Leah Thompson could also be 65 years outdated, however the multi-hyphenate has maybe by no means felt extra creatively fulfilled. The actress, who grew to become identified within the Eighties in Again to the long run And A type of great, made the leap behind the digital camera within the mid-2000s as a director. In 2026, Lea added a brand new bow to her string by changing into govt producer of USA Community’s hit drama collection. Anna Pigeonwhich has now been renewed for a second season.
Anna Pigeon It was a venture that Léa had been making an attempt to launch for 12 years. The Bell Media/USA Community procedural relies on Nevada Barr’s e book collection, first printed in 1993, and is about within the breathtaking however terrifying world of Glacier Nationwide Park in northwest Montana, the place Lea has had a house for years and the place her dad and mom have lived for 35 years.
The collection was filmed on location, with Alberta, Canada used as their playground, and on their first day of filming, Mom Nature gave Lea and the crew an actual perception into the lifetime of a park ranger, as not solely did a grizzly bear and her cubs seem, however the sky additionally crammed with lightning, forcing all electrical tools to be put down.
The chain’s executives have been additionally current that day.
“I am so glad I am a veteran as a result of I actually know easy methods to get out of a tricky scenario like a gunslinger!” she says GOOD MORNING!
“Not solely did the grizzly bear and her cubs seem, however there was lightning, so I needed to cease for 2 and a half hours – and on an 11-hour taking pictures day, that is an enormous a part of your day.”
“I actually know easy methods to get out of a tricky scenario like a gunslinger!”
The ten-part collection introduces viewers to the titular Anna (performed by Chicago PoliceTracy Spiridakos), a theater supervisor turned Park Ranger in her late thirties, who left New York after her husband was murdered throughout a house invasion. Whereas every episode focuses on a brand new crime happening contained in the park, Anna’s story and the thriller surrounding her husband’s loss of life are slowly revealed over the course of the primary season.
© VersantTaking up a cable present on this manner is a second that Lea says could not have occurred when she was youthful; as director and govt producer, Lea was given permission to form the collection, deciding to incorporate magical realism, with the deceased husband showing on display in occasions of stress, in addition to narration from Anna to offer perception into “a extra poetic model of Anna that lives in her head”.
“Sadly, I really feel like it could have been so much more durable for me to do that job after I was in my 20s or 30s,” she says. GOOD MORNING!
“There are a number of issues that, as you become old, assist you adapt and convey one thing particular and distinctive to the method.” “This can be very vital to understand the work of others,” she continues. “The understanding, empathy and humility of being older. It is thrilling – and It’s a disgrace we’re falling for all this. [that says] we’re solely worthy after we are stunning younger issues. »
“It is really easy to purchase into, however I really feel like – even chemically – we get extra assured as we become old, as a result of estrogen is so troublesome to dwell with, however because it calms down, you understand you are value it and also you’re allowed to take up area.”
© VersantA deadly choice
Léa broke out in 1985 alongside Michael J. Fox In Again to the long run, and a yr later appeared in House Camp And Howard the Duck. He was additionally requested to learn the script for a movie referred to as S.a bit great with director Howard Deutch connected, however he turned it down.
When Howard the Duck was launched the next yr Again to the long runthe movie was critically panned and bombed on the field workplace, one thing which Lea says left her “devastated” and dashing again to work as a result of, as she places it, she felt like she would “by no means work once more”.
At this level, A type of Great had undergone huge rewrites and he or she determined to simply accept the position of Amanda; it was a call meant to be made, as Lea and Howard fell in love on set.
© Patrick McMullan by way of Getty PictureThe couple then welcomed daughters Madelyn and Zoey – each actresses – and can rejoice their fortieth anniversary in 2027.
Behind the cameras
Léa made her directorial debut in 2006 with the tv movie Jane Doe: The Tougher They Fall nevertheless it took him one other seven years earlier than he discovered common work, subsequently directing episodes of tv exhibits. Switched at Start, Stargirl, Resident Alien, And Will Trent during the last decade.
“Directing is sort of a treasure hunt or like thrift purchasing,” she says. “You gather all these little items, and you then sew a quilt and create one thing stunning from scratch, with the assistance of all these unimaginable professionals.”
© Getty PicturesThroughout this primary day on the set of Anna PigeonLea determined to make use of the surprising free time to movie Tracy for potential B-roll sequences, with Lea, Tracy and a cameraman strolling away from the set.
It was a call made by an skilled skilled that paid off: “I stated, ‘I want you to show left, then I want the digital camera to go proper. And I want a pleasant close-up, simply trying on the stunning view.” And that is the shot they use for the whole lot!”
A second season was confirmed two days earlier than the primary season’s finale, and it was information Lea had been hoping to listen to for a while.
“We’re doing extraordinarily properly with the rankings. We’re holding up very well on cable, and I am tremendous proud and amazed and excited – I feel it could be a disgrace in the event that they did not get the gang again collectively.
“I feel there are such a lot of thrilling tales to inform and so many thrilling locations to go and do, and so many points that Anna Pigeon can enter. »
The primary season of Anna Pigeon concludes October 9, 2026 at 10/9c on USA Community