To many, she is quite the international treasure. From playing a Bond girl in the 1973 film Live and Let Die to the romantic lead opposite the late Christopher Reeve in the 1980’s Somewhere in Time, as well as six seasons (and two films) as Dr. Michaela Quinn in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-2001), Jane Seymour has run the gamut with her wide array of acting roles in her lifetime. To younger generations, her comedic performance as Kathleen “Kitty Kat” Cleary in the 2005’s Wedding Crashers and playing Lindsay Lohan’s mother in the 2024 hit Netflix
Now three seasons into the series, with new episodes premiering Mondays on Acorn TV and at 9pm ET on BBC America, what is Seymour enjoying most about the evolution she is seeing from her character on Harry Wild?
Seymour said, “I’m intrigued to see what they’re going to write for me with a potential love interest or love triangle or something like that. All of these things will be behind the standalone murder, but like anything in life, something happens - real-life goes on at the same time, and that’s what makes it so good. There’s a whole real-life that’s going on behind-the-scenes.”
Speaking of behind-the-scenes, Seymour is also an executive producer on Harry Wild, but hasn’t stopped there on ways to expand upon her professional career. Beyond her film and television commitments, she continues to lead her Jane Seymour Designs company, vocally championing Crépe Erase skincare products and her popular Open Hearts Jewelry Collection. When listing out her various passion projects during our conversation at SeriesFest in Denver, Seymour informed me of even more industries, including art, that she is involved in today.
MORE FOR YOU
“I go to Calgary at the end of the month - there’s a huge, 8-foot bronze of mine going in a public space in Calgary and an art show.” She added: “I’ve gotten the rights to a wonderful novel [The Truth About Horses] that went to number one on Amazon
With everything going on in Seymour’s world right now and all of the industries that she has chosen to have a hand in, I couldn’t help but ask if she would refer to herself as an entrepreneur today.
Seymour said, “Oh yes. Very much so! I also take my art work and turn it into fabrics. If you go on JaneSeymour.com, you’ll see all my textiles - all directly from my paintings. Scarves, kimonos - I did handbags. Now, it looks like I’ll be doing more of the jewelry.”
She added: “To me, this is a movement. I have a whole line called ‘Peace, Love and An Open Heart’ and the concept is that we cannot have peace in the world until we open our hearts to the differences and the challenges of others. If we cannot with an open heart, as in being open-minded as well, into understanding what their issues are, what their culture is, what their differences are - we need a lot more of that. The other side of it is, everything that’s going on in the world, whether it’s the wars or it’s the planet or it’s just the mental health of people - huge one. Always the discrepancy of money at all - if you’re sick, you can’t get help. I mean, it is all so big.”
Seymour continues to turn her hopes and wants into real action and change through her Open Hearts Foundation, which empowers emerging and growing nonprofit organizations. Being a co-founder, she went on to tell me that she and her organization seek out other organizations “that are smaller, that are on the ground - they’re actually making a difference when the government or the big NGOs are not able to take care of them.” While mentioning to me her philanthropy work with homelessness and battered women, Seymour says that there are 19 organizations at any given time that the Open Hearts Foundation is supporting.
Being the entrepreneur that she is today, what advice does Seymour have for other entrepreneurs, who are striving to standout and be different?
“Well, I think - I do this even with films is, who’s the end user? I start with that. Yes, I’ve got a story, I got something I love - or yes, I’ve got a product, something I love. Who actually benefits from this? Is it useful to them? Is it something that will liven up their wardrobe and make them feel good about themselves? Is it creative, that they’ll enjoy it in their home? Is it meaningful, that it’s a piece of jewelry that they wear that tells themselves in the world to keep their hearts and minds open?”
Seymour added: “I had a chat with my kids a long time ago and they said, ‘Mom, what’s the most important thing in life?’ And I said, ‘Be authentic because if you’re authentic, then you don’t have to apologize - that’s who you are.’ So, I think if there’s something in common with all the things that I do, it’s authentic - not pretending to be anyone or anything that I’m not, unless I’m acting in a role, and even then, I’m authentic to that character as I can possibly be.”
She continued by praising the work her own children are doing today, from art and photography to a music career to assisting young athletes. “Everyone is really creative - they really are - and they’re all about helping others and giving back. There’s nobody running around feeling their entitlement to anything. It’s actually not easy being the kid of somebody that’s well-known because however good you are at what you do, someone says, ‘Well, I mean, excuse me - your mom.’ And I go, ‘Excuse me! I do not play the guitar. I don’t sing. I’ve never written a song in my life - can’t play the drums - I’ve tried. No way, I’m not.’ If you ask me which career I’m most proud of, I think today I’d probably say being a mother.”
Circling back to her Harry Wild series, which shows great promise in a future beyond its current third season, I concluded my conversation with Seymour by wondering, with us all living in a world today where we seem to have endless video streaming options available right at our fingertips, what is it about her crime drama series that audiences should take a real chance on, if they have not done so already?
Seymour said, “It’s funny, it’s intelligent, it’s a definite whodunnit, and it touches you as a human being and it’s brilliantly written.”
