Lindy Booth – Under the Autumn Moon

By: Lisa Steinberg

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

A) I have another movie that I think should be coming up soon that was a feature I did last year. I’m very happy and excited about it and it’s called The Creatress.

Q) Fall is a great time for curling up to watch a Hallmark movie.

A) This is my first Fall Harvest movie for Hallmark, so I’ve really branched out to be a part of it. I’m super excited because Fall is my favorite time of year. Christmas is my favorite holiday, but for seasons Fall is my favorite. I love the leaves. I love the hot cocoas and a love a pumpkin spice latte. I have a whole stack of gourds on my table right now. I love the Fall look and I love the foliage and going out to see the leaves change. It’s so pretty.

Q) What are some of the themes that are explored in Under the Autumn Moon?

A) One of the things that drew me to this movie is this really amazing message. Alex is such a workaholic and she’s so dedicated to her job and her career that she’s sort of always pushing herself. But through the course of this movie she’s reminded…Her boss sort of pushes her into, but she also is reminded herself what her passions are and what her true loves are. It has a lot to do with nature and being outside in nature, the environment and horses. Because she reconnects to that part of herself she becomes even better at her job. I think that’s such a great message and a great thing to remember – your passion, your love and who you are makes you better at your job, no matter what your job is. The joy of finding it and the passion you find in it is what makes you capable of doing that job in a way that no one else can do it. I love that sort of reminder that your passion is truly important in your job. It is a really interesting little message for one of these movies. This is a job she’s had for a while and it’s very much on the corporate track, but she is reminded of her passion for what she does and that aspect of her that does give her that edge. And she finds joy again in her work, which is important, too.

Q) We’ve seen you have take on these dramatic and diverse roles that really showcase your range. They have this great balance of vulnerability and complexity and we find are innately compelling. How does that extend with Under the Autumn Moon and what draws you or connects you personally to these characters?

A) I think that I connect to what you just said – the vulnerability, but also the strength. I love playing characters that sort of show both sides of that. They think they’ve got it all figured out and are able to admit when they don’t. I think no person is black or white and no character is black or white in that way. We all have all of those aspects wrapped up into us. We’re not just sad or we’re not just happy. We have all of those aspects in our personality and I think I look for those aspects in the characters I play and I try to make them as deep and as layered as the woman I am and also the women I know in my life like my friends and my family are. It’s always like a little therapy for me. I’m like, “Oh yeah! These are things I should be working on, too.” [laughs]

Q) Harmony Ranch plays such a beautiful setting to this film. When we watch these Hallmark films it feels like an escape for viewers. How was that for you while filming?

A) It’s an escape for me, too. [laughs] It was so beautiful! The ranch that we shot at were actually three different ranches. It was three different properties and the way they were able to make it seem like one is incredible! All of them were equally beautiful and equally unique. It was such a wonderful and relaxing movie to work on because we were out in nature. The day we shot the scene where we go fishing is one of my favorite days I’ve ever had on set – ever! They sent us out to the middle of the lake, it was so quiet and the sun had just come up. The mist was rolling across the water and the birds were chirping. The trees were all golden. It was so beautiful that I turned to my fellow actor and said, “It is so relaxing here that it does not feel like work!” I think we were able to connect back to this message about how incredible it is to just get out in nature sometimes and how relaxing it can be and how it can really change your perspective. I think there is sort of a beautiful environmental message to this movie that nature is important and it’s important to us personally in a way that sort of calms the soul. We definitely had that on that day. We had been doing all the city scenes for Seattle up to then and everyone was in a much better mood once we got out into the wilderness and out by the lakes and with the horses and animals. It was really beautiful.

Q) It must have been very cathartic!

A) Oh yeah! It was a great reminder to disconnect because much like Alex I did not have cell phone reception the entire time we were shooting. [laughs] I had it in pockets; some locations I did. But some locations were so far out that I didn’t really have great service. So, I was able to put my phone away and connect to the crew, cast, animals and really be able to lock into that. It’s such a nice reminder that disconnecting is so important and connecting to real people in real time is so vital. It’s a great lesson. Even if you can do it for an hour a day. You don’t have to go out in the woods to disconnect. You can just put your phone away and turn the TV off and really make that effort. I think it’s super important.

Q) I was going to ask if you fell in love with the ranch the way you do with Josh in the film!

A) Clearly, I did! I fell in love with all of it and all the animals. I mean, it is shocking that none of those animals came home with me. I was so ready on day one to put three kittens in my carryon luggage and make a run for the border with them. They were so cute! And my horse was so beautiful. The goats were so hilarious. Watching the crew to wrangle the goats and try to get the goats to give the performance that they wanted was hilarious! I’ve never seen anything more ridiculous than a group of grown men standing around trying to tell goats what to do. You can’t give goats performance notes! [laughs]

Q) What do you think it is about these holiday movies that they seem to have this little extra magic to them when it comes to Hallmark?

A) For me, it’s a give and take. It’s the holidays in general that add the special time. I think around this time of year we all start cozying up for the end of the year and connecting with what is really important to them like their family and friends. It’s getting back together with our hearts and what sort of really matters to us. I think the fact that Hallmark has created this season where their movies become so much a part of our families that for me it’s such a lovely thing as an actor to be a part of when people start telling me I’ve become a part of their holiday traditions. Watching these Hallmark movies is something they do as a family around this time of year and it brings them a lot of joy and it brings them a lot of happiness just to be together with their families watching these Hallmark movies. It is a special time, so I think that Hallmark has become so much of people’s end of the year traditions that it is why it makes them so special. Your family is what makes them special.

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching the movie?

A) I think that lesson of disconnecting and taking that time – I hope people take that away from this movie because I think it’s so beautiful and so powerful. Connecting back to nature is so important. Even if it’s a local park it’s so important. Take a break for a minute and be with your family or the ones you love or make a new romance and fall in love under an Autumn moon. I think that’s just a great message and I’m so happy to be a part of a movie that tells that story in such a beautiful way.