You’ll Never Guess the Biggest ‘Somewhere in Time’ Fan! Jane Seymour Shares, Plus the Star Heads Back to Mackinac Island
“Come back to me.”
Fans still get chills when they hear that line delivered by Teresa Wright (starring as an elderly 19th century woman) as she hands a dashingly handsome Christopher Reeve that famous pocket watch in the opening scene of 1980’s beloved classic Somewhere in Time. Cue the movie’s theme song and the tears will come flowing.
The film was a gloriously romantic tearjerker that shared the time-travel love story of present-day Chicago playwright Richard Collier (Reeve) and the beautiful turn-of-the-century actress Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour). It was Reeve’s first film post his Superman role.
© Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
In present day, on a visit to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, Richard comes across the hotel’s Hall of History where he discovers a photograph of a beautiful woman who starred in a play at the hotel theater in 1912. It was Elise McKenna, and he becomes obsessed with learning more about her. Richard uses self-hypnosis to go 68 years back in time to meet her.
Fans of Seymour and the movie have warmly greeted her back to Mackinac Island multiple times since, where she’s shared stories of filming, as well as her real-life love affair with Reeve.
© Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Seymour Plans to Return to Mackinac Island
Seymour will return once again to the famed Grand Hotel from Tuesday, June 11 through Thursday, June 13, 2024, but this time she also will be focusing on her current series Harry Wild, which is making its season premiere on May 13 on the streaming service Acorn TV (along with a co-premiere on BBC America). The event is titled “On the Case With Jane Seymour.”
“Instead of just talking about Somewhere in Time, which they do every October for Somewhere in Time enthusiasts, which I can’t do this year because hopefully I’m filming, they are doing something with Harry Wild,” Seymour tells us. “We thought it’d be a perfect place to talk about some of my new ventures, as well. But it’s a beautiful, beautiful hotel. A great place to go.”
Acorn TV
Packages are already available for fans. You can enjoy a special screening and Q&A session on Harry Wild, and a meet-and-greet with Seymour, along with surprises from the Harry Wild cast and crew members. In addition, an autograph session with Seymour and a 1920s-themed cocktail reception are planned, along with a “Movies on Mackinac” lecture with resident historian Bob Tagatz.
Seymour’s Fondest Film Memories
As for what Seymour remembers enjoying about filming Somewhere in Time, she tells us it was everything. “It was the happiest and ultimately the saddest experience filming ever in my life. Christopher Reeve and I, the chemistry was just palpable, and everything you saw onscreen ended up being very real. We kept it secret for many years, but we fell madly in love making that movie and remained very, very close friends until literally the day he died.”
The film remains an extremely important part of Seymour’s life, and she’s made the trip to support her fan base and the hotel over the years.
© Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
As for the biggest Somewhere in Time fan …
“People stop me all over the world for Somewhere in Time. The biggest fan I ever met was General Colin Powell. He literally went crazy when he saw me, he went, ‘Oh, my God. Somewhere in Time,’ and that was it. We were then talking for hours about everything in life, and then the next day we had breakfast together, and then every time I saw him in Washington, he’d cross the room. We became good friends completely because he was obsessed with this movie,” Seymour adds. “So, anyone who says to me it’s a chick flick knows that they are completely wrong. Men love this movie even more than women.”