Miracles' Cast and Crew

May 19, 2004

Out of the Ordinary

by Kevin Williamson
Calgary Sun

Keri Russell almost called cut on more than just her hair. The former
Felicity star, who once generated headlines when she lopped off her signature curly locks, admits she nearly quit acting altogether after the series ended.

— Kevin Williamson, Calgary Sun 
"I needed a break," says the 28-year-old actress on the set of The Magic of Ordinary Days, a Hallmark Hall of Fame production currently filming outside of Drumheller. "I moved to New York and just spent time reading books, laying around in Central Park with my headphones on, listening to music, acting like a kid ... The break was much-needed, for sure."

At the very least, the time off seems to have been enough to make Russell reconsider retirement. She just wrapped a film, The Upside of Anger opposite Joan Allen and Kevin Costner, and is three weeks into shooting Ordinary Days, which also stars Skeet Ulrich.

"We were very fortunate to get them," says Hallmark vice-president Jan Parkinson about his actors. "They're such personable people in their own right, that that really carries through into their performances."

Set in Colorado in 1944, the movie about Livy Dunne (Russell), a young woman sent away by her strict father because she's pregnant and unmarried. She's banished to a tiny town and an arranged marriage to a lonely local father (Ulrich). It will air on CBS in late 2004 or early 2005.

Like Russell, Ulrich landed on Hollywood's It list in the '90s thanks to roles in films such as Scream. "I was 25 in The Craft. I can't believe I've been doing this for 10 years," says the 34-year-old father of three-year-old twins. "I don't know if I had a plan. I was content to let things happen ... I don't sit around thinking I should be on top of the world."

Instead, he's enjoying the era that's been re-created for Days, using
locations throughout Alberta. "We were filming in Lacombe before we got here and when I saw the period sets and the costumes, I just get giddy. It's so much fun. It's not stepping back in time, but you definitely feel like you've been transported.

"In the U.S. if a building gets older than 30 years, they tear it down for something new. And I'm sure it's that way here in the urban areas, but out here, in some of these towns, it's really been untouched.

"When I was filming The Newton Boys in Texas, with the exception of a couple buildings, we had to build everything.

"It's interesting, the men coming up from the Depression era, the bottled-up emotion they had," he says.

"(His character Ray) is so withdrawn yet outwardly physical, it's an oxymoron really. It's a fascinating (historical) period."

And exploring such subject matter is increasingly rare in an industry that is obsessed with franchises and cookie-cutter blockbusters, he laments. "The only movies being made are romantic comedies and event pictures and the acting is more about who's the coolest" than exploring character. "But that's also what we as consumers go to."

Production will continue until July with Calgary later standing in for
Denver. At that time, actress Mare Winningham will join the cast.

For now, the cast and crew — averaging about 80 people daily, most of them Canadian — remain settled into the Drumheller area and coping with the temperamental weather.

"We've seen four seasons twice in one day," says producer Andy Gottlieb.

Russell, it turns out, had already received advance word about Alberta from one famous ex-Felicity cast member, Alias star Jennifer Garner.

"I was having a glass of wine with Jennifer in New York where she was doing press for 13 Going on 30. I said I was going to Calgary to this tiny town called Drumheller and Jen goes, 'I've been to Drumheller!' "

Garner shot the Hallmark TV movie Rose Hill in 1996 here. "She said, 'You'll love it. It's gorgeous there.' "

http://www.calgarysun.com/perl-bin/niveau2.cgi?s=films&p=84606.html&a=1

April 27, 2004

THE MAGIC OF ORDINARY DAYS (CBS) - The Eye has released a detailed description of the upcoming telefilm, which stars Keri Russell ("Felicity"), Skeet Ulrich ("Miracles") and Mare Winningham ("The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H."): "The poignant love story, set during World War II, is about an unwed pregnant woman who is sent to a small Colorado town to marry a lonely farmer who agrees to raise her child as his own. Livy Dunne (Russell) dreamed of a career as an archeologist until she becomes pregnant by a dashing soldier who leaves her behind. Her father, a stern minister, banishes her from his family and sends her away to an arranged marriage with Ray Singleton (Ulrich), a hard-working man with whom she initially has little in common. Though far from happy, Livy accepts her fate and is graciously taken in by the townfs people and Rayfs family including his sister, Martha (Winningham), a warm, friendly woman who welcomes Livy with open arms. Still, she continues to send letters to the missing soldier and holds out a grain of hope for his return. Ray is patient and willing to do anything he can to make Livy comfortable in the home he has lived in all of his life. But it takes a visit from Livyfs sister, who presents an opportunity for Livy to return home, and a friendship with a Japanese family who live in a nearby internment camp, for her to begin to see the magic that ordinary life with Ray has to offer. THE MAGIC OF ORDINARY DAYS is produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions. Richard Welsh ("The Blackwater Lightship") is the executive producer; Jim OfGrady ("The Outlaws") and Brent Shields ("A Painted House") are the producers. Shields also serves as director from a script by Camille Thomasson ("Luther") based on the book by Ann Howard Creel."

The Futon Critic

'Magic' in the Cards for CBS, Russell, Ulrich
Tue Apr 6, 2004 01:24 AM ET

By Nellie Andreeva
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - CBS has given the green light to "The Magic of Ordinary Days," a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie starring Keri Russell, Skeet Ulrich and Mare Winningham.

Based on Ann Howard Creel's novel, the film is a love story set in a small Colorado town during World War II. It centers on a young unmarried Denver woman (Russell) who is banished to Wiston, Colo., in an arranged marriage to a local farmer (Ulrich) by her stern minister father when she becomes pregnant. Winningham will play the farmer's sister, "a queen among women."

Production is scheduled to begin May 3 near Calgary, Alberta, for a 2004-05 season premiere.

Russell, a Golden Globe winner for her role on "Felicity," next appears in the feature "The Upside of Anger." Ulrich most recently starred on the ABC drama series "Miracles." Winningham starred in two earlier Hallmark TV movies, "The Boys Next Door" (1996) and "Love Is Never Silent" (1985).

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter