Kim Zimmer (ex-Reva, GL; ex-Echo, OLTL) stars as Mary Freeman, mom to Mark Hapka’s (ex-Nathan, DAYS) Travis Freeman, in 23 Blast, which opens this month in major markets. (Crystal Hunt, formerly GL's Lizzie and OLTL's Stacy, also appears in the flick.)
"It's based on a true story and it's one of those movies that really pulls at the heart strings," reports Zimmer, who was approached for the role by former OLTL Director Gary Donatelli, one of the film's producers. "Gary called me and said, ‘We’re doing this movie, Dylan Baker is directing it.’ I’ve known Dylan for a long time, through his wife, Becky Baker, and Gary said, ‘We’ve got a role for you in this movie that we’d love for you to do. I’ll send you the script and if you want to do it, you’ll come down and shoot for a day.’ I was like, ‘Sure, I’ll do that for ya!’ It was shooting down in Corbin, KY, which I’d never been to. And I was like, ‘Sure, I’ll go to Kentucky!’ I was getting ready to go and they called and said, ‘Okay, here’s the deal. We don’t want you to play that part.’ I said, ‘Oh, okay. You can’t afford me, right?’ They said, ‘No, no, no, we had an actress that we really wanted to play Mary Freeman, the mother, but she’s not available and you are the next best choice.’ I was like, ‘Oh, second best! Okay, I get it! But sure, I’ll do whatever you want me to do, Gary!’ So, once I got there, they realized that I was, indeed, the best choice for the role [laughs]."
Once in Kentucky, she met the woman she portrays in the film — who immediately felt like an old friend. "We were like two peas in a pod," marvels Zimmer. "We are so much alike, it was really kind of bizarre!" Zimmer came away with new respect for actor/director Baker, who plays her husband. "Whenever an actor is going to direct a movie, you think, ‘Hmmm, this could be a nightmare!' " she admits. "But it wasn’t at all. Dylan is a fantastic director. He’s just a really good human being and the feeling on the set was just wonderful. I'm very happy that I got to be a part of it."
