The Way Home stars Chyler Leigh and Evan Williams. Photo courtesy of Hallmark From left to right, Andie MacDowell, Chyler Leigh, Sadie LaFlamme-Snow, and Evan Williams in a scene from “The Way Home.” Photo courtesy of Hallmark Andie MacDowell appears on the red carpet before the screening of the movie “Everything's Fine” at the 74th Cannes Film Festival in 2021. File photo by David Shilpa/UPI
NEW YORK, March 29 (UPI) — Chyler Leigh and Evan Williams play Kat and Elliot in the romantic time-travel drama “The Way Home” as extraordinary circumstances continue to separate them. Despite this, they said they deeply love each other.
The series, which concluded its second season on Hallmark on Sunday and has already been renewed for a third, is set in Canada and follows three generations of the Landry family as they deal with past tragedies, such as the disappearance of Kat's younger brother and her father's death. Death in traffic accident.
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Elliot is Kat's childhood friend, and as an adult, when Kat marries Brady (Al Muqaddum) and moves away to raise their daughter Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow), she meets her mother Dell (Andie MacDowell). was taking care of her.
When Kat and Brady divorce, she and Alice return to Del's house and begin spending time with Elliot.
Alice's dysfunctional family begins to make more sense when she discovers a portal to the 1990s through a magical pond and meets young adult versions of Kat (Alex Hook), Brady, and Elliot (David Webster). Masu.
Kat eventually follows her through a portal to find answers to her own questions.
Elliot, now a science teacher, keeps the women's secrets a secret.
“They have so much history and so many things that make them the people they are. They went through some really, really intense and traumatic experiences together, and then Kat left town and… We broke up so Elliot could stay,” Lee said on UPI. Recent Zoom interview.
“They go off, they grow into their own adults, and when they come back together at the end of season one, they're different people, but that little burn is still there. It never really, really goes away. When they come back together, they have a traumatic bond.”
The actress, also known for her roles on Grey's Anatomy and Supergirl, said the relationship became more mature and realistic in season two.
“I was going to say 'dirty,' but it's painful, very painful,” she said with a laugh. “It doesn't mean it has to be tragic and terrible, but it doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Relationships always evolve and change and have their patterns, their waves, their ups and downs.”
Degrassi and Versailles alum Williams called Elliott and Kat's relationship a “long-standing love.”
“In season one, we see that Elliot has had feelings for Kat almost his whole life, so that's not something you get for a small thing,” he said.
“That's what's earned, and yet, it's also the kind of realistic storytelling that we're doing on the show, that it's not as simple as them sticking together and walking off into the sunset — because Because there’s a sunrise. It’s the nature of time,” Williams said.
The stakes are high, he added, as the characters share the secret of time travel and don't know how going to the past will affect the present or future.
While many fans are rooting for Kat and Elliot, others are worried that Kat is fixated on the past rather than building a new life together.
Williams admitted that a lot of the fan reactions he heard in season 1 were, “Poor Elliot!”
“He's always there, you can count on him. In a way, that archetype runs through Elliot in Season 1, where he ultimately has to stand up for himself and start living his own life. I think that's what I decided to do,” the actor said. Added.
“In Season 2, we see how reality unfolds. The decision to put yourself first may not be such an easy choice, because you have to know who you are.”
Lee said Kat has always loved Elliot because he has always been so protective of her daughter and her mother.
“That was a big part of it, especially at the end of season one, where she came to understand that he had been through this too, that this wasn't an easy thing to do,” she said.
That's when Elliot told Kat that he didn't think it was the right time to settle down.
Lee added that Kat respected his decision and understood that she needed to think about what was best for her.
“Sometimes you really have to protect yourself,” Lee said.
“In the scene where they actually break up, it's bittersweet because she has to kind of understand and say, 'You've sacrificed everything in your life for this family.'” She will always have gratitude and love for him because of how much he cares for and watches over Alice. ”
The mother of three in real life said it was easy to empathize with Kat because Kat also values people who respect and care about her children.
“What's not to like about that?” Lee said.
Cat and Alice may be careful not to disturb the space-time continuum, but their very existence in the past has unforeseen consequences, and “they're going to have to deal with it no matter what.” It's going to ruin it,” Lee said.
“Of the two of them, they're both very stubborn and they just like to turn things around. They're there for similar reasons, and for Alice, it's now part of her life. It’s become a huge part of it,” Lee said.
“As she goes back to 1999-2000 and is learning all these things, she is connecting with people in her current life that she never imagined she would have such connections with. . Part of her is like that.'' That's where her heart is. ”
But throughout season 2, it becomes clear that Kat and Elliot have a lot going on in their past that they don't want Alice to know about.
“This movie unearths and unearths a whole other set of traumas for her to understand. Even how she was born,” Lee said of her on-screen daughter.
“Also, you don't know when it's going to show up, so the characters are always worried about 'when it's going to happen.' 'Did she go there?' 'Does she know about this?'
Williams said there are two main reasons why Kat and Elliot don't want Alice to delve too deeply into her past.
“Where is the line between trying to protect someone and being selfish because you don't want to change the other person's perception of you?” he added. “A lot of that will be challenged this season.”
Like any good science fiction show, there must be clear rules and consequences.
“So far, especially in Season 1, there has been a consistency that what has always happened will always happen,” Williams said.
“We know we need rules. Everything can't go our way or everything will fall apart,” he added.
“We know that to be true, but our characters have just discovered this whole mechanism of time travel, and it stands to reason that their understanding of the rules is accurate. It's not.”