Heavy/Hallmark Andie MacDowell and the magical pond featured in "The Way Home"
Legendary actress Andie MacDowell will make history on Hallmark Channel this winter as she reprises her role as the matriarch of the Landry family, Del Landry, on the second season of “The Way Home.”
The popular sci-fi drama, which returns on January 21, 2024, will continue to break new ground for Hallmark when 65-year-old MacDowell appears nearly nude in a “skinny dipping” scene, jumping into the magical pond that serves as a time-travel portal to the past. Hallmark has long had a “no nudity” rule for screenwriters, according to WeScreenplay, but “The Way Home” is pushing the envelope.
“I have on my underwear, but I thought it was pretty brave for Hallmark to do, or anybody, (with) a 65-year-old woman,” she told Today. “And I loved how I played it.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Andie MacDowell Says She ‘Didn’t Diet or Anything’ to Prepare for ‘The Way Home’ Scene
HallmarkAndie MacDowell in season 2 of “The Way Home”
Known for its squeaky-clean romantic comedies, in which a lingering kiss is as risqué as its fully-clothed characters get, Hallmark has been willing to bend the rules for “The Way Home” and the strategy seems to be working. According to Vulture, the network’s first new series in over six years ranked among cable TV’s five most-watched original entertainment series of 2023.
In interviews to promote the new season, MacDowell has said she’s grateful to be part of the network’s evolution into deeper subject matter and artistic risks — including letting a 65-year-old grandma shoot a nearly-nude scene.
MacDowell, whose classic film “Four Weddings and a Funeral” marks its 30th anniversary this year, told Today that while she may have fretted when she was younger about how her body looked in a such a revealing scene, she is no longer willing to give energy to insecurities about her appearance.
“I didn’t diet or anything,” she said. “I didn’t worry about my body. It’s like, at a certain point, you’re so tired of having to think about those things.”
“I stand in front of the mirror and I can see all the bits and pieces that I just hate,” MacDowell admitted to Today. “And I only have X amount of time left. I’m 65. So, how long will I live? I don’t know. Am I going to do this for the rest of my life? Am I constantly going to expect myself to look like a 20-something-year-old? I just can’t do it. I just can’t. Not my hair, not my face, not my body.”
MacDowell was offered a stunt double for her half-naked scene, but told Today she insisted on filming it herself.
She recalled, “The director said, ‘We can do it in one take if you want to do it,’ and I said, ‘Yes. I wanna do it.'”
MacDowell told Today that she just “ripped my clothes off” before running into Lake Ontario on a frigid night in November.
“I haven’t seen the scene yet,” she added. “I hope it looks good and I hope I look decent.”
Andie MacDowell Says It’s ‘Intimidating’ Playing Her Younger Self on ‘The Way Home’
HallmarkAndie MacDowell playing a younger version of her character on “The Way Home”
While filming “The Way Home,” MacDowell is reminded of the ways she’s aged, from her silver locks to changes in her skin, whenever she has to play her younger self for scenes that revert back to the Landry family in 1999.
“You know, I’m really comfortable playing my age, but (pretending to be younger) was a little scary,” MacDowell told SheKnows at the season premiere event in New York on January 9, which the outlet shared in its Instagram Stories.
“I wear a wig and I think that does help,” MacDowell said. “I think it does give you the immediate feeling that, you know, I’m younger and it’s a different time. But I had to think about things like my physical body because you carry yourself differently as you age.”
She continued, “I had to think about ‘How would I be? How would I walk? How would I move? How can I move like a younger person?’ I had to think about those things, and my voice. I wanted to lighten my voice and make my voice softer and more youthful, you know. So I had to do that and it was a little bit intimidating.”
Before the show debuted in January 2023, MacDowell told Kelly Clarkson on her talk show that the crew also had tricks up their sleeves to make her look younger.
She said, “We did some stuff with makeup and I wear a wig and everything, and they use a hustle blend lens, which is a portrait lens that gives kind of a diffused, matte—it gave sort of a magical feeling.”
The result of all these challenging scenes is a series MacDowell is proud of and loves watching herself, she recently told WGN.
“It has everything that you’d expect from Hallmark plus so much more,” she said. “It has this mystery and intrigue, it’s a little bit spicier, and I think people are excited (for the new season). I just watched the next four episodes and I couldn’t wait to see the fifth — and I’m on the show!”
It’s not clear yet which episode MacDowell will leap into the pond half-dressed. “The Way Home” debuts on Hallmark Channel on January 21 at 9 p.m. Eastern time.