Though Sarah Drew is known for playing April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy, she has since gone on to star in other roles, but she’s excited to expand her resume even further, as her first feature, Reindeer Games Homecoming, is set to premiere on Saturday, November 12, on Lifetime.
Not only did the red-headed beauty write, produce and star in the holiday movie, but she also signed a two-picture deal with the network so more of her ideas will come to life in the future. “I had just shot Twinkle all the Way for Lifetime, and I was inspired while working on that one to write a movie of my own. When I got home, I sat down and said, ‘You know what? I want to write a romcom around Christmas, and I don’t care if it doesn’t go anywhere.’ I wanted to come up with a concept,” the 42-year-old exclusively tells GRAZIA USA.
“I came up with this outline, and I pitched it to two producers from Twinkle All the Way. I was assuming they would use the idea and hire a writer, but they told me to go home and write the final draft. I love that they said that because it was really empowering,” the actress continues. “I was afraid to do it, but I sat down and wrote the first draft, and in three weeks, it became so clear. It’s gone through so many iterations since then, but it was a really fun process. I was sort of inspired by the rom-coms I grew up with. I watched a few of those for inspiration before sitting down to come up with my concept.”
When brainstorming the flick, which features a Vermont biology teacher (Drew’s Grey’s Anatomy costar Justin Bruening) and her high school crush as they compete in a holiday fundraising tradition, Drew thought about a Winter Carnival that was held while her husband, Peter Lanfer, was at Dartmouth College. “I thought, ‘This could be so fun to set it during Christmas time, and the whole community gets involved,'” she shares.
Since Drew has put her heart and soul into the movie, she’s “super nervous” for people’s reactions. “I can’t hide behind somebody else’s writing!” she quips. “It’s a very vulnerable space to be in right now. I think it was easier when I was putting pen to paper and having fun with no expectation that it would ever go anywhere, but writing is something I’ve always been interested in, but this is the first time I ever sat down and did something by myself.”
For the Virginia native, the whole process has been “surreal,” as the characters “were people I created in my head.”
“All of a sudden the people from my imagination are being discussed by a team of people. It was pretty extraordinary,” she gushes. “Then to just get on set and shoot it … I felt the energy of everybody rallying because they thought the writing was really good. They loved the characters, they loved the concepts. That was affirming too, just to hear it from professionals actors and people from every department. The whole journey has been so joyous and overwhelming.”
Despite Drew always being in front of the camera, she was drawn to writing in college. “I wrote a short play that we produced and I took a writing class right out of college as a screenwriting class. Then, all these years I’ve been on set, I’ve always contributed to forming the story. I’ve always had script notes, and I’ve always offered new ways of saying something, in addition to having ideas. I’ve been sort of practicing for this my whole career,” she recalls.
“I just needed someone to be like, ‘You have the capacity to do it,'” she adds. “But I had an amazing team of people helping me find the story structure and moving the plot along in this story. I can only describe the experience as activating all cylinders of my heart, soul, body and my creativity. I got to delve into every corner of being a storyteller, and after getting a taste of it, it’s so hard to even contemplate going back to only doing one thing! I love being the visionary and then the practicality of producing and writing.”
Since Drew had the pleasure of working with Chandra Wilson on Grey’s, she became her “directing mentor.”
“I asked her what she loved about directing or why she wanted to do it. She said I am looking at my future and preparing for the inevitability of the future of my career,” Drew says. “My first love has always been acting, and I always assumed that’s what I would be doing. I think especially for women in Hollywood to investor in our future as creators, it’s important to have multiple skills. I will write, produce and direct for the rest of my life. Some of the really interesting roles might dry up as I age, but I will never age out of writing and creating and producing.”
She adds, “Diving into all these other areas is a way to stay activated and to write the roles I want to play, which is exciting.”
Going forward, the Amber Brown alum hopes to “keep moving in this direction of making my own stuff and being able to build my own team.”
“I really, really love working with people, and I like having a voice. Working on Reindeer Games Homecoming was the first time I’ve had as strong of a voice on any project. I’ve been seen and heard and listened to in the industry, but this is the first time where it was like, ‘OK, this is mine and this is what we’re doing.’ It was really amazing to be able to have such a strong voice in all these decisions.”
Reindeer Games Homecoming premieres on Saturday, November 12, at 8 p.m. EST on Lifetime.
