Barry Watson on His Lifetime Movie, a "7th Heaven" Reboot and Playing Lachlan Murdoch

Having been placed in Zoe39s favorite children39s book for safekeeping 12 years later the widower is dealing with a rebellious teenager angry at the world and the letter has been long forgotten amp160Eventually Zoeamp8217s books are donated to charity along with the letter that is found by bookstore owner Maggie Malone Karen Holness who vows to return it to its rightful ownerGetting to do something different and uplifting for Lifetime was a huge draw amp160amp8220I didn39t know until just before we started filming that it was loosely based on a real eventamp8221 Watson tells MediaVillage in an exclusive interview amp160amp8220Itamp8217s different to what Lifetime has been doing as it39s more of a feelgoodabouteverythingattheend movie amp160I think they39re experimenting to see if these stories work so you will go through a lot of tearsamp160 Personally it39s really nice to mix it up from the normal Lifetime genrequotWatsonamp8217s last two Christmas themed Lifetime projects The Santa Con 2014 and A Very Nutty Christmas 2018 teamed him with Melissa Joan Hartamp160 If you think the two were a package deal think again amp160quotI39m sorry we couldn39t get Melissaquot he joked when I mentioned her absence from Heaven amp160quotI don39t think she was available for this role amp160But I will say the last two projects with her were so much fun completely silly and fun amp160I couldn39t have played three more different characters a conman a nutcracker who comes to life and now a grieving fatheramp160 This one is completely differentquotThankfully for Watson Hallmark favorite Cindy Busby was available to play his wife Libbyamp160 quotCindy and I did a series together a couple of years agoquot he shared quotSo I was happy she could play that role amp160It was fun to have a couple of days where we did something different that neither of us had done beforeamp8220I found it really helpful having that familiarity with herquot he continued amp160quotShe39s someone I really respect amp160Those hospital scenes are important as they set the tone for the rest of the movie amp160If we hadn39t pulled that off in the beginning the movie wouldn39t have worked I don39t know if it would have worked as well with anyone else given the amount of time we had to shoot so it was great Cindy was on boardquotDuring the filming Watson found himself drawing from personal experiences dealing with teenagers and cancer are something heamp8217s well versed in amp160quotI39m a father so some of the angst was like dealing with my teenaged son right nowquot he laughed amp160quotMy youngest is six and I thought 39Okay this is what I may possibly have to look forward to amp160My wife had better not go anywhere as I don39t want to deal with this alone39amp8221More seriously Watsonamp160who was diagnosed with Hodgkin39s lymphoma in 2002 and is inamp160remission drewamp160on that experience to inform the emotionally draining hospital scenesamp160with Busbyamp160 quotShooting those scenes really didn39t bring back a lot of badamp160memoriesquot heamp160recalled amp160quotI remember when I first found out I hadamp160cancer the hardest part was seeingamp160everyone around me struggle amp160I was the oneamp160going through it and I was more like 39Bring it onamp160I39m going to beat it39quotI did go through hard timesquot he added amp160quotBut the hardest thing was watching my loved ones see me going through it amp160I brought some of that to this project but here it was about connecting with being a father losing his life partner and having to parent alone amp160Being able to put myself in that place really helped me get through some of the hardest scenes Iamp8217ve have ever had amp160I didn39t know I had tears that could flow for 12 hoursquotWatson tells me these days he39s quotin a good placequot amp160Since wrapping on My Mom39s Letter from Heaven he has completed Showtime39s limited series The Loudest Voice premiering June 30 amp160quotIt39s a fun piece about the rise and fall of Roger Ailesamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220I play Lachlan Murdoch and watching Russell Crowe bring Roger to life has been a great thing to be a part ofquotHe39s also not ruling out the possibility of a 7th Heaven reboot amp160quotHalf of the questions I usually get are regarding reboots of certain projectsamp8221 he joked amp160amp8220You don39t want to ask about a What About Brian reboot amp160The 7th Heaven cast tries to get together here and there for a little reunion lunch and there was talk last time but nothing serious amp160If something comes about I39ll listen to it amp160My hair isn39t quite as long and has receded more than in my amp821620s so maybe a Matt Camden wig amp160They could sell them at Halloween that would be funnyamp8221My Mom39s Letter from Heavenamp160will be telecast Saturday April 20 at 10 pm on Lifetime Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Barry Watson on His Lifetime Movie, a "7th Heaven" Reboot and Playing Lachlan Murdoch

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Barry Watson on His Lifetime Movie, a "7th Heaven" Reboot and Playing Lachlan Murdoch

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