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First For Women
Autumn Reeser Looks Back on ‘The O.C.’, Dishes on Her 20th Hallmark Movie ‘Junebug’ and More!
By Deanna Barnert,
3 days ago
With her 20 th Hallmark rom-com set to premiere Saturday August 3rd, Autumn Reeser tells FIRST for Women everything you need to know about Junebug – including why she spent the last five years bringing it to the Hallmark Channel and what to expect from her onscreen romance with Hallmark hunk Aaron O’Connell.
The O.C. alum and Junebug executive producer, who is known for films on the network like Midnight Masquerade (2014), Love On the Menu (2019), A Country Wedding (2015) and more, teases that Hallmark fans will get to watch her character Juniper reconnect with her inner child and find her joy – and Reeser also invites viewers to take their own spiritual journeys with her in the real world later this month!
In her newest Hallmark movie, Autumn Reeser plays a book editor named Juniper who is staring down the barrel of her 40 th birthday and not feeling too excited about it – or anything else in her life, for that matter.
“When we meet Juniper, she’s settling,” Reeser sets up. “Everything in her life could fall under the category of, ‘It's fine.’ But when you are living in the ‘it’s fine’ of it all, you're always a little irritated – because your soul is saying, ‘No, not really fine! I need something deeper.’”
While Juniper doesn’t hear that call, Junebug – her 8-year-old self – sure does! The cutie magically appears to her adult self and pushes the wannabe writer to find her sparkle and her confidence…which inspires her to connect with a sexy artist named Alex, played by O’Connell.
“This is a love story, of course, between Alex and Juniper,” Reeser teases, “but it is also the story of falling in love with one’s self in a deeper way. It’s about healing the inner child and reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that we leave behind as we ‘adult.’ There's so much gold hidden in our past if we are willing to walk through the pain to get it.”
Autumn Reeser talks creating the romance with Hallmark hunks like Aaron O’Connell
Autumn Reeser and Mila Jones @autumnreeser/Instagram
With her character’s inner child an actual person in the story, Reeser actually got to play two love stories in Junebug – the first one being with herself and her mini-me, played by the adorable Mila Jones.
“Mila’s so talented and just a delight to work with,” she raves. “She’s one of those kids who just loves acting, and it's always a pleasure to work with them because they're having a great time.”
Reeser also had fun telling a “spicy” love story with O’Connell – but while she raves that her co-star is “a sweet and lovely man,” this Hallmark beauty, who’s been romanced by her share of Hallmark hunks refuses to play favorites.
“One of the questions people love to ask me when I'm doing Hallmark podcasts or panels is, ‘Which of your co-stars was the best kisser?’” she shares with a laugh. “Don’t make me choose! It's a weird job, right? I mean, YOU don’t go to work and get asked to kiss your co-workers! It’s certainly unique to my profession.”
Hallmark star Autumn Reeser talks about finding her voice with ‘Junebug’
After a friend handed Reeser the Junebug script, she knew she wanted to make it – but it’s taken over five years to bring this story to life for Hallmark fans.
“It’s been such a passion project,” Reeser says. “Originally, it wasn’t a fit for Hallmark and it was a Christmas movie, but I just loved the magical aspect. I like pushing the format where I can, so we revamped it.”
When she and writer Summer Isreal Johnson re-pitched the story last year, the time was right to tell a story about a writer rediscovering her passion – in more ways than one.
“There's so much in the collective about the healing of the inner child right now, and it's also interesting that this movie is being made now as I'm reclaiming my voice as a storyteller, as a writer, as a woman,” Reeser says. “That wasn't the theme of the movie when we originally started developing it, but sometimes characters tell us what they want to express and as that part of Juniper came out, I got to meet that part of myself.
“It’s also Summer’s first time selling a project,” she adds. “To be able to help make someone’s dreams come true by doing a movie about someone's dreams coming true was pretty spectacular! It felt very divinely orchestrated.”
Hallmark star Autumn Reeser reflects on ‘The O.C.’ turning 21
Reeser, who has wanted to act since she was a kid, has certainly made her own childhood dreams come true.
“My eight-year-old self loved to live in her imagination,” she shares. “I was always living in a fantasy world. I wrote a lot of stories about unicorns. Now, I decided I would go live inside one of those books – on Hallmark!”
Having come to Los Angeles to study musical theater at UCLA at 17, Reeser paid her dues as an actress while working late shifts at Jerry’s Famous Deli. She was building a healthy list of guest roles when she landed on The O.C . – and what was supposed to be a short stint as Taylor Townsend turned into a game-changing leading role on the teen drama.
With her 20 th Hallmark movie now set to premiere just a few days before The O.C. ’s 21 st birthday, Reeser can’t help but smile over her first family of costars, including Micha Barton, Rachel Bilson, Ben McKenzie and Adam Brody.
“We're all old now,” cracks the 43-year-old. “And we're lucky to have made it this long! Aging is a privilege. And also, I don't even think of us as aging. We're just on the journey of life – and personally, I am enjoying life more and more with every passing year.”
Autumn Reeser invites Hallmark viewers on a personal transformational journey
Autumn Reeser, 2024 Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Hallmark Media
While TV fans know Reeser for her rom-com movies, The O.C., and a host of other shows she’s appeared on, this Hallmark leading lady has also been quietly working on herself and mentoring others.
“I'm very interested in the human psyche and the journey of the soul,” she shares. “I studied transpersonal and Jungian psychology a few years ago, and I'm getting more interested in fostering community and supporting transformational journeys for others. It’s something I've been doing behind the scenes for a long time and this last year, I’ve heard the call to make it more available to more people.”
Now, Reeser has teamed up with renowned mindfulness teacher Jessica Amos to co-facilitate a 4-week, online Inner Child Healing Course that kicks off on August 15.
“I wanted to continue the journey of Junebug for the audience,” Reeser tells FFW . “Sometimes, when we put something like this in movies, viewers are introduced to this type of work for the first time and it lights a spark, but they don’t know where to go to continue. This will be my first time offering anything like this publicly, and it feels really right to be blending these two parts of my life together now.”
Junebug premieres Saturday, August 3 (8 p.m. ET/PT), on Hallmark Channel and you can follow Reeser for more information on her upcoming Inner Child Healing Course.
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