Beth Broderick – Always and Forever Christmas

By starrymag | November 3, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been busy working on?

A) I have another movie called Christmas Town with Candace Cameron Bure that is coming out on December 1^st. I had a movie called Sister of the Bride with Michael Gross and that is still running on Lifetime.

Q) Please tell us about your character Carol in the film Always and Forever Christmas.

A) I play a character named Carol who is from the way far north whose husband is always very busy on Christmas eve and has plenty of helpers. So, she goes out and has her own work to do on Christmas. I arrive in this beautiful little town where the Christmas store called Forever Christmas has its future in doubt. I arrive to try to save the day. It’s a fun character and a really fun movie. I really enjoyed doing it.

Q) What made you want to be a part of the film?

A) I love the character and I really love the story. I think it’s a really kind of a suspenseful story. You’re not sure it is going to work out until…Well, I’m not going to spoil it. I just love my character. I love her spunk, determination and kindness. It was just a really fun film and it was nice to be a part of it.

Q) Was there anything you added to Carol that wasn’t in her initial breakdown?

A) She’s definitely jaunty. I played her with a lot of spunk and a lot of spark. She doesn’t take no for an answer and she’s very no nonsense. She gets it done.

Q) The film takes place in Vermont. How does the setting play a role in the movie?

A) Well, I think there is always a sense of place that you feel in a film like this. It’s really quite stirring. We see a lot on television big cities and LAPD and “NCIS,” but we very rarely visit these small towns like in Vermont and places that are a little more remote that have a different kind of life – a small town existence. So, I think a Christmas movie like Always and Forever Christmas really gives the audience a chance to go into these cozy and more intimate settings and experience what life is like in a small town. And I think that’s something that people don’t get to do a lot.

Q) What can you tease were some of your favorite scenes to film?

A) Hmm. Well, there is one scene where I really have to get up to some mischief to prevent something bad from happening. That’s all I can tell you. That was very fun, too. I love being mischievous. And there are so many that are just a lot of fun to shoot. The opening scene was also kind of fun because you are introducing my character and she really makes quite a whirlwind of an entrance. And I really enjoyed working with Lexi [Lawson] and Mark [Ghanimé]. They were both so sweet. There are a lot of other supporting characters in the movie that are just movie.

Q) Talk about working with director Siobhan Devine.

A) It was really like butter. I don’t know how to describe it any better than that. She and I just had a great flow together. We really communicated easily and I really thought she had a wonderful sort of sensibility. She was so, in her own right, kind and sweet. And it was this really wonderful experience. I got to see a new city that I had never been to and that was fun as well.

Q) What do you think it is about Always and Forever Christmas that will make it a fast fan favorite holiday Lifetime film?

A) I think there is something magical about it. I know from experience that people really do enjoy magic. [laughs] And I think there is something magical about our film. I think getting to know Lexi, I think the audience is going to really relate to her. She’s just very open, honest and adorable. The story is very suspenseful and not all these movies are. So, I think people will enjoy getting caught up in the fate of this wonderful store and this great town.

Q) As a performer yourself, what are some of your favorite holiday songs to sing?

A) “O Come, All Ye Faithful” is my favorite, for sure. There is just something great about that song. Especially if you go to Midnight Mass, the doors open and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” starts to play. It just brings tears to my eyes every time.

Q) What are some of your favorite annual family tradition for Christmas?

A) This is the thirtieth anniversary of a gift wrapping and procuring party that my sister Laura and I do. We collect and wrap gifts for women in the emergency shelter at the Good Shepherd Home for Battered Women and Children. We’ve been doing this for thirty years, which I can’t believe! We have a big party and people bring tons of gifts – soaps, jewelry, shampoo and lotions. Anything you can think of that you might need if you had to run and leave home. We do thirty baskets and thirty bags. Everyone gets a basket and a bag and they are all wrapped very carefully and really beautifully. We want them to be beautiful because we don’t want it to look like some cast off donation. These are beautiful, new things. We take them down to the shelter and they hide them until Christmas Eve. Then, the women go to mass and then they come back to these beautiful gifts on their beds.

Q) You helped establish Momentum, one of the first organizations to help individuals with AIDS. What made you want to become so active with this cause?

A) It was a long time ago – 1984. I was reading about “gay men’s cancer,” which is what it was called back then. They didn’t even have the virus identified entirely. There was a state Senator who wanted to pass a bill to quarantine all gay people. I thought, “Oh my God! That’s dangerous! This is not just an illness. It’s a Civil Rights issue!” So, I thought I’d better go down because they are going to need girls there and straight people and people who can be allies. So, I went down there and met my partner Peter, who begged me…He was like, “I need a woman so badly! Please help me!” I was like, “Of course! How could I not?” It was such a desperate time and I’m so grateful that I did. And it’s so important that people understand that history and how far we have come. Even though it seems like there are dark days around us, we have a come a long way. We have a long way to go, but we have come a long way. It was an honor to participate in helping to bring that about.

Q) How can our readers get involved with Momentum or Good Shepherd?

A) Good Shepherd’s Shelter For Homeless Battered Women and Children is in downtown Los Angeles. And they need donations. They need everything you can think of from laundry soap to cash to new bedding to jackets for kids and women. And Momentum is still in New York City. They also need donations of all different kinds. People can go on their websites or give them a call and find out what they need. To me, the gift-wrapping party is Christmas to me. Christmas is good food and family, but that evening we do that is, to me, what Christmas is all about.

Q) We loved you on the series “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.” What did you personally take away from your time on the series?

A) Well, a lot of great friendships. Melissa [Joan Hart], Caroline [Rhea], Moon [Frye] and Nate – we’re all still very good friends. Melissa and I stay in pretty close contact and that’s a joyful thing in my life to have these people that I have loved so long. And I loved playing Aunt Zelda because it was very important to me that she…She was kind of glamorous and fun. She had on her short skirts and high heels, but she was also a scientist. She was also smart. So often we send girls a message that they can be attractive or the smart one, but they can’t be both. I think it is really important for girls to know you can be both.

Q) It meant a lot to teenage girls at the time.

A) I think it was just a super empowering show. And boys liked it to because of the cat and all of the rest. It’s still funny today. What a great thing to be on a show that has been seen in practically every country almost every day for years and years and years. To have meant so much to so many young people…It truly was an honor and I’m still, to this day, very grateful for that opportunity.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the work you do?

A) Thank you! [laughs] I’m very grateful for my fans and all the people that tune in to see what I’m doing. It’s really very meaningful to me. And I hope they will enjoy Always and Forever Christmas. Stay tuned for December 1^st for Christmas Town and look out for all others that might be coming out in rotation. It’s a wonderful holiday season and we all need the good cheer. I’m grateful to them for being on my side!