Eagle-eyed Hallmark fans probably felt a lump in their throat watching the network’s latest movie, fall together which premiered on World Alzheimer’s Day on Saturday, September 21.
Star and executive producer Ashley Williams used the film to honor her mother Linda, who died in 2016 after battling the disease for more than a decade, including countless nods to her personality, as well as naming a character who worked for the Alzheimer’s Association Linda Payne.
But one scene features Easter eggs that celebrate the parents of several other Hallmark favorites.
In the scene, Williams’ character, Natalie, was looking at photos in Linda’s office, and the camera panned slowly past a photo of Williams’ mom — as well as a picture of Nikki DeLoach’s father, David DeLoach, who died three years ago from an injury. a rare and aggressive form of dementia called Pick’s disease, and Andrew Walker’s mother, Joyce Francis Crossley Walker, who died last year after a long journey with Alzheimer’s.
Ashley Williams, Linda Barbara Williams and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
Ashley Williams/Instagram
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“It was really important to us to put these little treasures and it was great to have this opportunity,” Williams tells PEOPLE. “I knew we’d need photos on the wall, because that’s what the Alzheimer’s Association does, so I texted Nikki and Andrew and said, ‘Can you send me some pictures? I want to include pictures of your family, your dad and your moms on the wall of the Alzheimer’s office.'”
Not surprisingly, her longtime friends were quick to respond.
“They said, ‘Oh, that would be amazing,’ and they started sending me pictures,” Williams recalls. “It’s something that not everyone will notice, but it just made the scene more meaningful to me.”
She added: “This movie is so close to my heart. It feels like a little pocket of my heart. It means so much to me.”
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While Williams is next to act Jingle Bell RunChristmas movie opposite Walker, she and DeLoach are working closely on the upcoming fundraiser, Dance Party to End ALZ, which will be held in Los Angeles on October 27. (Click here for tickets and more information.) The party helps fund the Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship Program.
“The money just goes directly to the scientists working on the various studies,” notes Williams. “Nikki and I have to sit down every year and decide where the money goes. They talk to us about the different studies they want to do, and then we choose which ones to help and how much money to give them. Getting started with the Alzheimer’s Research Grant Program and when I see where money goes, I feel like every dollar really counts, which it always does, but you can see that.”
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fall together also starring Paul Campbell, reruns on Hallmark Channel Sunday, September 22 at 6:00 PM ET/PT. Jingle Bell Run debuts November 16 on the Hallmark Channel.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education