Wendie Malick Is Reveling in Her 'Unglamorous' Role on The Chicken Sisters: She's 'Kind of a Witch' (Exclusive)

Her new series can be called The Chicken Sistersbut Wendie Malick is far from a chicken.

In the new show, which debuts on Hallmark+ on September 10 and is based on the bestselling book of the same name by KJ Dell’Antonia, Hot in Cleveland The alum, 73, plays Augusta “Gus” Moore, owner of Mimi’s Fried Chicken. Gus’ relationship with her two daughters, Amanda (Schuyler Fisk) and Mae (Genevieve Angleson), is only slightly better than her relationship with another fried chicken restaurant in her small southern town of Merinac, Frannie’s, run by Nancy (Lea) Thompson).

“This is a completely different character to get into,” Malick tells PEOPLE of Gus. “She is flamboyant and nervous and not easy to get along with.”

And that’s true of most of the town, not just her daughters: “She fights with almost everyone,” says Malick. “She doesn’t have great people skills on the show. But she’s on a giant learning curve. Slowly, slowly, slowly you can shed that kind of stern exterior and I think we’re getting to the core and misunderstood woman that she is.”

Wendie Malick in The Chicken Sisters.

Hallmark Media/Kailey Schwerman

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“It’s my unglamorous but interesting, different kind of driving,” she adds.

Gus also has a unique look compared to Malick’s most memorable characters in shows like Hot in Cleveland, Just shoot me! and Dream On. She is casual in flannel shirts and jeans, with long gray hair.

“This woman is kind of a witch,” Malick says with a laugh. “Actually, in the book, one of her daughters called her ‘that old hag,’ which made me think she must have long, gray hair. That’s what I immediately thought of when I thought of the old hag . . . She’s not someone who she wears handkerchiefs and I wanted to be in braids all the time, but they said it was too Willie Nelson-like.

As for her outfit, “This is all mine,” Malick admits. “I’m not really that different from her in terms of style, I just have better hair in real life. This is my ranch outfit that I wear when I’m at home.”

Genevieve Angelson, Schuyler Fisk, James Kot, Lea Thompson, Wendie Malick and Ektor Rivera in The Chicken Sisters.

2024. Hallmark Media/Kailey Schwerman

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Of course, at its core, The Chicken Sisters it’s not about Malick’s looks — or even about the warring fried chicken restaurants that will appear on the fictional reality show so-called. Kitchen conflict.

“It’s a great story about the strength and complexity of women,” says Malick. “This is all driven by the women in this city. They run it, they screw it up, they fix it, they fix the fences, then they tear them down again… This is a generational trauma. It clings to old things that you just can’t let go of, that can just blind you to miracles that are around you.”

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Malick deliberately does the opposite when it comes to her everyday life.

©2024 Hallmark Media/Kailey Schwerman

“Every morning I do this Tai Chi ritual that’s about gratitude, and that’s how I start my day,” she says. “I feel so incredibly blessed to be doing what I love, so whenever I get to be on set with great people and tell a story and try a different character, I just feel, ‘Well, this is as good as it gets.'”

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The Chicken Sisters premieres on Tuesday, September 10 as part of the launch of Hallmark+. The second episode will hit the streamer on Thursday, September 12, with new episodes coming out every Thursday after that.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education