Twenty-one years after her beloved TV sequence Touched by an Angel went off the air, Roma Downey, 63, returns with an inspirational new household drama sequence, The Baxters.
If she’s been largely absent from our screens throughout that point, Irish actress Roma Downey (at left) says she’s been busy writing books and, collectively together with her producer husband Mark Burnett – answerable for Survivor, The Apprentice and Shark Tank – creating extra faith-based content material.
She talks to SENIOR PLANET about her extraordinary life:
Q: What was it about Karen Kingsbury’s books that impressed you to return to TV?
ROMA: Gosh, I got here into the thought as a fan after studying The Baxters guide about this husband and spouse and their 5 younger grownup kids. I simply couldn’t put the guide down and I saved seeing it as a TV sequence. Folks have continuously requested me: When are we going to get a present like Touched by an Angel again on tv? So I believed possibly may fill that void and communicate to those self same values. We’ve tried to stay as truthful to the guide as we will as a result of the books are vastly profitable with over 27 books within the sequence – so our TV sequence may run endlessly! And we’re grateful to launch within the Easter season as a result of The Baxters are all about love, energy and hope. It performs out like a hope opera – and Easter is the best story of hope, the vacation of hope.
Q: And also you additionally co-star along with your real-life daughter Reilly Anspaugh in The Baxters?
ROMA: Truthfully it was such a blessing. Reilly is in her mid-20s and he or she performs Erin, the youngest of the Baxter daughters. It’s a smaller function and he or she auditioned and did very effectively. Casting a household is at all times fascinating since you need the most effective actors however you additionally wish to rent a gaggle of those who have some form of bodily similarity so they’re plausible as a household. We additionally had one other mom daughter workforce on the present Kathie Lee Gifford – who’s outdated buddy – and her daughter Cassidy Gifford.
Q: How does The Baxters differ from different household dramas?
ROMA: As a result of drama requires battle – most household dramas are the place the households is actually conflicted with one another as a result of they’re making an attempt to generate drama for the display screen. However on the heart of The Baxters, we see modeled a really loving and dedicated marriage within the matriarch and patriarch which is my character of Elizabeth and her husband, Dr. John Baxter, performed fantastically by Ted McGinley.
Right here’s a sneak peek.
Q: What have you ever been as much as since Touched by an Angel went off the air?
ROMA: I’ve been vastly busy. I performed Mary, mom of Jesus, in a sequence I produced known as The Bible after which in a movie, The Son of God. Actually, although, my work has been behind the digital camera producing. I’ve additionally authored 4 or 5 books. I really like what I do, and I’m a inventive individual. I’ve saved very busy however this was a chance to step into a task the place I actually like who this lady is. She has a mom’s coronary heart – as a mom myself that resonated with me. The Baxters are a relatable household with a myriad of challenges – like all household does. Simply because they’re a household of religion, it doesn’t make them resistant to heartbreak. Should you stay lengthy sufficient you understand that everybody goes to be touched by heartbreak.
Q: Earlier than Touched by an Angel you started in theater. It was that actresses complained the work dried up previous the age of 40.
ROMA: Sure. I’d labored on the Abbey Theatre, and did The Playboy of the Western World in Eire and came visiting to America with a manufacturing of that, and stayed in America. I used to be classically educated, and did Ibsen and Shaw and Broadway with Rex Harrison.
However there’s a second once you transfer from being a number one girl to enjoying mothers. However I believe there’s a plethora of excellent roles now, notably as a result of the streaming platforms have afforded that. And I believe that there’s a new openness and extra of an acceptance to actual life.
There isn’t simply cookie cutter expectations of what individuals ought to seem like; how outdated they need to be; what shade they need to be, or what ethnicity they need to be. So I didn’t really feel any bias round my age. If something, I’ve possibly felt a little bit of bias that I lead with my religion. Not all people’s snug with that, proper?
Q: Is that tough?
ROMA: No. I don’t separate who I’m from what I consider, and I’ve at all times felt I used to be very privileged to have the ability to mix the 2 as a result of I’ve lived comfortably on this religion and household house for a really very long time.
Q: Do you’ve time for hobbies?
ROMA: I like to color and I’m very all in favour of pottering round my backyard even when I’m not an excellent gardener. I’m making an attempt to study the cello. I actually do consider that as we become older we have to problem ourselves with issues which might be tough. I’m additionally making an attempt to study French and bridge. Should you simply hold doing the identical outdated issues, it’s simple to get right into a rut.
Q: What’s your secret to getting old with perspective?
ROMA: Initially, I simply attempt to maintain myself bodily, and that basically requires consuming effectively, having some self-discipline round getting up within the morning and transferring. I work out 5 days every week – some days with far more dedication than others. I do pilates and a few cross coaching and get a little bit of cardio in – even when the cardio through the years has turn into much less of a dash and extra of a quick stroll. Consuming a great deal of water is essential.
However most of all I meditate and pray. I begin my morning with a prayer of gratitude. I select to say that every part is a present. It’s about accepting that every part is accurately, and to attempt to have gratitude round all of it. I believe that basically helps.
NB: The Baxters is accessible on Amazon Prime Video from March 28.
Gill Pringle started her profession as a rock columnist for well-liked British newspapers, touring the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Shifting to Los Angeles 27 years in the past, she interviews movie and TV personalities for prestigious UK retailers, The Impartial, The i-paper and The Sunday Occasions – and, in fact, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Alternative Affiliation, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix household movie, The three Tails Film: A Mermaid Journey. An award-winning author, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Membership with 1st prize on the NAEJ Awards.
Photograph (Prime) Roma Downey (center) with full forged of The Baxters, courtesy of Amazon Prime Video
Photograph: inset: Roma Downey, picture by John Russo