Cady McClain's Real-Life Tragedy Brought Abigail's Death On Days Of Our Lives To A Whole New Level

If you're a fan of daytime television, then Cady McClain is likely a very familiar face. The actress is no stranger to TV and she's appeared in a number of roles during her long career. Over the years, McClain has appeared on shows such as "St. Elsewhere," "Spenser: For Hire," "Cheers," and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (via IMDb). However, it's been McClain's soap opera characters that have landed her the most fame.

McClain earned her very first soap opera role in 1988 when she was cast as the character of Dixie Cooney on the beloved sudser "All My Children." Sadly, in 2007, Dixie was killed when she ate a stack of poisonous pancakes and fell victim to a serial killer dubbed the Satin Slayer (via Soaps). In 2002, McClain headed over to "As The World Turns" to take over the role of Rosanna Cabot from actress Yvonne Perry. In 2014, McClain replaced actress Cynthia Watros on "The Young and the Restless" when she stepped into the role of Kelly Andrews (via Soap Central). 

However, McClain has most recently been seen in Salem as she stepped in to fill the role of Jennifer Horton on "Days of Our Lives" during a time of absence for actress Melissa Reeves and she's knocking it out of the park with some very emotional material.

Currently, Cady McClain has reprised the role of Jennifer Horton on "Days of Our Lives" and she's been tasked with some very difficult scenes. Jennifer's only daughter, Abigail Deveraux DiMera was shockingly murdered and it sent the character spiraling out of control. Jennifer even relapsed back into addiction due to Abby's untimely death. Meanwhile, McClain says that filming those heavy scenes has been particularly hard for her due to a recent real-life tragedy.

"A lot of people don't know this, but my best friend died this year of ovarian cancer. And she had it for two years and I was shooting all of that," McClain told the Soap Opera Digest podcast (via Soaps). "I'm not a method actor," the actress continued. "I don't replace one scenario for another. I am not crying over my dead friend when I do that scene. It's just that I have a lot of understanding about loss."

McClain added that the scenes surrounding Abigail's death were very touching for her and she got so emotional that she actually struggled with her lines. However, she eventually got through it and delivered some of the most dramatic and emotional scenes that the soap has seen in years. Fans were definitely impressed with McClain's portrayal of a grieving mother and have enjoyed watching her depth in the character ever since.