Jill Scott is about to pull at our heartstrings just in time for the holidays!
In the first installment of Lifetime’s Highway to Heaven event movie series, Scott will portray Angela Stewart, an angel sent back to earth to help others in need. The film is a contemporary take on Michael Landon’s iconic ’80s television series Highway to Heaven. For Scott, this is a full-circle moment as she used to watch the show with her late grandmother.
“Highway to Heaven came along for me at a great time,” said the “Golden” singer in an exclusive interview with S&A. “It’s sweet-natured. It’s kind, it’s thoughtful, it’s loving and it’s patient. I actually picked up the script and didn’t even read it. I was like, ‘Yep, I’m gonna do this for my grandma.’ This was our show, we watched it together faithfully and although she’s long gone–she left me years ago–it makes me proud to remember her in this way.”
Scott stars alongside Barry Watson who plays junior high school principal Bruce Banks as they work to intervene in the life of a troubled student, Cody (Ben Daon), and his father Jeff (Robert Moloney) and aunt Vanessa (Victoria Bidewell) who are grieving the tragic loss of Cody’s mother.
S&A sat down with both Watson and Scott to share how the new film, Highway to Heaven, will bring light to what feels are extremely dark times.
1. On restoring faith
As we are wrapping up year two of living with the pandemic, a film like Highway to Heaven is on a mission to restore faith in humanity.
“I think that, based on what I’m seeing and hearing from so many people, that we are very much losing faith in humanity,” Scott shared. “That even with the government giving out loans or people abusing that, or with COVID and asking people to wear masks to be considerate of others, we’re faced with the complete opposite of love and care. It’s been a very challenging time. Highway to Heaven is sweet-natured and so you’re not going to see a lot of ugliness [in this film.]”
2. On continuing a legacy
The original Highway To Heaven series starred Landon, who died in 1991. Now, his legacy remains alive through the new film where his widow, Cindy Landon, served as an executive producer.
“I’m just happy to be a part of this and to have some sort of responsibility to what Michael Landon brought to his work and his shows,” Watson shared. “I’m just really proud of it and proud to have done this with Jill. I think we made a good team.”
Scott says that looking for the good in people is what the original series was all about and is what will continue in the film.
“I really think that the world has just gotten so dark, we’ve gone so left,” she expressed. “I’m for the dark. I’m for the left too now, because I think that there’s balance in that, but we’re missing the balance. We’re missing the sweetness and we’re missing the goodness. We’re just looking for the good in people, that’s it, that’s all we wanted and that’s what the original Highway to Heaven was really all about. Finding the good in people and reminding them that they are loved. It’s crazy out here and it can be such a deterrent to being gentle, to listening, and to having patience.”
She hopes the film will serve to remind people of their goodness.
“I’m hoping that this will remind people that they’re still good and that there’s good in all of us,” Scott said. “Go ahead and let it show. Be an angel to somebody.”
Highway to Heaven premieres on Lifetime Saturday, November 6th @ 8 p.m. ET.
Watch the full interview below:
