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and Best
Documentary at the Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival. The film is now distributed
on PBS and the educational online platform, Kanopy. She was honored to be awarded the
International Matrix Award for her work related to supporting the female voice in film and
television by the Association of Women in Communications. An Ambassador for Kids in
the Spotlight (a foster youth filmmaking program) she is also the Artistic Director for Axial
Theatre in Westchester, NY. She teaches acting at Michael Howard Studios in NYC.
Cady opens up a bit about her journey and what it has looked like to follow her dreams–sharing about the recent loss of her best friend Rhonda. Cady gives us a beautiful conversation that is sure to inspire us all.
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