Brooke Elliott has been a fan favorite since she led Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva as Jane Bingum.
Brooke now portrays Dana Sue Sullivan, a restaurant owner and single mom to a teenage daughter in Netflix's Sweet Magnolias. The series is based on Sherryl Woods' best-selling book series Sweet Magnolias.
It follows best friends Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue as they balance careers, family, and relationships in the Southern town of Serenity.
TV Fanatic chatted with Brooke about working with two handsome men in her love triangle, who she would choose, and having Cal as a silent partner.
Hi Brooke. I'm a massive fan of the Sweet Magnolias. What has been your favorite Dana Sue arc so far?
That's a hard one to answer since she has such a great arc in Season 1, and she has such a great arc in Season 2. I'll say Season 2 as she deals with the questions figuring out her relationship with Ronnie and figuring out her role in things. She goes through so much.
While I loved Season 1, I think Season 2 was my favorite arc for her.
That's so interesting. So since you have gotten to work with two handsome men, were you team Ronnie or team Jeremy?
I think Jeremy is such a beautiful gift for Dana Sue. He's innocent, and he doesn't come with any baggage, and he thinks she's gorgeous. He sees her beauty. Being desired and wanted and feeling beautiful is no small thing in life. I think it's a natural gift that he offers to her.
Part of me wants to pull for Jeremy, but I will say that there is just something about the intensity and chemistry with Ronnie, and I think those two souls are aligned. Ultimately, I would have to root for Ronnie because I don't know how you don't root for two souls that are just so meant to be.
I love Dana Sue and Ronnie. You guys are two of my favorites. You guys have such sizzling chemistry, but you both seem to have your faults, and you work so well with the actor that plays Ronnie.
Thank you. Brandon Quinn is excellent, and I am lucky that he plays my husband. I think he is fantastic. He is as committed to these characters as I am and as committed to the journey that they go through because it's such a relatable journey. Many of our audience will find this highly relatable, so we needed to go through every step.
I love that Brandon was there every second of the way, he's such a great acting partner, and he's such a great person.
What did you see as to turning point in your reconciliation?
I don't know if I would say that there was a specific moment, but I think this is how things work in life anyway. I think it's his continued pursuit to prove that he has changed. I think it's his continuous showing that he has changed. I think it's the continued commitment he's making to the relationship.
Each time she sees that, he shows up again and combined with her realizations of her behavior in the relationship or things that she's responsible for what's on her side of the street and combining his commitment to proving he's changed. Her realizations about herself become the turning point.
He's very persistent. It was heartwarming. But at the same time, it was kind of funny. I wanted to root for him.
I know because, after a while, you're like, what more can he do? There's just so much hurt, and when you're talking about trust, trust takes faith. When you're in any relationship, you only know if you can trust that person if you try to open yourself up and trust them. When trust has been broken, it's so complicated.
How are Dana Sue, Ronnie, and Annie going to adapt to the new dynamic of their family?
I don't know. I am looking forward to seeing that too. Hopefully, we will get a Season 3 if we're so lucky, and we'll get to see what happens. We'll see how this works. Is it just like a happily-ever-after thing, or is it not? We already have a hint that Annie is having second thoughts.
She thought she wanted this, but now she's unsure. She's afraid it won't last. Can she trust her father this time? So I'm curious to see what Sheryl Anderson and the writers will do with that family.
Of course, the heart of the series is about the friendship between Dana Sue, Maddie, and Helen. How have you, Joanna, and Heather formed such genuine connections?
They're such incredible women, and I am so lucky to get to work with them. I think some of that is aligned in the stars to have that kind of chemistry that I'm told people see, and I feel when we're shooting the scenes, so I think we just got lucky, right?
It's so fun to watch the three of you.
Oh, I love that. I love that people enjoyed it. It's enjoyable. Those Margarita nights are entertaining.
I bet. They look fun. And how is the war that the sweet Magnolias have with Mary Vaughn affecting the relationship that Annie and Jackson are forming?
I can't imagine that it wouldn't affect the two of them. I would imagine that they will have to figure out who they will align with. Are they going to listen to their mothers or let that affect them, or are they not? They are kids, so that's a challenging position to be put in.
Why did Dana Sue think Cal would be a beneficial silent partner and has that decision come back to bite her?
Oh, Cal sweet Cal. He came through with the money, and she thought there was no other place for her to go. Cal having fame in the town seemed like a good thing. It could bring in more customers. I think Dana Sue thought this was a great deal.
He'll be a silent partner, and he will contribute financially, and then, he can be the face of the restaurant, and I don't think she anticipated that he would want to be so involved and give such ideas. I don't think she's bothered by him. I think she's just trying to work, she's so busy, and I think she doesn't have time to put effort into some of his ideas.
But she knows he's got a great heart. She wishes he was a little bit more of the silent part of the silent partner.
Is his past with that fight going to come back and hurt the restaurant now?
I don't know. I wonder what Sheryl Anderson will do if it would affect the business. We'll see what she does with that. There are so many threads you could pull on.
Do you think it will get a season 3? Because we ended up with more cliffhangers than we did in season 1.
We certainly did. There are a whole bunch of cliffhangers at the end of Season 2. I'm always hoping for a Season 3. We'll see what Netflix ends up doing. I think people are going to be into Season 2. I believe they are going to be so excited to see it. I've been excited for people to see it for a long time. It was so fun to film it.
There is so much that happened. There are so many fun cliffhangers. I think people are going to love it.
I enjoyed it. I like how many relationships were developed in season 2.
Oh good. You get deeper and deeper and deeper into everything, which is always more fun.
It was a joy to watch, and I hope we get more seasons because I love the books, and I know there's a lot of material.
I hope so too, and hopefully, we will be given that chance.
Thank you for chatting with us, Brooke. It was a pleasure.
Sweet Magnolias Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.
