Donna Mills, a touchstone of glitzy, over-the-top ‘80s television like “Knot’s Landing,” is back in Lifetime’s latest female-centric Saturday night movie “V.C. Andrews Dawn.”
V.C. Andrews is the pen name of the late Cleo Virginia Andrews, best known for steamy familial sagas like “Flowers in the Attic.” Andrews, who had often used a wheelchair and crutches, was 63 when she died in 1986 but her estate has continued to thrive.
Ghost writer Andrew Neiderman has written all VC Andrews books since 1987-88.
“Dawn” from 1990 is the first of a trilogy about the wealthy, socially prestigious and cutthroat Cutler family. It’s also the first series (which now number in the dozens) to be written by Neiderman, although “Dawn” was begun by Andrews.
Teenaged Dawn (Brec Bassinger) is at the center of “Dawn.” She soon learns the Longchamps are not her real parents; she is a Cutler. At private school Dawn discovers her talent and dreams of a singing career.
Mills, 82, stars as Lillian Cutler, a ruthless, calculating, devious and vengeful grandmother. She reprises the role in the upcoming series’ continuation, “Midnight Whispers.”
“Lillian,” Mills said in a virtual press conference, “was a lot of fun to play because she was responsible for a lot that happened in the story. That’s the best type of story you can tell as an actor. All these things are happening.”
Of her dark side, “Lillian,” Mills decided, “is who she is. The wonderful thing is there is another book and it’s about Lillian and why she is who she is. I had that background to create the Lillian I did. That was very, very helpful.
“I took elements from that book, things that happened to her. Things from her childhood. Those were the things that made her the way she was – brittle and unforgiving.
“Childhood things shape everyone,” Mills declared. In Lillian’s case, “They left her bereft. She is not a happy person.
“Knowing how she grew up is the way I formed how I would play her. I’ve played villains before, which I love! It’s my favorite. But generally you don’t have a full book to depend on. You just have the script and whatever you make up in your head. For me the book was a big plus.”
That’s because, “V.C. Andrews is really a good storyteller. To be an actor with that kind of storyteller is heaven. It’s great! It engages you and makes you continue to watch. You want to find out what happens.”
‘V.C. Andrews Dawn’ airs on Lifetime Saturday