Canadian actress Emily Alatalo chatted about starring in the series “Crossroad Springs” on Great American Family.
The synopsis is: “Crossroad Springs” follows the Hamilton family, adult siblings James (Jonathan Stoddard) and Janet (Emily Alatalo), their aging family members, dad, Willis (Shaun Johnston), and Aunt Amy (Kate Drummond), who are eking out a living on Hamilton Ranch with financial hardships and staffing shortages.
James, a pastor in Chicago, and Janet, an ER doctor in a neighboring town, feel called to return home to help the family.
Once there, the siblings encounter the son of the owner of the neighboring farm, Daniel Newman (Jesse Hutch), who are all wary of each other due to a generational feud between the families.
As he settles into his new day-to-day life on the farm, James begins to realize there are no places to worship on the thousands of acres of farms.
There, in the environment of come-as-you-are vibes, barns, rodeo arenas, even outdoors under clear night skies, James starts a cowboy church right there in the place where faith, family, and ranch life go hand in hand.
Starring in ‘Crossroad Springs’
On starring in “Crossroad Springs,” she said, “It has been so much fun! It has been crazy. Everything happened very quickly. So, it all came together really fast and we were kind of scrambling to put everything together.”
“We made it happen somehow, and now, we are about to do Season 2. I am super grateful,” she admitted.
Playing Janet Hamilton in the show
On playing her character, Janet Hamilton, she stated, “I loved playing a doctor. I thought that was really special. I’ve never played a doctor before, and it just made me have a lot of respect for everyone in healthcare and all of the things that they’re dealing with constantly.”
“That role made me realize that they are real people out there who are spending their days caring for others. So, it made me feel grateful for healthcare workers,” she acknowledged.
Lessons learned from the screenplay
On the lessons learned from this screenplay, she reflected, “I think the biggest thing for me when I read the episodes were that, like, it’s time to go back to being wholesome.”
“It brought me back to when I was a child when I felt like such a good person. If someone was not being included or if someone was picked on or if someone needed help with something, we would go over and help and be of service,” she recalled.
“I always felt really good about myself. It gave me a lot of confidence and self-worth to be of service to others. Somewhere in my 20s, I kind of lost that feeling and just became a bit selfish and self-absorbed,” she observed.
“When I read these scripts, it just gave me that wholesome feeling of being young again, where you’re reading all of these stories and about these people who do the right things,” she noted.
“These people still have struggles, of course, and they’re definitely not perfect people, but overall, they do the right thing. This was a beautiful reminder that I felt I needed,” she added.
Working with the cast
On working with the cast in this series, she stated, “It was so awesome working with everyone in the cast. I absolutely love Jonathan Stoddard, who played my brother. We had so much fun.”
“Normally, I work with a lot of Canadian actors, where they work together, and usually, the American actors work together. This blend just felt so serendipitous and cool,” she noted.
Working with her real-life partner Franco Lo Presti
On working with her real-life partner Franco Lo Presti, she said, “Working with Franco is my favorite thing in the world. To see like your partner doing the thing he is passionate about and is so good at is the most attractive thing in the world.”
“Franco is such an artist. I just love seeing him get into character and do script work. He is so focused and so dedicated,” she admitted.
“I just have so much respect for how he prepares for a role and how he shows up. Franco is just so disciplined and so great at his craft,” she added.
‘Christmas in Maple Hills‘ for Great American Family
Alatalo recalled doing “Christmas in Maple Hills” for Great American Family, where she starred opposite Marcus Rosner. “I loved that one,” she said. “I thought it was such a great movie and I loved the flashbacks storylines with the grandparents in the ’50s and all the war things.”
“I thought that was really cool because with a lot of these Christmas movies, it’s just your two leads kind carrying the whole movie, and you get a little bit sick of seeing their faces,” she observed.
“So I really appreciated having the other actors to help us carry the story, but that one was fun. I loved that one,” she reiterated.
Tim Rozon
Alatalo had great words about working with Tim Rozon (“Schitt’s Creek”) in various projects. “Tim is so great! We’ve worked together four times now.”
“In ‘Purgatory Jack,’ I had a smaller role in that one. Then, we did a cool action film called ‘Hunting Grounds’ directed by Derek Barnes and it was so much fun. Tim was terrifying in that; he was so good and so scary,” she elaborated.
“Tim is really special, such a gentleman, professional, and just really good at his job. He is just so awesome,” she added.
The digital age
On being an actress in the digital age, Alatalo said, “Everything is changing so often. So, it feels hard to keep up with what matters and marketing yourself. I don’t have any social media at all. I think that’s really good for my mental health.”
Alatalo continued, “I can barely keep up with text messages and emails. I found that I had a hard time using social media responsibly. I was scrolling for 10 hours. I have so many friends who just check it about 15 minutes a day, where they post a picture here and there. For me, I felt it was controlling my life.”
“So, I decided to get rid of my social media because I think you can get addicted to it. As of now, I’m sober from social media,” she added.
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she revealed, “Family.”
“Franco and I are just in such a beautiful spot,” she said. “We are married now and we’re settled in and we’ve got our little nest here in Los Angeles, and we are spending a ton of time with our families in Canada because we shoot at least half the year in Canada. Then, we have our own little family here in Los Angeles.”
“It’s nice to kind of focus on that, and work has just been steady. We’ve been so lucky to have had consistent work, so it’s nice to be able to just focus on family and relationships,” she added.
Success
On her definition of success, she said, “I think success, for me, means being able to go get a coffee from a coffee shop and not worrying if the card won’t go through.”
“I’m pretty easy to please,” she admitted. “If I have enough money in my bank to buy myself a coffee, I’m pretty happy.”
“It doesn’t take much for me to feel successful,” she added.
Message for her fans
Alatalo underscored her appreciation for her fans, who has been a vital part of her acting journey.
“Thank you for watching. I’m so grateful because if no one is watching and no one cares, then I don’t get to do what I love, and I don’t get to live the life that I live. So, thank you for everything,” she said, effusively.
Closing thoughts on ‘Crossroad Springs’
For fans and viewers, she expressed about the show, “I love the wholesome aspect of it, which is a reminder that life is better when we are kind to one another and when we are doing our best to be good people… and being good to one another.”
“I really want them to feel uplifted and remember that the world can be a beautiful place,” she admitted.
“Remember, it’s not always going to be perfect, and there are going to be scary things happening, but little acts of kindness can make such a big difference,” Alatalo concluded.
