Tell me a little bit about how that came together and what that's been like to work with.

Sure.

So, you know, we have many counties in Arkansas and groups of volunteers and people who did not want to wait around.

Obviously, they wanted the program in their county and they said, why, you know, why can't we? So they started doing that, you know, a long time ago.

But there was there's areas that have a much larger population of zero to five year olds, for instance, or areas that are really tough to get volunteers.

a local program partner, which has to be a nonprofit to manage the program and raise funds.

So the governor at the time, Asa Hutchinson, wanted to form a statewide organization to really help us bridge that.

When you hear from parents individually, what are their experiences like? What are the stories that really stick out to you when you think about the work that Imagination Library is able to do?

So I'm so curious, you now being on the other side of it, when you see people's takes on it, how it affects you as a producer, yeah, and then how it turns around and how it affected you as a actor.

I think what I, the, the, the biggest thing I see is that there are a million people that could play a role, right? And oftentimes it comes down to c- she's a fantastic actress, but she just doesn't quite have the right look.

And, and so it's a bummer, 'cause I really love the journey she took.

But the things, the thing that affects me the most is when someone shows up and is clearly bringing themselves.

They're not trying to twist themselves into a pretzel, into the character pretzel.

Sometimes you see people trying too hard, you know, to try to like, "Oh, I want y- I think you want me to be this, so I'm gonna do this," you know? And what I've discovered, too, I, I love y- your idea of not, it's not rejection, it's selection.

It's like, I, I firmly believe that we are led to the doors that we're meant to walk through, and we are led to the characters we are meant to partner with.

[laughs]

[laughs]

I want all the layers.

I want all the baggage.

I want all the things that, that you have to heal from because I want to take a journey.

I don't ever want to play a character that's just like, "And now I fall in love, and now we're happy." You know? I, I like to, I like to get into the nitty-gritty.

So, uh, you know, Ally has dealt with a very, very huge, big grief in her life.

She lost her husband six years ago.

Well, last question: what would be your pitch to the Hallmarkies podcast listeners they should watch this movie, they'll like it? What, what would you say, Sarah?