Kansas City’s Katherine McNamara goes from superhero shows to a Hallmark romance
For actress Katherine McNamara, the offer to star in a Hallmark Channel movie felt right on two fronts: for its connection to her Kansas City hometown and for the film’s message of acceptance and openness.
“It’s very circuitous to me given that Hallmark originated in Kansas City,” says McNamara, who stars in “Love, Classified,” premiering at 7 p.m. April 16 on Hallmark Channel. “When the offer came through, I was quite thrilled to be a part of it.”
Airing as part of Hallmark Channel’s “Spring Into Love” programming event, “Love, Classified” centers on a family splintered by loss.
Romance novelist Emilia (Melora Harden) returns to her hometown and has to confront the children she left behind after the death of her husband, their father. Emilia’s daughter Taylor, played by McNamara, is a small-business owner who uses an app to find a potential love interest who turns out to be another woman, Franki (Arienne Mandi). The couple do share a kiss but it’s not the first kiss between a same-sex couple in a Hallmark program — “The Christmas House” in 2020 and the “Good Witch” finale in June got there first and second.
“The thing that I loved about ‘Love, Classified’ in particular is the message behind it,” McNamara says. “It’s a new chapter for Hallmark, and they’re taking this leap to telling a story that’s a bit more open. I love the fact that it’s just a story about letting love surprise you and letting love find you and and being open to whatever comes your way.”
Playing an LGBTQ character on TV
McNamara, who grew up homeschooled in Lee’s Summit, had just gotten home from a trip earlier this year when the offer to star in the film came through, resulting in a whirlwind turnaround to get her to the movie’s set in British Columbia 24 to 48 hours later.
“Doing a Hallmark movie at some point has always been something I’ve wanted to do just because of the Kansas City connection and I think it really just made it even more fortuitous, and even more enticing, that this is something that hits very close to home for me, particularly about this story,” McNamara says. “There’s a lot of inclusion in this film, but there aren’t a lot of labels, which is something that is really important for a lot of kids that I’ve talked to, especially with ‘Shadowhunters’ and ‘Arrow’ being very prevalent in the LGBTQ+ communities.”
In addition to co-starring in “Maze Runner” movies, McNamara starred in the 2016-19 Freeform series “Shadowhunters.” She went on to play Mia Smoak in The CW’s “Arrow” and its connected superhero shows (a proposed spin-off, “Green Arrow and the Canaries,” that would have starred McNamara as the new Green Arrow, got scuttled, at least in part due to the pandemic, McNamara says). Those TV projects featured prominent LGBT characters and storylines.
“I’ve heard so many stories of people that are trying to figure out how they feel and where they fit in this whole spectrum of sexuality and love and everything else,” McNamara says. “I think telling a story in the same way that ‘Schitt’s Creek’ did about just loving for the sake of love and being open to connecting with a person … and you can figure out your personal identity as you go along and that can change.”
McNamara says aspects of Taylor’s story will be relatable to many viewers due to the pandemic.
“A lot of us have been through this very full-circle spectrum of feeling extremely isolated and craving some kind of connection, any kind of connection with another person,” she says. “And that’s the whole concept of this film: You see different people in different phases of their lives, in different situations and even in different kinds of relationships, be it romantic or otherwise, reconnecting.”
Katherine McNamara’s acting career
McNamara said her first time back on a traditional set since the onset of the pandemic came last year with a guest role on The CW’s “The Flash,” reprising her “Arrow” character.
“On day two (of filming ‘The Flash’) I realized that I was happier than I’d been in two years, because I felt myself again. I had a purpose. I was back in my normal routine,” she says. “It’s the organized chaos of films. That is what I love and what I crave.”
That’s been true for McNamara since her earliest days acting on camera, beginning with 2008’s “Matchmaker Mary,” filmed in Kansas City. By then, performing was already second nature, from ballet classes at age 2 to dancing in Raytown Arts Council’s “The King and I” at 11 to roles at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, the New Theatre & Restaurant, and The Coterie that followed. In 2010 at 14, McNamara landed in the cast of a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” on Broadway.
“Going back to the stage is something that I would love to do and would jump at the opportunity to do,” McNamara says during a Zoom interview from San Diego, where she participated in the reading of a new play. “I always say I was raised artistically in the Kansas City theater community that not only taught me how to be a risk-taking creative but also to have true work ethic and to put ego aside for the sake of the story.”
Sondheim’s death last fall was a blow to theater fans and performers alike.
“He was such a special person and a genius in so many ways and you can tell by the outpouring of love and stories and support,” McNamara says. “He would come see our show every two weeks and he hosted us all at his home. … I was 14 at the time. He didn’t have to take the time to even have a conversation with me and yet he did every time and he really made every person feel seen and worthwhile and understood. You can see that through his work as well.”
What’s next for the Kansas City native
As for McNamara’s upcoming work, she hasn’t gotten the call for another visit to the “Arrow”-verse but she may be back on The CW in the near future in a different capacity. She’s been cast in “Walker: Independence,” a pilot for a prequel series to The CW’s “Walker” (think: The CW version of what “1883” is to “Yellowstone”). McNamara will play Abby Walker, a high-society woman from Boston who moves West.
McNamara reunited with her “Shadowhunters” co-star Dominic Sherwood for “Return to the Shadows,” a rewatch podcast debuting April 11.
And she hopes, “come hell or high water,” to make it back to Kansas City for the in-person return of the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend charity event June 24-25. The fundraiser, benefiting pediatric cancer research at Children’s Mercy Hospital, was forced online the past two years because of the pandemic.
“The holidays and the Big Slick, those are the two times (a year) I try to block out time and go to Kansas City, Kansas,” McNamara says. “It’s such a special weekend and it’s so lovely to see the community come together in so many different ways.”
Freelance writer Rob Owen: RobOwenTV@gmail.com or on Facebook and Twitter as RobOwenTV.
This story was originally published April 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kansas City’s Katherine McNamara goes from superhero shows to a Hallmark romance."