Jane Seymour Reveals What's Behind the 'Unstoppable' Energy She Shares With Her 'Harry Wild' Character
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Jane Seymour, the irresistible actress who’s conquered film and television alike, has stolen our hearts once again with her turn as enigmatic detective Harriet “Harry” Wild in Acorn TV’s Harry Wild. The new series follows Seymour’s Harriet, a retired English professor turned detective who solves crimes with a street-smart man named Fergus (Rohan Nedd) — whom she meets when he mugs her in the pilot. Both hilarious and complex, this light-hearted mystery series includes a reminder in Seymour’s Harriet that women can be passionate, intelligent, and sexy at any age — especially when passionately chasing their calling in life.
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Throughout the decades of fame and heartbreak, the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman star remains as down-to-Earth as ever, and these days, she’s focusing on feeling good and being with her tight-knit family. I spoke with Seymour for SheKnows about how she relates to her multi-faceted character, her family dynamics, her words of wisdom to those struggling to channel her same confidence, and more.
Bernard Walsh / ?Acorn TV/Zoe Prod. DAC / Courtesy Everett Collection.
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One of the things that stood out most to Seymour about Harry Wild was the dynamic she enjoys with Rohan Nedd’s Fergus.
“[Harry Wild] has the stuff to teach [Fergus]. He has [the] stuff to teach her, and the bond between the two of them crosses two generations…I love the generational divide,” Seymour shared.
Seymour may be particularly interested in intergenerational divides at this point in her life because of the close relationship she shares with adult kids: daughter Katherine Flynn, 40, Sean M. Flynn, 36, whom she shares with ex-husband David Flynn, and twin sons Kristopher Steven Keach and John Stacy Keach, 26, whom she shares with ex-husband James Keach.
Seymour’s kids are big fans of Harry Wild — and a big part of what keeps Seymour happy day-to-day.
Being around my kids and being around a lot of their friends who are young and interesting [is my self-care],” she explains. “I just can’t believe that you know, I’m allowed to be part of the social circle and that’s just an amazing privilege.”
With a mother as youthful and energetic as Seymour though, who wouldn’t want her to be part of their inner circle?
“I have a 26-year-old son… He asks, ‘How come you’ve got more energy than me?’” she shares. “He’s a pro baseball player, so I go, ‘Okay, that’s your mom. That’s how I roll. I love life and I don’t want to miss a minute. So, you know, hurry up and catch up. If you want to be part of this.'”
Bernard Walsh / ?Acorn TV/Zoe Prod. DAC / Courtesy Everett Collection.
And speaking of Seymour’s boundless energy — that’s another thing to love about Harry Wild‘s Harriet Wild. Along with her sharp wit and knack for finding herself in outlandish shenanigans, Harriet has an active, thriving sex life that the series doesn’t shy away from showing, a phenomenon that’s all too rare for older female characters in movies and TV. When I ask Seymour what advice she would give women struggling to feel sexy at their age, there’s passion in her voice as she replies.
“I think it’s ridiculous. I mean, a number is a number. Your attitude towards life is what it’s all about. I can think of some very young people who behave very, you know, old and closed off and given up. And, you know, they’re sort of nonstarters. And I can think of many people I know my age and some older who are unstoppable and you just go, ‘Wow, you know, where did you get that energy?'”
If anyone has proven that sexy past 70 is an achievable goal, it’s Jane Seymour. For years, she’s been an active advocate for breaking barriers surrounding aging in the public eye. Whether it be in interviews or on social media, Seymour wants the world to know that you can be sexy, happy, and confident at any age. And over the years, Seymour has gained a repertoire of mottos to live by in her life that help her maintain that point of view.
“I’ve always maintained what my father said, ‘You can only ever do your own best. So you should only ever get mad at yourself if you didn’t do your best, not question whether you did better than someone else,'” Seymour shared. She also treasures a piece of advice from former father-in-law, Richard Attenborough.
“He said, ‘The day you believe in your publicity, you’re dead.’ In other words, they could tell you the best thing in the world one day and the worst thing in the world. You have to just know yourself, who you are, what you’ve done, and how you feel about it.”
So, maybe that’s it — the unstoppable engine behind Seymour is a combination of knowing her worth, staying humble, and avoiding death by comparison. But another view would be to say that Seymour is proof that we all contain multitudes, no matter what age we might be. One minute, Seymour can be the alluring, sharp-tongued Harriet or flaunting her stuff in a swimsuit on Instagram — the next, she’s a hilariously self-described “boring” grandma.
“Boring people…all they do is talk about the grandchild. How boring to have to look at all those photographs, but I’m one of those boring people!” she admits. “I heard one of my grandchildren won a big award for where she lives and where she goes to school. Only two kids got it for being helpful and helping other people and just going out of her way to make people comfortable. And I just thought, how cool is that? That’s the kind of award I’m interested in, and that’s the most important award I can think of. And she’s six!”
We’ll leave you with one final Seymour motto to live your life by, since the actress clearly has it all figured out: “If your heart is open and if your mind is open, you can be accessible and be part of this incredible global community of humanity,” she offers. And Seymour looks forward to doing just that for years to come.
All of Acorn TV’s Harry Wild is out streaming now.
Buy: ‘Harry Wild’ Season 1 $6.99
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity women who have spoken out about ageism.
Launch Gallery: 18 Women Over 50 Whose Bikini Photos Prove That Age Is Just a Number
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