“I believed in this from the moment that I read it,” Angie Harmon said of her new Lifetime Original Movie Buried in Barstow during a TCA press conference. The actress and executive producer had been working to tell the story for years before it ended up at Lifetime, where her hit show Rizzoli and Isles was crushing ratings in reruns. “There and I was speaking with Tanya(Lopez) about that. And we just started talking, and she was like, ‘What would you like to do?’ And I'm just like, ‘Well, I'd like to shoot Barstow and I'd like to shoot it where I live, so I can be home for my daughters.’ And Tanya was like, ‘Okay, absolutely!’ And I just went, ‘What? Wait, really?’ And yeah, and it's just been amazing.”
(Lifetime)
Angie Harmon stars as Hazel King, a former hit woman who left the grit of Las Vegas behind for a more peaceful life as a mother in Barstow with her daughter Joy, played by Lauren Richards. “This is my first lead role in a project, and it was, can I just say, I am so blessed,” the actress gushed, saying she learned a lot from all of her co-stars. “I had nights when I would come back to the hotel, and I would just be like what is my life, and not even just that, but also there were times I would get a little — I would have some anxiety, because this is Angie’s baby, and I was just like, Lauren, you know, don’t screw this up. Like you have to do as great as you can do. Like bring your best attitude, be as professional as you can be,’ you know what I mean? I was like this is not only a dream come true for me, but like Angie said, it was dreams come true for her, so I just wanted to make sure I brought my A-game.”
Hazel’s peaceful life in Barstow is interrupted by the arrival of Elliot, played by Kristoffer Polaha. “He's a bit of a mystery,” Kristoffer explained about his character. “He tumbles in like a tumbleweed into this diner and he gets entangled with Angie's character, Hazel. We don't really know who he is or where he comes from, although we do find out that he's a doctor.”
“This is actually a new experience for me,” Angie Harmon said about headlining and producing a planned series of films. “I kind of didn't really understand how we were supposed to do this and then film it and then how much of the original script we're supposed to put in this one. So it was kind of a learning experience for me. I mean, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm curious to see how the audience responds to it. But then I just sort of justified it in my head as we go to the theatre or we watch movies that are two hours long, and then there's a sequel, and then there's a third. So I was just like, oh, well, they've been doing this since the beginning of filmmaking.”
Filming took place in North Carolina where Angie Harmon lives, utilizing locations that have never been used for film or television production before. Hazel owns and operates a diner in the story and a real restaurant in Shelby was used as the setting. “They have wood paneling on the ceiling, which apparently was grandfathered in because obviously, wood is hyper-flammable and it's a barbecue restaurant, so the whole thing would go up,” Kristoffer shared. “Imagine walking into this room and the walls are paneled with this wood, the ceiling is paneled with wood, you've got all of these booths. And then, Howie Deutch had this incredible DP, this guy named Robert who lit it… The whole thing was lit in this cinematic purples and pinks and the ceiling was shining. And I was like, okay, this is something different. And it looks amazing.”
“This is my heart project, and I’ve loved this script since I read it and started shopping it around 3 ½ years ago,” Angie Harmon reaffirmed. “Our entire cast across the board is just so awesome and so wonderful.”
Don’t miss Buried in Barstow tonight at 8/7c on Lifetime.