Interview: Candace Cameron Bure of “Finding Normal”

Posted on May 16, 2013 at 8:00 am

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.

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Interview: Candace Cameron Bure of ‘Truth Be Told’

Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:00 am

“Family Movie Night,” sponsored by Proctor & Gamble and Walmart, has produced another fine film for all ages. Candace Cameron Bure (“Full House,” “Make It or Break It”) stars in “Truth Be Told,” the story of a marriage counselor who is not married. When she has a job opportunity that requires a husband, she tells a lie, and enlists an old friend and his children to pretend to be her family.

I spoke to Candace about the role and about her work and her ministry, speaking about her faith and giving back to the community.

Tell me about “Truth Be Told.”

I couldn’t have been more excited when I was sent this script. I had seen some of the Family Movie Night shows and said to myself, “I want to do one of those!” When I read the script, it was absolutely perfect. I fell in love with Annie Morgan, the character I play. She’s a family and marriage counselor. It was something I can totally relate to, and family and marriage are so important to me. I do a lot of speaking at conferences and churches about family and marriage, so it was a topic I am passionate about. The premise is that one little lie snowballs into this huge mess and honesty is always the best policy.

That’s what I love about this series. These are not kids’ films that adults can tolerate or movies directed at adults without offensive content but true family movies with characters and situations that everyone in the family can understand and will want to talk about later.

I appreciate it as a mom. I have 12, 11, and 9 year-olds. I loved the fact that Proctor & Gamble and Walmart teamed up to give us this time on a Friday night when we can sit down with our families and watch a movie that we don’t have to worry about. It gives us things to think about and to open up some conversations with the family. “What happens if you tell a lie?” Depending on the age of your kids it can be a very simple conversation but you can turn it to a situation you and your family have recently experienced. I can open the door for something else your child has been struggling with. You use it as a platform for whatever dialogue needs to be exposed in your family at this time.

What happens in the film?

My character is offered a job at a radio station and because she is a marriage counselor, they assume she is married. And family is very important to the man who owns the company. She is probably not going to get the job unless she has a husband. She runs into an old college friend who is a widower and convinces him and his children to pretend to be her family for the weekend. The relationship develops — it is definitely a romantic comedy.

What is your experience like as you speak to groups about your faith?

I’ve been speaking and sharing my Christian faith for seven or eight years, and now I am speaking to the bigger groups like Extraordinary Women and Women of Joy. I actually just got back from a conference with Extraordinary Women. Sometimes there’s anywhere from 1500-15,000 ladies I will speak to. It is an amazing opportunity for me to share my faith and what is important to me and ultimately the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think I am as encouraged or maybe even more to see that God allows me to be used in that sense. These ladies will tell me they are encouraged by hearing my story and yet I am in awe that I am just a person getting this opportunity so I feel very privileged. It’s a very different thing from being on television. Most people would think that you would automatically be comfortable if you’re an actress to go up on stage to speak but it is actually very different. It’s not the number of people that scares me. The more there are, the easier it is for me. But it is a very different thing to open your heart and share your heart and be exposed in that way, not reading a memorized script or acting a different character. I get much more nervous speaking live at an event. You throw a camera on me and I am comfortable!

You have written about your faith as a way to manage food issues.

I had an emotional attachment to food. I ran to food for comfort, to fill a void instead of realizing I had to run to God for those things. I learned to honor my body by eating healthily and exercising but really by putting my faith into the forefront of my relationship with food by honoring my body as a temple God gave me and learning to run to Him for those needs and not to turn to food for it. I don’t enjoy getting up at 5 am some mornings but I see it as a necessity to take care of my body. To eat healthy, that’s all about the choices I make whether in a restaurant or the grocery story. The food’s not making it for me. There are so many tools out there to get us on the right track and help us make better choices. We don’t value those choices as much as we should. One choice a day, one choice an hour. If you look at it this way, it’s not so overwhelming.

Do you have a favorite Bible passage?

I don’t like that question because there are so many good ones! But the one that’s been on my computer desktop recently is Philippians 1, Verse 6. I just go, “God’s good work is in all of us and He will carry that on.” I don’t need to worry about it, I don’t need to stress over it. I know God has a plan set before me and I need to obediently just follow the footsteps that he’s laid out and keep my eyes focused on Him and He will carry out that good work to completion. And whatever that is, it might not be my own expectation but He knows what that is.

It’s everything. We read the Bible together and we talk about verses that can help us focus for that day. If we have a need or a worry for that day we find verses where it talks about it. We go to church. My kids are involved in Awana and youth group. My daughter has started leading worship and singing at her chapel. They go to a Christian school. So it is in every aspect of our lives but most important, my husband and I try to be that example, to show them that it is not just words but by our own actions and what we do.

Truth Be Told