Interview: Candace Cameron Bure of “Finding Normal”

It was great to catch up with Candace Cameron Bure to hear about her new film, “Finding Normal,” premiering this week on GMC-TV.  She plays a brilliant type-A surgeon who is completely focused on status and her career until she gets stuck in a small town and sees a different way of life.

What is the definition of normal? 

Is there one. I don’t know.  Normal is different for everyone.  For me finding my normal I think it really is about finding balance in life because I’ve lived in a lot of places and the truth is I know who I am and where I like to live. I am a city girl and I do love staying busy. And I love working and I love my family and my children and my husband and all those things. I don’t think that for everyone that it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go out and move to the country and live rural life to find what’s important to you. but it’s about being able to stop and smell the roses  or make sure that whatever you are doing, whether you are working or you’re with your family or you’re spending time on your own that you’re really connected in those moments. And just enjoying them. Every moment of what you’re doing.

Tell me a little bit about your character and about the story.

I play Lisa Leland, an LA doctor who is moving to the Hamptons with her doctor boyfriend. And she just cares about herself, her life, and her own happiness. And all the stuff that she can have. After driving to the Hamptons she gets stuck in this little town with real people who are doing real life in a hardworking kind of way. And that’s where she ends up finding herself and finding that there is more to life than just her own selfish desires.

So in a way you were experiencing some of what your character experienced in exposure to small-town life.

I totally was. We all were.

I understand it was shot in Louisiana.

Yes, and we had a blast. It was in this little town of Columbia. The population was just over 300 people.  The first time we drove through it even I was like, “Is this a real working town?” Because it was like a half a block. The whole town. It was so tiny and just in the middle of nowhere.  I stayed at someone’s house. It was like there weren’t even hotels around.  But the town was so excited to have us and to have a film crew in there.  

How long were you there?

We shot this movie very fast. We shot it in 12 days. Which was insane. I have never done a movie that quickly.  We basically shot two six-day weeks and just produced a great little movie. 

Did you think about what your characters background might have been? What her family might have been? To make her think that the things were important that she thought were important?

I did. I thought a lot about that because certainly your family has an influence on you and in what you believe to be important. And so I figured that this woman is so driven in her career so that she could have major luxuries in life. You know probably she had or could have had parents that had the same type of motivation that maybe didn’t give her the love that she needed but just pushed to drive her to be competitive and maybe she was just bossy her whole life. Maybe that’s how her parents expressed love to her. Or it could be the very opposite where she didn’t come from much and maybe it pushed her into overdrive to be able to accomplish things. Maybe she had lazy parents and there was something in here that went “I don’t want to be this way.”  So yes, as an actress I certainly had to put in a backstory.  I chose the first on for her. I certainly gave it thought.

What do you do to teach your children, based on what you just said, to not be like those parents and to teach your children who they are?

Well you know we live in LA.  I know that my children have so many luxuries that so many children around the world do not have.  What I do to balance that is to make sure that we are serving, volunteering and doing charitable work and just helping wherever we can. And take all of those opportunities. So whether it’s at school or whether it’s through our church. I mean even this Saturday we are going with our church and we are putting on a carnival for union rescue mission which houses homeless families. So I take every opportunity I can to bring my children and go serve places. And I think that certainly shows them a perspective of their life and how other people live and builds compassion in their hearts. And gives them the tools to be able to love others and serve others. And that’s a really great feeling.

The last time I talked to you I asked you for a bible verse and you gave me a beautiful one Philippians 1:6. I wondered if you wanted to share a different one this time.

Well one that has kind of been on my heart has kind of been my life verse. Its Esther 4:14. And that it probably the most known verse from Esther. And it says “for if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” And that verse has stood out to me in terms of where I have been put in this industry right now. And if I don’t speak up or if I remain silent then God would not be able to use the things, the tools or the gifts that he has given me to use it for his purposes. So I feel like I kind of cling to that verse in terms of being outspoken about my faith and to be a proponent in family programming. To just keep good things out there on television for families to be able to watch and it encourages me to continue to just pick and choose the right projects that are positive and have good messages.

“Finding Normal” premieres on GMC TV Saturday, May 18th at 7pm, 9pm and 11pmET.