O
AYS OF OUR LIVES’ Chinese
immigrant, Haley Chen, isn’t
alone in being willing to take big
risks. Her portrayer, Thia Megia,
admits that she’d been hesitant to even
audition for the role but made the leap,
anyway. “I was feeling really unsure
whether or not I’d be able to do it, or if
they’d even let me in the building be-
cause I had nothing on my resumé as far
as acting goes,” she confi des. “It was my
fi rst time ever being in a television stu-
dio, so it was surreal that I was there.”
Her “Wow” Moment
Having attended acting school and spent
time producing music videos for You-
Tube, the former AMERICA’S GOT TAL-
ENT and AMERICAN IDOL contestant
was at least comfortable enough around a
struck by the show’s veterans. “As a little
girl, I would visit my grandma, and she
would have DAYS on. I remember seeing
scenes with Hope and Marlena,” Megia
refl ects. “Coming in on my fi rst day, all the
legends were in the makeup room. It was
defi nitely ner ve-wracking!”
However, just as Haley made trustwor-
thy friends in Salem and was able to re-
lax, so, too, did Megia. She credits a “laid-
back and down-to-Earth” Lucas Adams
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