Sadie Laflamme-Snow on Hallmark’s ‘The Way Home’ [Interview]

Hallmark Channel’s newest original series, The Way Home, not only boasts an incredible cast, but it also has an intriguing premise.  

After more than 20 years of being estranged from her mother Del (Andie MacDowell), Kat (Chyler Leigh) returns home with her daughter Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow), where they each make a surprising discovery that could change their family forever. And that discovery involves time travel.

I recently had the chance to chat with Sadie Laflamme-Snow about her role on the series, the challenges of keeping up with the same characters in the past and present, and what we can expect from the remainder of the season. (You can watch the video of our interview below.)

“I heard about the project and I knew that Andie MacDowell was already joined onto the project before I even started auditioning. And I knew that there was a musical component and that it was a multi-generational story led by three female characters, and I was really intrigued,” Laflamme-Snow began.

“Then as soon I got the scene for the audition, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so exciting,’ because you were immediately introduced to the time travel. So you’re seeing Alice in the present day who’s being kind of a menace to everyone. And then you see the other side of Alice, which I personally think is the real Alice, who is like… She’s so open, she’s so sweet, she loves her family, and she’s really transformed by this experience of the time travel. So I was immediately hooked by that.”

In the present day, Alice is getting used to a new school and a new home away from her father, but in the past, she’s getting to know what her family was like when her mother was a teenager. She also has a chance to meet her mother’s little brother, who disappeared at a young age.

“Of course, there’s the divorce and the move, so no wonder that she’s acting that way. But at the same time, I think Kat’s onto something. She knows that there’s a really beautiful relationship to be had with her daughter and that it doesn’t have to be all this conflict and bitterness and stuff,” Laflamme-Snow said.

“I think that she just wants that part of her daughter back, and I don’t think that the relationship that’s reflected with Kat and Del is really supporting Alice in that. So I think that it’ll take Alice meeting her family in the past to help her kind of want that for her present relationships with her mom and her grandmother.”

One interesting development that comes from Alice’s time travel is that she meets her father in the past as well, and she sees what her and her mom were like when they first started dating. And Brady as a teen doesn’t exactly make a good impression on her.

“We’ll see as the season goes on that he was there through this really, really pivotal year in the Landry family’s life where there’s the disappearance of Kat’s brother, Jacob, and the loss of her dad, Colton. And so I think that they go through that together and you really see why they stuck to each other for so long, why they were such a good pair for so long. But then there’s still this kind of other side that Alice can’t really get rid of. She’s like, ‘I can’t believe my dad is this guy,'” Laflamme-Snow said.

“I think it’s hard for her to see her mom be so boy-crazy over this guy who’s treating her badly, but then you’re also not able to say anything because you’re not from that time. So it’s definitely… It complicates their relationship, their mother-daughter relationship.”

Watch the video of this interview with Sadie Laflamme-Snow:

Alice is the only character who interacts with the same characters at different parts of their lives, and while that seems complicated, Laflamme-Snow said she thinks of them all as different characters. She also noted how much help she has when it comes to keeping track of everything. 

“Our showrunners, Alex [Clarke] and Heather [Conkie], obviously, they have every detail in their brains. And so sometimes you’re jumping back and forth between time travel periods and you’re like, ‘Okay, what is going on?’ And they’ve got the brain for it,” she explained.

“Then Evan Williams, who plays Elliot, he is my onscreen time travel conspirator, but also off screen. So if I have questions about, ‘Okay, what is the order of events? What do I know? What’s going on?’ Well, we can put our heads together and talk about it because the two of us are keeping track of it, both as our characters and then of course as actors as well.”

Of course, time traveling on this series is no easy feat. So far, it seems it’s something only Alice and Kat are able to do, and it means diving into a pond each time. I was curious to know how difficult those scenes were to film.

“We have trips to the past throughout the whole season. So all the way from Episode 1 to 10, there’s times where Alice is in the pond. We have our amazing stunt doubles who do some of the jumps too. But yeah, I went in a good number of times, and as you’ve seen, so did Chyler,” Laflamme-Snow explained.

“The set where the exterior of the pond is, is actually a real pond, so we’re actually jumping fully in our clothes into a real pond, which is pretty cool. It’s something I never thought I would be doing,” she laughed.

“Then the underwater sequences are actually filmed in our DP’s pool, which is so funny. But that’s just because you want to be able to see things and there’s too many creatures and stuff in the real pond to have a camera in there,” Laflamme-Snow continued. “And Chyler’s really experienced with stunts, so if I ever had questions about that kind of stuff, she was always there to give me reassurance or tips and stuff because she did Supergirl, so she’s a pro. So that was really fun.”

Another fun aspect about the show is that time-traveling means a return to the ’90s. That’s something Laflamme-Snow really enjoyed being a part of.

“It was kind of a little 90s getaway. It’s so light, it’s so fun. The scenes are so warm. We’re always outside on this beautiful farm, going to beach parties, hanging out with cute boys. It was very nostalgic and cute,” she said. “I love the fashion. I feel like I’m really into 90s fashion even now. So I like all the clothes a lot.”

“I loved that Alice borrows Teen Kat’s clothes. I thought that was such a cute plot point and that… It’s a special thing you do with your best friends, your best girlfriends and your siblings and stuff. So in that sense, it even strengthens that kind of sister relationship that they have almost. And so, yeah, it was just like I have this soft spot for all the 90s references, the clothes, and music because of how much of a happy place that it is for Alice too.”

Considering the series involves so much time travel, I had to ask Laflamme-Snow what time period she’d return to personally if she could have the ability to go back in time. Her answer wasn’t far off from the show’s premise.

“I think before I did this 90s show, I would’ve said the 90s,” she said. “It would’ve been actually really fun to meet my parents when they’re my age, young 20s.”

“But now I think I would go back even further. My grandmother grew up in India, and I feel like it would be really cool to go back to when her and my grandfather met. I’ve never met my grandfather and this story, their love story is so cute and just so random how they even met each other. I think it’s a beautiful story and I’d love to just be a fly on the wall and watch that come to be and just, I don’t know, I have a curiosity about my family’s history just like Alice does.”

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The Way Home airs Sundays at 9/8c on Hallmark Channel.

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