It would be impossible to find anyone who isn’t a massive fan of the lovely, talented Katherine McNamara.
She’s a spark of light whenever she appears in any project, completely embodying whatever role she plays and resonating with audiences in such a wonderful way with her performances.
It’s why we were ecstatic to learn she’d be kicking off The CW’s new Harlequin Romance slate with Montana Mavericks.
Through the film, we see how The CW modernizes the romance genre and what a stalwart legacy name like Harlequin brings to the table.
We can tell you right now that they’ve succeeded in that. Montana Mavericks is one of the most delightful, emotional, and endearing films.
It’s largely in part because of McNamara’s sympathetic portrayal of city-slicker Heather, who is set on this path of self-discovery in the aftermath of losing her mother.
The film leads with raw emotion and warmth, tackling grief and loss, while conveying heart, humor, and love. And it never feels heavy. Instead, it’s inspiring and “cozy,” as McNamara references in our exclusive interview with her.
Montana Mavericks has a beautiful way of striking all the right chords for a romance. While very much at the forefront of the film, Heather never feels lost in that particular narrative.
It’s Heather’s story, rooted in her journey to find herself again in the aftermath of her grief, reconnect with Montana after spending so long in New York City, and still juggling her friendships with Emily and Jess.
Career, life, friendship, and love all converge in a heartwarming film that adds depth to the traditional love story, and that’s what the partnership between The CW and Harlequin brings to the table.
Montana Mavericks is the perfect debut to give us an inkling of what the slate will deliver, balancing the sweet with the heat (it’s sultry, too), while also providing a full-bodied, empowering story that never loses sight of its strong female lead.
It’s a large part of what attracted McNamara to the role in the first place.
“It was such a multifaceted love story,” she shared.
“And it was taking the classic format of Harlequin romance and the heart and the thrill and the adventure and the sweeping landscapes that we all love from those novels and modernizing it in a way that really fits CW and brings the comedy as well into such a beautiful story.”
For Heather, in Montana Mavericks, she’s at an interesting crossroads in her life that’s instantly relatable for viewers, no matter what their walk in life, and it makes her an instantly relatable character.
It’s certainly something that made McNamara connect with the character and film.
“I think we find Heather at a place where, as often happens in life, when it rains, it pours. She’s just lost her mother after having the biggest success of her life with her best-selling novel, and now is kind of left picking up the pieces, wondering, What’s my next chapter? Where do I go from here? What do I do now that my whole life has changed in good and bad ways?”
“And then when she finds out that she has inherited this ranch in Montana, she is forced to take the literal bull by the horns and confront the very things she’s been running from.
“But I find for myself too, every time I go back home and revisit my roots and learn more about my family history, it sort of resets and recenters me in a way that I think Heather really finds in this film.”
Of course, Heather doesn’t just recenter and find herself in Montana.
Although we must note that, while there’s gorgeous sweeping scenery throughout the film, like many movies and shows these days, it’s actually stunning Calgary, Alberta, Canada that serves as Montana here.
Heather also gets to reconnect with someone from her past, Cliff, and she finds love and companionship that’s more collaborative than compromising who she is, which makes you root for this pairing right from the start.
We called them HeathCliff, at the risk of getting all “Wuthering Heights” as McNamara joked, but we’ll leave the shipping portmanteau up to you!
“I think what’s so beautiful about their relationship is that each one is so independent, and each one is so set in their ways. And yet there’s something about the other, the fact that they have this familiarity from their childhood, and yet they’ve become such different people, ” McNamara muses.
“It takes them a while to realize that they each have their own issues to overcome within themselves, but also something they can learn from each other and something that is only possible through the different perspective that the other person can provide them, if only they’re willing to take the leap and see it.
“And I think that’s something that’s, you know, not only the most fun and beautiful thing about a new relationship is getting to learn how you are with your partner and how your partner operates and how you operate together, but also being able to look inward and make new discoveries and learn and grow as an individual as well.”
Katherine’s passion for the film and its themes is palpable when we spoke with her, and she thoroughly enjoyed the strong female friendships that are prominent in Montana Mavericks.
Not only does Heather embark on her own journey of self-discovery and romance, but Montana Mavericks also never neglects Emily and Jess in the narrative.
They’re more than just supporting characters, and they receive full-fledged arcs of their own that are just as satisfying to watch.
“I think the most important thing is that each of these women, and this is really important to Annie Bradley, our director as well, as to myself, is that each of these women is running from something different. And each of these women has something they need to confront…
“We see all of these women grow as characters and as people in this film.”
While it seems Katherine McNamara and her cast were close-knit, there was a four-legged cast member who was the most fun to work with, and she delves into that and the fun fashion from this film in our full interview as well.
So check out the video below!
Montana Mavericks premieres Sunday, November 16 at 8/7c on The CW!
We’ll also have a full review for you! So don’t forget to check back in!
Interviews like this take time and care — and we hope it shows.
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