Niven plays a ghost haunted by not having closure in life who must attain it before being able to move on. As a staunch fan of the play Blithe Spirit, one she’s longed to tackle, The Last Word came at the perfect time. “Doing a play when you're an actor is a luxury,” she said. “I'm a working actor and doing theater is a love for actors, only it doesn't pay the bills. Plus, I've been traveling so much. Thank goodness for Hallmark because they've given me the luxury that I could choose to stay at home and do a play.
“I've always thought things come into our lives for a reason,” she continued. “My mother's birthday was November 4, we open on November 7, and the play is about losing a loved one and what if [the deceased] had a second chance to return and tell the truth? To move past all the secrets and things you may not have talked about, resolve them and finally be at peace. Looking back at things, all those moments are just one page of our entire story and that intrigued me. This is a love story. It’s hauntingly beautiful, it's comedic, the other actors are fantastic, and the script contains some beautiful things.”
For Niven, getting to tread the boards with a fellow Hallmark star only sweetened the experience. “It's great having John Kapelos on board,” she said. “We got to work closely on the last Crossword Mysteries movie and even got to dance! We had great chemistry and I thought this guy had the chops to do this play. For a woman to be this emotionally available and vulnerable on stage, that's something. So, to find a great actor who can do the same is hard to find. With John, it's like our souls are working together and because we’re genuinely moved by the subject, I'm sure the audience will be, as well. I suggested him for the part. I texted him and said, ‘You're my first choice, so please read it.’ He did and I'm so thrilled he agreed to do it as he's such a powerhouse actor.
“The stage is a very different medium, and the immediacy of having an audience there is an amazing energy,” she added. “John’s done a lot of theater but frankly, I haven't done it for so long because I raised my daughter as a single mom while acting. Putting her through college, I couldn’t afford to do theater, except every once in a while. So, this is a luxury. This timing was perfect and it's one of the best characters I've been fortunate enough to play. I have to say, I just love this whole process, and going to the theater every day has just been fun.”