You may recognize her as Debra Barone or Frankie Heck, but Patricia Heaton’s latest role as Carol Kenney may be the one closest to her own life.
Speaking at a Television Critic Association panel for Carol’s Second Act, Heaton addressed how biblical values drive her.
“At the end of the day, you have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I stood up for the voiceless and for the poor and the hungry,'” Heaton said, paraphrasing Matthew 25.
Heaton says the same values can also be attributed to her character Carol.
“You have to be able to say that to yourself, because—and I found—and this is a great thing for Carol too—the older you get, the more you—at least for me, I’ve let a lot of stuff go that I don’t feel I need to weigh in on. It’s just not important, and I’m not going to spend these precious, precious moments that we have here in anger or hatred or—you just have to kind of like open yourself up and humble yourself and just let life happen. Life is hard … and you just have to try to make it easier for other people around you. We’re so blessed and privileged here, and nothing to complain about. So, I think it’s just more of that. It’s more of, like, ‘What can we do to make the world a better place? What energy can we put into it?'” Heaton said.
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