The actress opened up to PEOPLE about returning to acting for the emotional Lifetime film
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NEED TO KNOW
- Valerie Bertinelli says she “let down every single guard” to portray a grieving wife in Love, Again
- The actress returned to acting with the new Lifetime project and calls the experience “scary, but fun”
- Costar Eric McCormack also praises Bertinelli as a “leader” who set the tone on set
Valerie Bertinelli didn’t hold back when it came to Love, Again.
At Lifetime’s screening and panel for the emotional new film, held on Thursday, April 30 at the Television Academy in North Hollywood, the actress opened up to PEOPLE about stepping into one of her most vulnerable roles yet and what it took to get there.
“The script,” Bertinelli, 65, says of what drew her in. “Nancy Silvers wrote a ridiculously beautiful, human, humorous, heartbreaking script. And it was something that I’ve been looking for but I didn’t realize I was looking for it.”
In the film, Bertinelli plays Caroline, a woman grappling with the devastating effects of her husband Henry’s early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis — and, eventually, the possibility of opening up her heart again after loss.
Credit: Lifetime
For Bertinelli, the role required a level of emotional exposure she hadn’t tapped into in years. “I could really be that vulnerable and really let down every single guard that I have as an actor, as a human being, and just be there and just do it,” she says. “It was scary because I hadn’t done any acting within four, almost five years… I just really wanted to do the role justice.”
To prepare, Bertinelli says she focused less on technique and more on honesty.
“I just worked really hard at taking down my walls and all the barriers that I have developed over the many decades… and all of the grief and all of the life experiences that I’ve had,” she explains. “I just wanted to have them all right there on the surface and just be raw.”
Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
That process, she adds, came down to trust in both the material and the people around her — and "knowing that if I could just be my most vulnerable self… that I could probably do this." The story also hit close to home. Bertinelli, who has been open about her personal growth in recent years, says she saw pieces of herself reflected in Caroline, although their journeys differ.
“Oh, for sure,” she says. “I don’t know that I would ever want to go through what Caroline went through… but I think because I was writing my book during the middle of this, it really helped me open up and be a little bit more brave.”
Costar Eric McCormack, who plays Leo — a source of comfort and connection for Caroline — also spoke with PEOPLE about the project’s depth being what pulled him in. Working alongside Bertinelli was another highlight, he says. “She’s a leader,” McCormack says. “We talk in the business about number one on the call sheet, and being a good one… someone that sets the tone and sets the standard. And that’s what she does. She’s a pro.”
Love, Again follows Caroline and Henry (Henry Czerny), who have shared a nearly perfect life together for decades before his diagnosis changes everything. As his memory fades, Caroline must navigate the unimaginable. In the film’s trailer, Caroline is seen grappling with Henry’s decline. Later, she begins to find light again through Leo, who reminds her that “happiness comes from finding someone you care about who would walk down the path with you.”
For Bertinelli, that moving arc is what makes the story resonate. “It’s about love, it’s about loss,” she says. “And finding that love with someone else again.”
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Love, Again premieres Saturday, May 9, at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.