Actress, artist and philanthropist Jane Seymour visited Parade to relive memories from the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman era, reveal her most coveted beauty and fitness tips, and spread the word about her work with the Open Hearts Foundation.
How did you first discover your passion for performing?
“My father was an OB/GYN and my mother had done some Red Cross nursing — so neither of them were performers. When I was very little, I was picked out at school for having flat feet and a speech impediment, so I had to deal with my ‘wuh wuh wuh.’ I had to do a whole kind of speech thing and my parents put me into dance class so that I would have arches in my feet. Of course I ended up dancing the Kirov ballet at Covent Garden, and I play Americans who do nothing but pronounce their Rs. So there you go!”
What was your first major role?
“My first major performance…I suppose that would be in The Nutcracker Suite when I played a Polichinelle (you know, the kids who dance out of the person with the big skirt) and a cavalry mouse. I was a fighting mouse with a horse! I remember doing that with the London Festival Ballet when I was 13 years old and I was so excited. I was also disappointed because I had hair down to here and I was praying and hoping I would get to be Clara. I didn’t get to be Clara, but I did get to be a rat and a Polichinelle.
If you weren’t an actress, what would you be?
“If I wasn’t a performer, I would probably be what I am now also, which is a painter, artist, designer. I love anything to do with being creative. I learned when I was younger how to make my own clothes, how to knit, how to crochet. I had my own company when I was 14 or 15 doing that. I probably would have done more of that.”
You’ve had an illustrious acting career. Is there one role that you consider most fondly?
“It’s very hard for me to pick one favorite role. Somewhere in Time because Chris Reeve and I just adored each other and that was just a special, magical movie. Dr. Quinn because there was, again, special chemistry between me and Joe Lando. It was just amazing material, when I look back on it. It’s on in 98 countries still and it plays all the time, so it’s timeless and it’s extraordinary. War and Remembrance because my mother went through World War II in a Japanese concentration camp, so that’s very meaningful to me. East of Eden because what an amazing classic role. It’s very hard for me to say one thing, you know?”
What is your favorite memory from the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman era?
“I have so many memories from Dr. Quinn. I think the most remarkable about Dr. Quinn was that nobody, including the network, ever intended it to really be a series. They thought it would be a little like The Producers. You know, ‘Let’s do “Springtime for Hitler” and get rid of our commitments to these people.’ I didn’t know that! I just thought, ‘Wow this is a wonderful and a great part!’ I was telling all the network execs, ‘This is going to be big hit!’ And they said, ‘Why are you saying that?’ I said, ‘Oh, no! It really is.’ And they said, ‘No, no, no. It’s a woman in the lead – that doesn’t work. It’s a family values show – definitely doesn’t work. It’s a period piece – definitely doesn’t work. A medical – nobody’s interested in medicine right now.’ Et cetera, et cetera. How wrong were they?”
Besides you, who’s your favorite Bond girl?
“Well, I am not my favorite Bond girl! Other than me? I think the first one, Ursula Andress, was pretty amazing as I recall, as she came walking out of the ocean there. Favorite Bond girl – hmmm. It’s too hard for me to pick one out because I don’t know the Bond films as well as I should…and it has been awhile.”
What were your favorite TV shows at a child?
“When I was a kid, I grew up with Dr. Kildare and an English show called Emergency — Ward 10. My father being a doctor used to spoil it for us all the time by telling us immediately what the diagnosis was, what the cure was, and what the prognosis was. That was it in the first five minutes! And then he would proceed to spend the rest of the show telling us what they were doing wrong, which is why when I did Dr. Quinn, I made sure that the Smithsonian Institute and a doctor were standing by to make sure we were doing things accurately.”
What advice would you give your 30-year-old self?
“Probably the advice I give my 30-year-old children. I would say, ‘Don’t worry about things so much. Be your own person.’”
Women around the world are dying to know: what is your fitness secret?
“I don’t actually work out that much. I work out about three times a week, if I have time. I do have special things I’ll do: I do stomach crunches – you can do those anytime. I think stretching is really important. Because I used to do ballet, sometimes I’ll just hold the wall and just do a few plies and few ballet moves to keep my legs strong. Ballet barre, you can actually do that anywhere…a hotel room or whatever. Sometimes I’ll just lean against a chair or a table with my body weight and I’ll just bend my knees and strengthen the back of my arms. Because these bits, you have to keep them tight.”
What’s your best beauty tip?
“The most important thing really is to exfoliate really well, to use good creams – they don’t have to be expensive, and to use good sunscreen and stay out of direct sunlight.”
What is the most challenging thing about being a parent?
“The most challenging thing about being a parent is realizing that your children won’t necessarily do the things you want them to do and in the timing you had decided. I think the important thing is to just listen and trust and to hope that some of whatever you passed on to them gets through. Realizing that each child is completely different. They all have their own paths. They all have their own choices. When they turn into teenagers, it’s their job to cut that umbilical cord. Not much fun though!”
On the flip side, what’s the most rewarding aspect of parenting?
“The most rewarding thing was just the other day, [my kids] were all at the house with grandchildren. Nothing like grandchildren. All I can tell you! It’s just such magic when you see your own child being a great mother. Amazing!”
Tell us about the Open Hearts Foundation and your gala May 10.
“The Open Hearts Foundation is our charitable foundation where we raise money for a number of different charities. We highlight people who’ve taken a challenge in their lives and turned it into an opportunity to help others. Then we have this amazing lineup of musicians: we have Delta Rae and Cheap Trick all performing. It’s all happening at our home May 10 and we benefit all these different foundations. What we really are doing is talking about how when you have a challenge in life, you have a unique opportunity to accept it, open your heart and reach out to help someone else. We also now have the new jewelry that deals with change in life.”
Tell us more about the jewelry line — and this new piece, specifically.
“I’m wearing a new piece called ‘The Wave.’ The idea is that you’re going through life and you have this high…[but] that high never lasts, it comes down. For a lot of people, that’s it! But if they think about the wave, the wave lets go of what it no longer needs anymore. As it crashes, it doesn’t go down and stay down, it keeps moving, takes all that experience with it, meets and collaborates with new waters…and creates a new wave. If you go to Kay.com or go to Kay Jewelers, you can see the full selection. It’s huge now! We’ve got Open Heart Angels, Open Heart Keys, we’ve got Peace, Love and an Open Heart.”
How can your fans support the Open Hearts Foundation?
“If you want to be involved, then OpenHeartsFoundation.org is the place to go. It’s very exciting. We’ve got amazing silent auction pieces. We’ve got a lot of celebrities coming — Julianne Hough is going to be there. She’s presenting. It’s going to be an extraordinary evening. Great rock ‘n’ roll music too!”
