Ashley Williams’ newest Hallmark project, Falling Together, is “directly” from her “heart” — and serves as a love letter to her late mother, Linda.
Williams, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 18, that the character Linda Payne, played by Linda Kash, was created to pay homage to her mom, who died seven years ago after battling Alzheimer’s over the course of 12 years.
“My mom worked for the Michael J. Fox Foundation really successfully. She was an incredible community organizer and fundraiser for a cause she really believed in,” Williams explained. “So [our writer] Adam [Kulbersh] had this idea to create a character who worked with the Alzheimer’s Association who we really modeled after my mother.”
In Falling Together, Natalie (Williams) tries to bring her feuding neighbors together after moving to Philadelphia. Along the way, Natalie volunteers for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and befriends the lead organizer, Linda, who is suffering from the disease. With a little help from her building super, Mark (Paul Campbell), Natalie learns what she needs in life — and how to help others, even if they don’t want it.
Williams revealed that as Natalie is lending a hand at the Alzheimer’s Association office, she notices three photos on the wall — which are nods to real people who have passed away from memory diseases. (According to the Mayo Clinic, Alzheimer’s is a disorder that causes memory loss and deterioration of the brain.)
“One of the cool things about being a producer is you can incorporate all these neat little Easter Eggs in the movie that the audience might not know, but that make the whole thing more emotionally resonant,” Williams told Us.
One of those Easter Eggs includes a nod to her mother and relatives of Hallmark favorites Nikki DeLoach and Andrew Walker.
“There are three photos next to Linda Payne’s character’s photo up on the wall. One of them is Nikki DeLoach, my partner in crime at Hallmark, her father [who] passed away from an aggressive form of dementia,” Williams shared. “Next to that is Andrew Walker’s mother, who also died of Alzheimer’s last year. My mother is the third one, the original Linda, who passed away from Alzheimer’s Disease.”
While Williams, who is an executive producer on the film, wanted to tell the most authentic story about Alzheimer’s disease, she confessed that the scene was especially hard to shoot. “It hit so deeply,” she said of the moment that Linda Payne has a memory episode in the office and doesn’t recognize herself up on the wall.
Williams recalled her husband, Neal Dodson, who was an executive producer as well, constantly asking if she was “OK” but she was “still in it” so she didn’t respond.
“When it was over, I just dove into his arms and just sobbed,” she confessed. “It wasn’t even necessarily sad tears, it was more, like, ‘Wow, this is incredible that I get to honor my mom this way.’ Marking the journey that we all went through with her disease on screen in a way that really means something to me.”
Williams called the moment “incredibly moving,” adding that like much of the movie they instantly worked in some comedy to offset the heaviness of the illness. “There’s so much joy in this movie and so much tragedy. And then again, so much joy and laughter,” Williams teased.
The Hallmark movie is also full of love — it is a rom-com after all — fall decorations and newfound friendships. (There is a failed chili housewarming night that is also influenced by Williams’ real life that will make viewers laugh out loud.)
“We laughed so hard making the movie. We were laughing constantly,” Williams said of her and love interest Campbell, whom she’s known for years.
She joked, “Paul is really adept at making fun of me. I love it when people make fun of me. So, you know, there were lots of opportunities for that and he did really weave that into the characters as well.”
Falling Together premieres on Hallmark Channel Saturday, September 21, at 8 p.m. ET.
