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It has been only a few months since we last saw Nia Peeples on television, as Karen Taylor on The Young and the Restless. Next month we get to see her in a new role in the Hallmark Television original movie Citizen Jane, with Ally Sheedy, Sean Patrick Flanery and Meatloaf. Nia plays Evelyn, Jane’s (Ally) best friend and ally in this harrowing true-crime tale. Jane’s aunt is killed and it comes down to Jane to find the murderer.
It has been only a few months since we last saw Nia Peeples on television, as Karen Taylor on The Young and the Restless. Next month we get to see her in a new role in the Hallmark Television original movie Citizen Jane, with Ally Sheedy, Sean Patrick Flanery and Meatloaf. Nia plays Evelyn, Jane’s (Ally) best friend and ally in this harrowing true-crime tale. Jane’s aunt is killed and it comes down to Jane to find the murderer.
While Nia was drawn to the story about one courageous woman’s battle for justice, she also knew what great acting company she’d be in. Nia says: “I really wanted to work with Ally Sheedy, and also Sean Patrick Flanery and Meatloaf. They are a great group of people.
While Nia was drawn to the story about one courageous woman’s battle for justice, she also knew what great acting company she’d be in. Nia says: “I really wanted to work with Ally Sheedy, and also Sean Patrick Flanery and Meatloaf. They are a great group of people.
“This was the first time I had ever met Ally and was excited to be working with her. I had always really liked her work. She seemed like someone who has a really quirky sense of humor and she does. She was great. She’s very dedicated.”
“This was the first time I had ever met Ally and was excited to be working with her. I had always really liked her work. She seemed like someone who has a really quirky sense of humor and she does. She was great. She’s very dedicated.”
Not only is Citizen Jane a crime thriller, but it is also a story about the power of friendship. “It’s a really empowering piece for women,” Nia explains. “To me, I felt that the most important relationship in there was the women’s friendship. I didn’t think the friendship was well developed, so it was my challenge to think about what little things I could do here and there to let the audience know how important these women are in each other lives without talking about it. Ally and I really worked at doing things — like sharing candy or a pat on the back, anything that a friend would do — just so that there was more being told than was what on the page.”
Not only is Citizen Jane a crime thriller, but it is also a story about the power of friendship. “It’s a really empowering piece for women,” Nia explains. “To me, I felt that the most important relationship in there was the women’s friendship. I didn’t think the friendship was well developed, so it was my challenge to think about what little things I could do here and there to let the audience know how important these women are in each other lives without talking about it. Ally and I really worked at doing things — like sharing candy or a pat on the back, anything that a friend would do — just so that there was more being told than was what on the page.”
Nia can relate to the need for another woman’s friendship and the kinship felt between to women. “I am 47 now, and I am really starting to weigh women’s friendships. I can really understand the importance of the women in my life. I’ve had such a busy life as a mother and a wife and a career person, that I didn’t develop those support people. And really, they are the most amazing people in the world.
Nia can relate to the need for another woman’s friendship and the kinship felt between to women. “I am 47 now, and I am really starting to weigh women’s friendships. I can really understand the importance of the women in my life. I’ve had such a busy life as a mother and a wife and a career person, that I didn’t develop those support people. And really, they are the most amazing people in the world.
“They can’t replace your children or your husband, but they are such a grounding structure for women. Women sort of have that reputation for being very catty and backstabbing, but I think just to embrace ourselves and who we are to each other is really important. This is especially important in this movie. We women, we are the village, we really are.”
“They can’t replace your children or your husband, but they are such a grounding structure for women. Women sort of have that reputation for being very catty and backstabbing, but I think just to embrace ourselves and who we are to each other is really important. This is especially important in this movie. We women, we are the village, we really are.”
Evelyn and Jane’s relationship is paramount to the movie and to Jane’s ability to find justice. Nia explains: “As a friend to other women, you really have to find that place to be friend by allowing them to bounce their thoughts and their fears and their ideas off you and being able to give your opinion without taking over. You have to let them take the path that they need to take. It’s a really good lesson, and a good friend has to be able to do that. You have to love them enough not to control them. It was Evelyn’s challenge to stand beside Jane and allow her to take the journey she was going to take.”
Evelyn and Jane’s relationship is paramount to the movie and to Jane’s ability to find justice. Nia explains: “As a friend to other women, you really have to find that place to be friend by allowing them to bounce their thoughts and their fears and their ideas off you and being able to give your opinion without taking over. You have to let them take the path that they need to take. It’s a really good lesson, and a good friend has to be able to do that. You have to love them enough not to control them. It was Evelyn’s challenge to stand beside Jane and allow her to take the journey she was going to take.”
You can see Jane’s journey on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on the Hallmark Channel. Stay tuned next week for more about Nia and what it’s like being one of the 100 most beautiful people, creating a line of health and beauty products, and helping those in need.
You can see Jane’s journey on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on the Hallmark Channel. Stay tuned next week for more about Nia and what it’s like being one of the 100 most beautiful people, creating a line of health and beauty products, and helping those in need.
Television and movie lovers know Nia Peeples, whether it’s for her early work on the TV show “Fame” or the surf cult-hit movie “North Shore,” or for her later work on “The Young and the Restless” and the new Hallmark movie “Citizen Jane” (which premieres Saturday, Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT). Nia is known for her talent as well as her beauty. In fact, in 2008 she was named one of People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People.
Television and movie lovers know Nia Peeples, whether it’s for her early work on the TV show “Fame” or the surf cult-hit movie “North Shore,” or for her later work on “The Young and the Restless” and the new Hallmark movie “Citizen Jane” (which premieres Saturday, Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT). Nia is known for her talent as well as her beauty. In fact, in 2008 she was named one of People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People.
To say that Nia was surprised when she found out would be an understatement. “I was standing in line at a teacher-appreciation luncheon at my daughter’s school, and one of the moms came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations.’ I asked, ‘For what?’ She told me I was one of People’s 100 Most Beautiful People, and I said: ‘What are you talking about? Are you sure it’s me? It’s not Catherine Zeta-Jones or Valerie Bertinelli?’ — who I get mistaken for all the time.
To say that Nia was surprised when she found out would be an understatement. “I was standing in line at a teacher-appreciation luncheon at my daughter’s school, and one of the moms came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations.’ I asked, ‘For what?’ She told me I was one of People’s 100 Most Beautiful People, and I said: ‘What are you talking about? Are you sure it’s me? It’s not Catherine Zeta-Jones or Valerie Bertinelli?’ — who I get mistaken for all the time.
“I just had to laugh. It was hilarious. I’ve been in the business for 25 years, and I know there’s a whole bidding process that goes on. I’m in a place in my life where I don’t have a publicist. I’m raising my kids and living in Malibu and doing other things. I’m not paying attention to those things.”
“I just had to laugh. It was hilarious. I’ve been in the business for 25 years, and I know there’s a whole bidding process that goes on. I’m in a place in my life where I don’t have a publicist. I’m raising my kids and living in Malibu and doing other things. I’m not paying attention to those things.”
Nia continues: “I was honored because it came at a time when I didn’t have someone throwing me out in front of people’s faces and saying, ‘What about her?’ For me, it was like the industry saying, ‘You know, she’s looking pretty good.’ I appreciate it much more now than I would have in my 20s or 30s, or if I had had my publicist pushing it for me.”
Nia continues: “I was honored because it came at a time when I didn’t have someone throwing me out in front of people’s faces and saying, ‘What about her?’ For me, it was like the industry saying, ‘You know, she’s looking pretty good.’ I appreciate it much more now than I would have in my 20s or 30s, or if I had had my publicist pushing it for me.”
With Nia’s outside beauty comes an inner beauty as well. She has quite a few humanitarian causes that are dear to her, including the relief work she did in 2004 after the devastating earthquake/tsunami in Southeast Asia.
With Nia’s outside beauty comes an inner beauty as well. She has quite a few humanitarian causes that are dear to her, including the relief work she did in 2004 after the devastating earthquake/tsunami in Southeast Asia.
Nia explains: “What we did was so enlightening for me, because — I was about 43 at the time — I needed to show people that Nia Peeples the woman was so much more than Nia Peeples the persona. I needed to go and just put my hand in doing what I know I could do. Lending my hand was more important than, say, waving in a parade.”
Nia explains: “What we did was so enlightening for me, because — I was about 43 at the time — I needed to show people that Nia Peeples the woman was so much more than Nia Peeples the persona. I needed to go and just put my hand in doing what I know I could do. Lending my hand was more important than, say, waving in a parade.”
Seeing the grace of these people in need really had an effect on Nia. “I was incredibly moved by the people who I met. In the middle of this crisis, and in the middle of losing their homes and everything they had, they still remembered who they were, and they were happy. There was a feeling of contentment that never left them. And here I was, searching for myself, doing this crazy thing, and they had lost everything and still had what was most important.”
Seeing the grace of these people in need really had an effect on Nia. “I was incredibly moved by the people who I met. In the middle of this crisis, and in the middle of losing their homes and everything they had, they still remembered who they were, and they were happy. There was a feeling of contentment that never left them. And here I was, searching for myself, doing this crazy thing, and they had lost everything and still had what was most important.”
Nia also wants to help others find what they deem to be important, and is in development on a NIA line of beauty and fitness products. “Over the years, various people have come to me to promote fitness equipment, clothing or a line of hair and makeup products, and none of it seemed to be really true to who I am.
Nia also wants to help others find what they deem to be important, and is in development on a NIA line of beauty and fitness products. “Over the years, various people have come to me to promote fitness equipment, clothing or a line of hair and makeup products, and none of it seemed to be really true to who I am.
“One of the things I’ve been looking at the past few years is really figuring out what I would want my brand to be. What is it that’s different about what I have to offer? It comes down to getting women to accept who they are, make the most of what they have and diminish what doesn’t work. It starts with what you’re born with, and you have to think of what you feed it and how you treat it, and you go from there. We are all our own kind of beauty. You have to be able to look at that and see that it is beautiful, and then embrace and take care of it.”
“One of the things I’ve been looking at the past few years is really figuring out what I would want my brand to be. What is it that’s different about what I have to offer? It comes down to getting women to accept who they are, make the most of what they have and diminish what doesn’t work. It starts with what you’re born with, and you have to think of what you feed it and how you treat it, and you go from there. We are all our own kind of beauty. You have to be able to look at that and see that it is beautiful, and then embrace and take care of it.”
By Cindy Elavsky
By Cindy Elavsky
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