Michael Rady Hopes the Message of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' "Unexpected Grace" Resonates with Viewers

quotHallmark movies are wonderful and always fun to makequot he continued quotYou39re working with good people and the fans are so effusive and wonderful What39s interesting is that you can39t easily profile a Hallmark fan My parents are Hallmark fans my neighbors and even the guy who fills up our oil tank Often I39ll be in an audition and the casting director on the way out will be like 39By the way I love your Hallmark movies39 I39m so grateful to be a part of that and the fact that I39ve been able to do 10 Oh my gosh that39s wild and a nice little feather in my capquotFor Grace Rady teams with Erica Durance above left to portray Jack McCabe a widower who along with his young daughter Grace Erica Tremblay has relocated to the small town of Ashton for his job Desperately lonely Grace is trying to adjust to her new surroundings and find a new friend When she finds the remains of a party balloon lodged in a tree with an attached note asking the author to become a pen pal Grace jumps at the idea completely unaware that Toni who wrote the note has long passed away When Toni39s mother Noelle Durance receives a reply to the note they strike up an innocent written exchange It39s only when Grace attempts an inperson meeting that Noelle realizes she must reveal a truth she39s not ready to admit to herself that her beloved daughter is gone As the trio bond over Noelle39s loss they form a fast friendship and with the second anniversary of her loss looming her newfound friends could be the ones to help her navigate itWhile Rady is thrilled with the finished movie he gave some insight into what first attracted him to it quotFull disclosure the first draft of this was incredibly differentquot he recalled quotI thought it was an independent film Hallmark purchased as it was very dark Jack was an alcoholic barely getting by and tripping over himself I was like 39This is really dark but it39s exciting39 I guess I knew that it would evolve as it wasn39t quite Hallmark Then it went through the Hallmark machine I don39t think many people knew of the original script except me and Erica when we mentioned it everyone was like 39What are you talking about39 We39re like 39That39s the script we were sent39quotI39d never seen anything like that beforequot he added quotThere are so many beats along the way of this story that are unique I39ve never seen characters offer something or say something along the lines of what these two people are struggling with which makes for a very unique union Romance isn39t on the surface and it39s about a more profound connection It was interesting for Erica and me to play with some of the scenes and the material involving close proximity Whether it was a handhold or a head on a shoulder it became very clear we weren39t singularly trying to tell a romantic story here More importantly it39s about humans helping each other along this path of griefquotThe film may sound like a tearjerker on the surface but it is steeped in reflection and hope quotHaving Jack and Grace come into Noelle39s life brings her perspective and shows her that by putting one foot in front of the other she is bringing beauty into the world even though the most beautiful thing in her world is gonequot Rady explained quotI think they39re reflecting that back and that by doing this you are courageous brave and wonderful That lifts her up and gives her more bravery to take the next step of carrying on with a hope for a new beginningquotDespite having mutual friends Rady and Durance had not met before filming quotWe became fast friendsquot he said of their meeting quotShe39s so good because there were so many tricky things in this story She figured them out And she has a wonderful sense of humor We laughed the whole time and that was so needed I39m also thankful that we found Erica Tremblay as she was the perfect match She taught us so much about technology I have four kids not yet teenagers but she educated me and Erica on things like kids39 screen time and how teenagers are in high school She made us feel like 80yearoldsquotAs Unexpected Grace touches on teen loneliness something Rady admits is quota realityquot due to what the world has recently gone through fate the movie39s other major throughline is something he has an interesting take on quotI don39t think I do believe in itquot he revealed quotI think it39s fun in hindsight when certain stars align It39s probably a more interesting romantic and enchanting world to live in believing in fatequotBut I also like my free will so I39m really tornquot he added in closing quotI believe we all make choices and we39re the result of the sum of all of those choices You39ve also kind of determined how it39s going to go by making those choices We39re at least affecting the fabric of our lives our existence and our trajectoryquotUnexpected Grace will be telecast Sunday March 12 at 7 pm on Hallmark Movies ampamp MysteriesClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your 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Michael Rady Hopes the Message of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' "Unexpected Grace" Resonates with Viewers

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