FOR JANE SEYMOUR, THE FUN CHARACTERS KEEP ON COMING
Crown Features Syndicate
Now that JANE SEYMOUR’s fans are accustomed to seeing their beloved Dr. Quinn as a so- called “cougar,” the actress is changing gears yet again with a new role. In “Dear Prudence,” she plays Prudence McCoy, a Martha Stewart type who goes from dispensing household hints to solving a murder. The movie premieres on Saturday, Aug. 23, on Hallmark Channel.
Jane Seymour says that juicy acting roles for women in her age group are few and far between. But one wouldn’t know that from looking over her resume.
During the past decade, the 50-something actress has redefined her career, for what seems like the umpteenth time, with a series of sexy comedic roles.
And now that fans are accustomed to seeing their beloved Dr. Quinn as a so-called “cougar,” she’s changing gears again in “Dear Prudence,” which airs at 9 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 23, on Hallmark Channel.
“I’m not a cougar in this movie,” Seymour says. She has portrayed enough hot-to-trot ladies in comedies such as “Wedding Crashers” and “How I Met Your Mother” in recent years that she feels compelled to point this out.
“I hope my newer young male fans won’t be TOO disappointed,” she jokes.
But honestly, how can they be disappointed? She’s still Jane Seymour, a former “Bond Girl” and one of the classic beauties of her generation.
What’s more, she’s still going for laughs. “People have really been enjoying me playing comedy,” Seymour says. “So I played it quite big and very funny in this. One of the problems we had in production was that people on the set started laughing out loud in the middle of shots!” You know you’re on the right comedy track, she notes, when you can get jaded
crewmembers to giggling.
Seymour plays Prudence McCoy, a Martha Stewart/Heloise-type TV personality who specializes in dispensing household/lifestyle tips. Prudence also happens to have a knack for solving murder mysteries. Picture a younger, hotter, flightier “Murder, She Wrote”-esque amateur sleuth and you’ve got Prudence.
Seymour worked closely with writer Rob Gilmer to develop this character, one that’s unlike any she has played before. “Prudence is different, very different,” says Seymour, who changed look to match, going from her trademark long tresses to short red hair. “She’s a go-getter and a problem-solver. Yet, at the same time, she’s as nutty as a fruitcake. She’s so much fun to play.”
One of Seymour’s favorite Prudence moments is the scene when she cheerily chats on her cell phone about a most unusual day. “Someone just tried to kill me,” Prudence announces. “It’s the most fun I’ve had in years. ... Oops, gotta run. I’m being pulled over by a police car. ... I’ll call if I need a lawyer!”
“What a crazy character,” Seymour says. “So much fun.”
Seymour admits that she’s no mystery buff -– although, as a girl growing up in England, she did read quite a lot of Agatha Christie. “I loved the Miss Marple stories,” she recalls. “Marple shows up and she’s always the congenial, nice, older lady with gray hair and you don’t think anything of her -- and the next thing you know she’s solving the murder, but in the nicest possible way.”
Prudence possesses some of those qualities. And that’s rare indeed in this era of grim, gritty crime dramas. “None of this aggressive police authority stuff from Prudence,” Seymour notes. “Just good old-fashioned common sense.”
Seymour is so enthusiastic about “Dear Prudence” that she hopes Prudence and sidekick Nigel (played by Ryan Cartwright) will get follow-up adventures.
“That’s the plan, but the plan depends upon good ratings for the first one,” she says. “I feel like the sky is the limit with what you can do with ‘Dear Prudence.’ I mean, it’s serious, it’s meaningful, it’s funny, it’s witty, it’s irreverent, it’s a caper, it’s lots of things.”
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