The long list of familiar faces walking the red carpet included singers and songwriters like Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Matthew West, Cassadee Pope, Jenny Tolman, and others, to actors such as Roma Downey, Danica McKellar, and many more. They all wanted to support Karen Kingsbury’s film “Someone Like You,” which opens in theaters April 2nd.
“Vince and I want to support women in the arts,” Amy Grant explained, “and from beginning to end this has been Karen Kingsbury’s dream. She wrote the book, executive produced the movie, it’s self-funded, so, she has gone all the way. It’s important for us to support the arts and each other, but especially women.”
Kingsburg is a Nashville-based New York Times best-selling author with more than 25 million books in print. Many have been developed for film and TV, but this particular story has always been close to her heart, so, she decided to produce the movie herself.
She and her husband, Don Russell, formed Karen Kingsbury Productions and poured their live savings into bringing the story to life. She says they took the risk because it allowed her to tell the story the way she knew it should be told.
“We knew the only way to do that was to pay for it,” Kingsbury says. “Then you can make the decisions about every single thing you see on the screen from the cinematography to lenses to costume and wardrobe, I mean everything.
The locations were places we picked (Nashville and Alabama), because I knew what it should look like. It had to be excellent on every level. And we have that, and I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Beautifully shot, “Someone Like You” touches on love, loss, and family. It shares the story of Dawson Gage who loses his best friend in a tragic accident, then launches a search for her secret twin sister. The twins were separated as embryos.
“I got to see this movie already and it’s amazing,” noted actor Danica McKellar. “It’s faith-filled, life affirming, and also high-concept and realistic. I don’t watch a lot of dramas because I’m afraid of feeling sad, but this movie gives you the hope that you can find that kind of strength inside. It’s a beautiful film.”
McKellar, who played Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years as a child and has since starred in films on the Hallmark Channel and Great American Family Channel, now calls Nashville home.
“Someone Like You” was not only partially shot in Nashville, it drew from a number of creatives who live locally. Kingsbury’s son, Tyler Russell, a filmmaker in his own right, served as the director, and Tyler Michael Smith, a talented composer who happens to be the son of singer/songwriter, Michael W. Smith, did the score. Michael and his wife, Deborah, were excited to attend the premiere.
“This guy who runs circles around me on the piano has taken up the beautiful art of scoring films,” said Smith. “He’s scoring movies left and write and we’re so proud of him. He did an amazing job.”
“This was a really special project,” Tyler Smith said. “The heart of the story is family, and I had a really great time working with Karen on this. She spoke a lot into the music, and I hope it does what she envisioned.”
Vince Gill was surprised to learn the younger Smith scored the film.
“It’s kind of neat to see the kind of one of your old friends have an interest in what we do, in any shape or form. So, I’m excited to hear the music in the film, too. Now when I watch it,” he added with a laugh, “I’m probably miss most of the dialogue in the film because I’m going to be listening to the songs.”
Roma Downey, who many know from Touched By An Angel, was elated to attend the Nashville premiere.
“I’m here because I am the No. 1 Karen Kingsbury fan,” Downey said. “I’m so proud of her putting this movie together and I’m here to wave the flag on her behalf and on behalf of this movie she’s produced. She’s a badass.”
Downey is also starring in The Baxters, an Amazon Prime series that starts March 28th. Based on Kingsbury’s bestselling books on the Baxter family, it was shot several years ago, then shelved. Interestingly, it will debut on Amazon Prime five days before Someone Like You hits theaters.
“It’s a series I fell in love with as a fan that I was happy to produce,” said Downey. “And I also stepped into the role of Elizabeth Baxter myself, to play the Matriarch of this amazing family. It’s a family drama and I don’t think we’ve seen anything like it on television before because it has all the trials and tribulations that any family might have, but they’re a family of faith and when life brings them to their knees, they pray.”
Someone Like You touches on faith, as well, but the overriding theme is the love story.
“People have said it’s Nicholas Sparks with a thread of redemption and I love that,” says Kingsbury.
Sarah Fisher plays dual roles as sisters London and Andi Quinn.
“It was such an honor to work with Karen, let alone bring one of her amazing, unique, and interesting three-dimensional characters to life,” she said. “And to be able to do that twice was such an exciting challenge for me as an actor. I loved it!”
There were many nuances to note in playing sisters who look the same but have distinctly different characteristics.
“Tyler was an incredible director and so helpful on the days we were going back and forth between playing Andi and London because that happened a lot, and we had to make sure the differences were very specific even down to the laugh.”
With one son directing, Kingsbury also has another son closely connected to the film. Austin Robert Russell plays Andi’s boyfriend. Russell insisted on going through the regular process of auditioning to get the part.
“Growing up and reading her books, I knew how much they mean to people, and I wanted to be part of it, but I wanted to do it the right way,” he said. “I’ve done enough films to know it doesn’t help to have someone in the film who’s not the right fit. So as cool as it would be to work with family, I only wanted to do it if it was the right fit. I’m glad it worked out.
Kingsbury is hopeful fans who’ve read her books, along with those discovering her work will head to theaters to see Someone Like You in early April. And with her new production company, she’s looking forward to turning more of her books into films in the future.