I really love that your character completely sidetracks the two typical stepmom tropes of either being the villainous one or super ditzy. What was exciting about playing this intelligent woman who goes after what she wants while supporting her stepdaughter and giving her room to make mistakes as well?
Playing Heidi was such a true parallel to my own life. That was such a big draw for me in that I've been a stepmom for almost 11 years to a beautiful, young — well, she's still young, but she's a young woman now. She's 24 years old. I met her when she was about 12, and I have such a loving relationship with her biological mother. It was a real honor for me to raise her with her dad and her mom.
Our family has talked about this: "How can we shatter the stereotype of [the] evil stepmother or stepmother being pitted against biological mother?" Because I've lived this and because I've experienced what it means to live with love and to raise a healthy, happy, grounded young woman, I feel like it's such an important story to tell. It's such an important dynamic to explore so that people understand.
For example, her father and I are no longer together, but I will always, always, always be her stepmother. She even said, "I have two moms and a dad, and I was raised by a whole group of amazing people." I feel like there [are] so many blended families today. It's important to impart the message of raising someone with love and to make sure that you're keeping your eyes on the kid and not yourself, really.
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