Courtney Thorne-Smith joins Hallmark family with new TV-movie
Photo Credit: Site Unseen An Emma Fielding Mystery/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Image Acquired from Crown Media Press
Ahead of her debut in Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ ‘Site Unseen An Emma Fielding Mystery’, Courtney Thorne-Smith previews her turn in Hallmark’s latest original film.
Courtney Thorne-Smith joins Hallmark’s ranks of female crime-solvers in Site Unseen: An Emma Fielding Mystery. The film brings Dana Cameron’s books to the small screen, with Courtney portraying archeologist turned sleuth Emma as she finds a human body on her latest dig.
Hidden Remote spoke to Courtney Thorne-Smith in advance of the movie’s premiere about joining the Hallmark family and what it’s like to play a strong female character. Get to know her below, and watch Site Unseen when it premieres on Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m. ET.
Hidden Remote: What appealed to you about becoming the lead of one of Hallmark’s movie franchises?
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Courtney Thorne-Smith: It felt like the movies I grew up with. Murder She Wrote and Hart to Heart and Diagnosis Murder, and I used to watch reruns of the old Columbos and McMillan and Wife.
Hidden Remote: Hallmark has carved out this brand with several different movie series starring female leads. What would you say makes the Emma Fielding series different from the other Hallmark series?
Thorne-Smith: I love the story of this one. The lead character is an archaeologist, so I love the idea of bringing the past into the present and I also thought it’s a great place to find stories. You can have any historical background you choose. And Dana Cameron did such a great job in her books of creating all these different great stories so you have two levels. You have what’s happening today and then you’re telling the story from the past and I thought it was so interesting.
Hidden Remote: Did you have an opportunity to read the book once you took the role?
Thorne-Smith: That was the first thing I did. I had it read in two days. They’re such fun stories, and I love the history part. I became an actor because I want to know why people do what they do and so much of that is how they were raised, where they live and when someone travels, the first thing I ask is what’d you eat? Where’d you go? What’d you do? They want to know what a day in the life is anywhere, and I think archaeology is really about that. It’s trying to figure out how people lived in other times and that’s what interests me.
Photo Credit: Site Unseen An Emma Fielding Mystery/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Image Acquired from Crown Media Press
Hidden Remote: You’re known for your comedy work, so was it different to do something that has a little more seriousness to it?
Thorne-Smith: One thing I like about the series is there’s humor in them. They have a light touch, like those shows I talked about like Hart to Hart and Murder She Wrote. There’s a mystery and they take the mystery and obviously the murder seriously. But within that, the people are light and there are moments for humor and moments for lightness. That’s what I think I bring to it and I think that’s what attracted me to it.
Hidden Remote: What do you love most about this first movie?
Thorne-Smith: I think the relationship between Emma Fielding and Tim Conner, played by James Tupper, is a really fun relationship. He’s an FBI agent and Emma is trying to prove to him that she knows a lot of things that could help him. He’s resistant to it but the truth is she does have a lot of knowledge, she’s crazy smart, she’s trained in forensics, so it’s fun to watch them banter. He tries not to hear her but she makes so many good points he has no choice.
Photo Credit: Site Unseen An Emma Fielding Mystery/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Image Acquired from Crown Media Press
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Hidden Remote: What would you like to see for Emma Fielding in the next movies in the series?
Thorne-Smith: What I really want to do is create ongoing relationships for her. What I like with the other Hallmark mysteries are the relationships, especially between women. I’m such a girl’s girl and my female friends are so important, so I want to make sure they make a strong relationship for Emma, someone she can run things by. I’m also interested in seeing where the relationship between Emma and Conner, goes because it’s been so much fun to play and they challenge each other so much. I’m really interested to see if that continues.
Hidden Remote: You’ve played major roles in many favorite TV series over the years. Which one are you most likely to be asked about today?
Thorne-Smith: Melrose Place is the one I get asked about the most. I think it’s because it was a time in people’s lives that people remember very fondly. I was just interviewed yesterday because it was the 25th anniversary. It’s just fascinating [that] it’s been so long.
Don’t miss Site Unseen: An Emma Fielding Mystery Sunday, June 4 at 9/8c on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.