In the new Netflix series, based on the book by Kristin Hannah, Tully (Katherine Heigl) and Kate (Sarah Chalke) meet in high school. Although they initially have very little in common, they become best friends who go on to attend college together and build their careers in broadcasting together. And even though they end up on disparate paths, they keep their bond into their midlives. Chalke says she was able to relate to that lifelong friendship aspect of Kate because she has a similar relationship in her own life. “My best friend and I met in kindergarten, became friends, and, as we grew up, we both loved acting and film,” Chalke tells Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “Then she went to film school and wanted to produce and I wanted to act. So, we packed up our truck and moved to L.A. It’s just one of those lucky friendships where we’ve probably spoken every day over the past couple of decades. To have somebody that has your back, no matter what, it’s like the Kate/Tully relationship, where it’s drop everything.” As a result, Chalke was very much aware that it was going to be important to establish a camaraderie with Heigl to make the Kate/Tully friendship in Firefly Lane believable, because to fake that is unimaginable. But they got lucky, especially because they had a head start. Even before Chalke was cast as Kate, Dulé Hill connected the two women. Heigl had mentioned to Hill that she was moving to Vancouver to film Firefly Lane and was looking for someone who could give her the lowdown on where to live, where to put the kids in school, where to shop and so on, and he mentioned that Chalke lived there, so he introduced them. “When I got the script, I’d already talked to Katie [Heigl] like a month before, and she told me a tiny bit about the show, but mostly we chatted about kids, schools and neighborhoods,” Chalke says. “We just instantly connected and had a lot in common. And that just grew from there once we got onto set.” In our talk, Chalke also shares the challenges of going back in time to play a woman in her 20s, the fun of the retro wardrobe and wigs, and more.
Between Kate and Tully, Kate seems like the more down-to-earth of the two, while Tully has that exciting life. So what was it that you saw in her that made you say, “I’m going to take on this woman”?
There’s so much about Kate that I saw of myself, and then so much that I didn’t, but I found a challenge. I loved how awkward, vulnerable, and shy she was, and the hard time that came with all of her teen angst when she’s 14 and feels the world is not welcoming her in that moment. And then to watch her coming-of-age story, and her growth, going from somebody who wants to please everybody to really making these brave, bold, big decisions for herself and her life as she figures out, “Oh, this is actually what I really want,” and finds the strength to follow through on those decisions.
Were you intimidated at all by the idea of playing someone through all those time periods and ages?
I loved getting the challenge and the opportunity to play someone over three decades. That’s a unique thing that I’ve never had the opportunity to do before that I was really excited about, and in doing it, it was even more fun than I had anticipated, playing 20 again. They helped us out a little bit with CGI and Benjamin Button technology. We got to put on that skin again of a 20-year-old, because the way you move is a little bit different and you have to have more of an energy when you’re running into the room. And the clothes we got to wear, so many of them were vintage and genuinely from the ‘80s. I love that decade. I have an ‘80s dress-up drawer of all my old clothes for my kids. And so, really trying to feel the difference to be in your body at 20 versus 40, and then playing this character at 40 and how to find her.
We see both of these women through so much on this series! Big and little things. What were some of the more exciting and challenging moments in Kate’s life that you got to play?
There were so many things about this part that pushed me so far outside of my comfort zone. And as an actor, there’s not really much more you can hope for. When I was playing myself in my 40s in the first few episodes, I had zero, almost no makeup on, which is something I’ve never done before and it was kind of terrifying and fun and liberating and great. And then when there were things that pushed me outside of my comfort zone that I didn’t know were going to happen upon signing up, because at first, you just read the pilot, I loved it. I loved the part in the writing, but then in doing the part, Kate got to give birth. And you get to work, and it’d be like, “Okay, you’re going to swim naked in the pool in the dark tonight in Canada in the middle of winter.” And, while we didn’t show any express nudity in the show, there’s lots of scenes and elements where you really push yourself and push the boundaries. My biggest push getting out of my comfort zone was the karaoke scene.
What about the romances? Kate’s obviously a little more reserved than Tully in her flirting. Do you think that’s what draws men to her?
I think she has such a big heart and she’s so open and giving and will do anything for the people that she loves. I think that with Ryan (Ben Lawson), the minute she walks in the door, there’s that slow motion shot of him as he’s walking toward her. I think she immediately feels this connection and this attraction to him, but she never imagined in that moment that that will be reciprocated. She’s very shy and hides her light under a bush and doesn’t have confidence. As they get to know each other and he respects what an incredible writer she is, the connection builds over time. And, then when she goes back to midlife dating, she really is a lot of fun when she actually allows herself to be. I think she’s trying so hard to open herself up to that other part of herself that has been buried. And then it feels like, “OK, maybe I can do this.”
This is a story about living with the choices that you make, both good and bad. Obviously, it’s easy to live with the “good” choices, but what about the not so good choices? How does Kate survive those?
You are as resilient as your support network. I think that her friendship with Tully is what carries her through. Of course, she’s there for Tully, no matter what, but the flip side of that is also true. Tully’s the one who’s there and drops everything for her. When Tully’s going to go on the trip to go to the premiere with George Clooney, she actually hears in Kate’s voice, “Oh, she actually doesn’t want to go alone to this PTA dance, so I’m going to be there for her.” I think that they both carry each other through all of the hard times. One of my favorite parts about the show is that it’s portraying real, complicated, messy choices, decisions, life. Nothing is this glossy, perfect situation. So, there’re the good decisions, there’re the bad decisions and you get to see them all. As an actor, that was actually really fun to get to play.
Were you familiar with Kristin Hannah before you got the script?
I had not read the book when I got the script. So, when I read the script, the next day I bought the book and devoured it a couple of days. I love the book and have gotten to meet Kristin since. One of the cool parts about this job was getting to have this rich manuscript of a novel. I’ve only ever had that experience one other time, where the job was based on a book. It’s such a different way to approach a character, because you’re not starting off with 60 pages, you have this whole book of their entire lives and all the inner thoughts of this character. So, that was a cool experience.
You mentioned the changes of going from 20 to 40, but talk specifically about the wigs, because that jumped out at me. How was it playing all the different ages with all that you had to do?
That was so fun. Day one, we went in and we had all these different hairstyles and wigs to try on. I was wearing this very short Diana wig. I loved it. I was like, “Oh, this is so different.” It felt very Kate to me. And then we did the camera tests, and everyone’s like, “No, no, this is aging you. We were trying to make you look much younger.” The fun thing about wigs was trying all the different hairstyles and lengths and colors and figuring out where each of them would land and trying to make Tully and Kate unique in their different eras. The glasses, that was my first thing. I was like, “OK, Kate has glasses.” I went to every glasses store in Vancouver and tried them all on and brought in a bunch of pairs, trying to figure out, “OK, what would they look like in the ‘70s, ‘80s and 2003.” And then I loved the fact that the frames were just so big on her, and then they got a bit smaller and a bit smaller as Kate progressed. As she grew, she became a little more self-assured. Firefly Lane is currently streaming on Netflix. Next, see the new Netflix shows we’re excited for in 2021.
