Cady McClain directs important PSA.
Fan favorite Cady McClain, who plays Jennifer Horton Deveraux on Days of our Lives, stepped behind the camera to tackle a social issue of great importance. The three-time Daytime Emmy winner recently chatted with Soap Hub about shining a light on breast cancer awareness.
You can check out McClain’s Instagram post below to see the full Public Service Announcement. How did she come to be chosen to help the National Breast Cancer Coalition with its message? “I met a producer named Andrew Carlberg, who had won an Oscar for a short film called Skin [in 2019], which is just fantastic,” McClain shares. “We had a nice lunch and got to know each other.”
Soon thereafter, Carlberg invited McClain to put together a PSA. She edited it with existing footage because it was during COVID. “They were able to use it to help raise a million dollars at an event they had,” she says.
Last summer, Carlberg invited McClain to do another PSA, only this time with new material. “I had written something and re-tooled it a little bit with Andrew’s guidance,” the actress/director says. “They loved it.” All the women who appear in the film are either breast cancer survivors or advocates. “They’re all real people.”
Bringing awareness to breast cancer prevention and treatment is a subject deeply personal to McClain. The actress lost her mother to breast cancer when McClain was 25 years old and her mom was only 57. “Andrew knew that through our conversations, and I believe that was part of the reason he asked me to do this,” McClain says. “Women are dying even younger [than my mother did]. I saw a billboard the other day that said half of us will get cancer. Half of all human beings will get cancer. How is that possible?”
McClain is proud to be associated with the National Breast Cancer Coalition. “They’re at the forefront of advocating for a vaccine and better treatment options with support from the government,” she says. McClain adds that the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s website is a valuable tool to help women navigate the system. “You can feel hopeless when you get diagnosed,” she says. “There are tools and resources [on the site].”
She’s not a doctor — nor has she played one on TV — but McClain says that she’s heard of some helpful advice that may help prevent breast cancer. “I learned recently that exercising five days a week for half an hour a day will help keep you from getting cancer,” she shares. (Check with your physician before embarking on any new physical fitness regimes.)
McClain can be seen next as Jennifer on DAYS on Friday, February 10. The actress made Daytime Emmy history in 2021 when she won the Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series for her role as Jennifer. That win resulted in her becoming the first performer to win a Daytime Emmy for playing a different role on each network. In 1990, McClain had won her first Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Juvenile Female in a Drama Series for her role as Dixie on ABC’s All My Children. In 2004, she won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Rosanna on CBS’s As the World Turns.
“Matthew [Ashford, Jack] is just lovely,” the actress raves of her DAYS husband. “We have tons of fun. It’s always a pleasure to visit with him and pop in and do the show.” Additionally, McClain serves as the Artistic Director of the Axial Theatre. Check out its website to see what McClain is doing on the theater front.
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