Among many other things, Hallmark’s time-traveling seriesThe Way Homeis a story about a complicated mother-daughter relationship. Played by Chyler Leighand Andie MacDowell, Leigh’s Kat returns home after decades away and attempts to patch up the wounds between her and her mom, Del. And, as it turns out, their relationship, in addition to leaving viewers in tears, was quite life-changing with Leigh.
Speaking of a specific scene of Kat and Del making up from season 2 at Hallmark’s The Way Home: Clips and Conversation event at the 92NY on Jan. 22, Leigh drew some comparisons between their connection and her strained relationship with her own mom in real life.
“I haven’t spoken to my mother in about 21 years, and so this hits home,” Leigh admitted. “These are all the things honestly, that I wish I had heard from my own mother.”
In the scene, Del admits that she’d never reached out to her daughter for fear of being a burden, but that she’d always wanted to be a part of her life.
“So with Andie saying those words to me, all of that was real,” Leigh said, getting emotional. “We only did it in like three takes because I was exhausted. I had nothing else after that. I had to go and excuse myself because it really genuinely hit very close.”
Leigh, who continued with tears rolling down her face, added that MacDowell is “such a motherly figure for me.” “I needed to hear that through the mouth of somebody that I know genuinely meant it,” Leigh added.
“As hard as it was, and as much as it hurt, it still had this amazing ability to heal that little girl that needed to hear those things,” Leigh reflected. “And so I have these incredible moments with Andie and with Evan [Williams], and with Sadie [Laflamme-Snow], and some of our other lovely cast that are just so authentic that I feel like I’m I’ve been able to grow.”
“It’s a testament to how much we all love each other, but how grateful I am for this woman in my life,” Leigh added, turning to face MacDowell.
MacDowell, for her part, talked about how so much of the magic in these emotional scenes is all in the writing.
“It’s a very well-written scene,” she said. “It’s written by a mother-daughter team so they know the complexity of what it is to be a mother and a daughter.”
“I rely on so many different things when I’m doing a scene like this, I rely heavily on the belief of my character and the words written by these writers who write so well, and also my complex feelings of different things I’ve been through in my life,” MacDowell added. “It’s muscle memory; you know these feelings, and you’re in your body, and you’re given the opportunity to use them as your color palette for what we do, which is acting.”
Laflamme-Snow, who plays Kat’s daughter and Del’s granddaughter Alice on the show, also chimed in. To her, she’s learned so much from her co-stars that, much like Leigh, will go beyond what we see on TV.
“It matters how you treat people,” Laflamme-Snow said of the biggest lesson she’s learned from the two. “You can see it in the show. You can see that emanating through the screen, and it starts with us, and it starts with people setting a good example.”
“I look up to them setting that example of kindness and care and people who care deeply about the story and their characters and the direction we’re headed in, and then all the little interactions in between, all the cast, the crew and our audiences as well, just all those interactions matter, and that people watching can feel that through the screen, and that it starts right from the get-go,” Laflamme-Snow continued. “And so that’s something that I will take with me forever.”
The third season of The Way Home is already premiering on Hallmark and Hallmark+, with episode 4 reaching fans tomorrow Jan. 23.
Before you go, click here to see celebrities who have spoken out about being estranged from family.
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