NYCC 2023: Chyler Leigh, Evan Williams, And Sadie Laflamme-Snow On Hallmark’s ‘The Way Home’

In the weeks leading up to New York Comic Con, comics news outlets are bombarded with promotional emails from publishers, writers, artists, actors, cosplayers, and vendors. These are typically pretty boilerplate announcements of new comics, films, collectibles, and unique nerdy experiences. 

One of this year’s announcements immediately caught my attention as very unusual. It came from The Hallmark Channel. To my knowledge, I have never received an email from Hallmark. I have some of their ornaments, and a few rolls of their Christmas wrapping paper, but I couldn’t name one of their shows or movies if my life depended on it. 

The email informed me that Hallmark Channel would be coming to NYYC to talk about a show called The Way Home. They were asking if I’d like to interview three of the actors from their sci-fi/time travel/family drama series at NYCC 2023. Hold up. I’m sorry. Their WHAT? 

If that caught you as odd, I assure you, same. I checked it out, though, and the show’s complete first season is available to stream on Hallmark Movies Now, Peacock, and Fubo. It’s a real thing. It exists. I promise. 

Hallmark offered me a chance to sit down with Chyler Leigh, Evan Williams, and Sadie Laflamme-Snow, and I couldn’t help myself. Curiosity took over. I binge watched the first season in preparation, and geared up for one of the most unlikely moments of my journalism career.

***The Way Home is currently in production on season 2 and is operating within strike rules under Global Rule 1. These rules allow the cast members to participate in promotion of the show.***

Brendan Allen: Hello Chyler, Evan, and Sadie. Thank you so much for making time to talk to me today. I watched the first season of The Way Home, and I found it really interesting. You’re kind of existing in a sci-fi space, but you also bring elements of generational trauma, family redemption, identity…

What do you think it is about the show that’s connecting with viewers the most?

Chyler Leigh: The truth to it, the heartbeat behind it, is really us being able to display really complicated, flawed characters. We’re finding more and more from the audience that they can really genuinely relate to what this character is going through, or specific attributes of that character on our show. We’ve been able to really craft and mold ‘real people.’

For us to be able to jump into a pond and travel back and face (situations from the past). If you had the opportunity to go back into your past, would you change something, and would it have actually been able to have been changed anyway? It’s kind of like those questions where you’re thinking if you could go back in time and meet the younger version of your mom, your brother, your sister… would you, and what could you learn through the experience?

So it was like a mindjob in that sense, where we have an opportunity to do some wild stuff for an audience that would never have invested in it as much.

Evan Williams: I think it’s been rewarding to audiences because they’ve been challenged by it. I think Hallmark audiences are ready for this kind of storytelling, where they’re having to pay attention to specific plot points. There are clues. There are things that they’ll miss. The show rewards repeated watching. So many people have told us they’ve been watching and re-watching the show.

We have a type of story that is both rewarding for older generations and younger generations. They can all watch together and get something out of it. Hallmark fans know that they can tune in and they’re not going to see mutilations. They’re not going to see intravenous drug use or things like that. It’s going to be palatable, but at the same time, it’s challenging and it’s going to be rewarding.

There are character arcs that make them feel like they’re seen, and they can jump on and go for the ride. 

Sadie Laflamme-Snow: When we tuned in to the idea that this was something different, and that was going to push the network and the audience to come on this journey with us, that love and passion for the story is just so clear on set with the crew and with everyone involved. I think that really came through in the way that it all cut together and went to screen. I just think it read for the viewers watching it. The passion, the chemistry, and the commitment to the story and the belief in what we were doing as a creative team, and on every level, the viewers feel that. 

It’s not an accident. It’s been very rewarding for us. 

Allen: Sitting here, it’s obvious you have that chemistry. You’re sitting shoulder to shoulder, and every bit of the body language you’re showing is of a close knit group, a family. That chemistry comes through the screen. It’s really cool to see behind the curtain a little bit and see how much fun you’re having with each other.

So, my generation grew up with Back to the Future, Outlander is streaming now, Frequency kind of exists in a similar space… This kind of time travel nostalgia has been hit before, many times.

What do you think Long Way Home brings to the table that’s new to the genre?

Leigh: Sadie’s character, Alice. She’s such a major connector between all the pieces. Her character has the opportunity to see the past and the present of these relationships that are most formative in her life and kind of see how things have gone from where they were to where they are now. 

But the magic of it is really that pond, and the character of the actual pond. If it wasn’t so cold to jump into, I’d really wish we could see it more. 

We really just have these deeply rooted characters that are just sharing this wild, heart-driven journey. 

Williams: Going off of that, you would struggle to classify whether this show is a family drama or a sci-fi show. It really melds the two genres very successfully. It’s rewarding for fans of both. We get lots of feedback from fans, more than we expected, from people who said I never thought I’d be into a time travel show, or… time travel and sci-fi fans who say I never thought I’d be into a Hallmark show. 

That’s so gratifying for us to hear because this has been a thematic risk for Hallmark, moving into this territory. The risk has been rewarded because audiences are ready for it and are ready to be challenged. 

Leigh: It’s also a testament to how much we are really invested in telling the story, but also what we’ve created. We aren’t joking when we say it’s magical, because the way that we’ve all bonded, the way that we work together, the ways that we push each other, the way that we laugh and we cry with each other… What you see on camera is what you get behind it.

Williams: We really lucked out. 

Laflamme-Snow: The sci-fi piece is something the show couldn’t live without, but at the same time, when you’re in the kitchen you don’t feel like you’re in a sci-fi show. I think people go along with Alice’s journey, where she’s finding it hard to separate the two worlds. 

You want so badly for the teen versions of Kat and Elliot to be able to come through the pond and join the modern world. The viewers go on that journey with her. You feel really involved, and want to hold on to what that sci-fi element offers. 

Leigh: From a creative, technical standpoint, they worked it out down to the lenses that were used when we were filming. The actual tone was more golden in 1999 in the kitchen scenes, and when you come to 2023, in the kitchen scenes it’s got a more blue tint to it. Everything has been thought of, and is extremely intentional. When you go back and watch it with that in mind, thinking of the creative choices, the tone in general is quite differentiated. 

That’s where it’s wonderful for people to go back and look at it again, and they go “Oh my god, that makes so much sense.”

Allen: This is the Hallmark Channel’s first time at New York Comic Con. Have any of you been to a convention before? Are you into any comic books? Do you have any nerdy fandoms that you can share with us?

Leigh: I’ve been to conventions in the past. This is my first New York convention. I attended San Diego in the past, so I am thrilled to be here. I want to hit the floor so badly. I think it’s phenomenal that we’ve been invited. And… favorite comic book? Oh, God. Someone else go, because that’s going to take me a minute.

Williams: I used to read a book called Witchblade, which I LOVED. The artist from that (Michael Turner) went on to do a book called Fathom, which I also loved, and I always thought it would make a wicked movie. 

Laflamme-Snow: This is my very first Comic Con ever, and my very first introduction to the scene. I’m going to have to take some inspiration from what I see here today, and then go home and study up. Everything looks really cool, but it’s new for me. 

Williams: We’re really just excited for fans to discover our show, and similar to what you said, discover it for the first time, because it is not at all what people expect. As many expectations as we dashed in the first, in the second season, it is tripled. So, get ready.

Allen: Thank you all very much for your time. This has been surreal, and I’m for it.

The Way Home Season 1 is currently available for streaming with subscription on Hallmark Movies Now, Peacock, and Fubo. It is available for purchase on Prime Video. Season 2 is currently in production.