Kristian-Joy Alfonso (born September 5, 1963) is an American actress and fashion model. She is best known for playing the role of Hope Williams Brady on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives (1983 to 1987, 1990, 1994 to 2020, return appearances from 2023 to present). She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress (then known as Outstanding Ingénue) in 1985 for her role on Days. Alfonso also played Pilar Ortega on Falcon Crest (1988 to 1990) and Lauren Ethridge on Melrose Place (1993 to 1994).

Alfonso was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. Her grandparents hailed from Sicily and Calabria, giving her full Italian heritage. She has one sibling, an older sister. As a teenager, she was an above-average student. Her extra-curricular activities were focused on ice skating and dance classes. Alfonso won the gold medal in a figure skating championship when she was thirteen years old. After injuring her leg in a tobogganing accident, she had to give up skating and dancing. Alfonso soon received opportunities that led to a modeling career and eventually acting. She graduated from Brockton High School in 1982.

After her skating career ended, Alfonso was signed to Wilhelmina Models. By the time she was fifteen, she had appeared on the covers of 30 international magazines, including Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. She appeared on the cover of Seventeen in 1979. Alfonso considered herself lucky to be working as a model because she stands at only 5 feet 4 inch tall. She sometimes had to stand on apple boxes to appear taller.

Alfonso's modeling work gained attention from NBC and she received her first acting role. She was cast as Kelly Blake in the television film The Star Maker (1981), co-starring with Rock Hudson. She was asked to audition for the role of Hope Williams on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, but she declined because she didn't want to move to Los Angeles.

In 1983, Alfonso had another opportunity to audition for the role of Hope on Days of Our Lives and she took it. During her screen test, she tripped and fell down the staircase at the Horton house. The producers were charmed by her clumsiness and she was signed to a contract. Alfonso was the fifth actress to play Hope. The role had previously been played by Tammy Taylor in 1981. Alfonso's first air date was April 14, 1983.

The character of Hope Williams was paired with Bo Brady (played by Peter Reckell). Soap Opera Digest said the love story was "classic in its origins and continues to make people melt: gruff boy from the wrong side of the tracks...tames the spoiled rich girl who was getting into all sorts of trouble."

Alfonso won a Soap Opera Digest Award for Exciting Female Newcomer for her role on Days in 1984. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress (then known as Outstanding Ingénue) in 1985. She also received Young Artist Award nominations in 1983, 1984, and 1985.

In 1985, Alfonso guest starred on Amazing Stories. In 1986, she and Peter Reckell received a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Favorite Daytime Super Couple.