Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Nikki DeLoach

Nikki DeLoach has always known she wanted to pursue a career in the arts, but it hasn’t come without its challenges, setbacks, and sacrifices. Like her character Natalie in Truly, Madly, Sweetly, premiering tonight at 9/8c on the Hallmark Channel, Nikki has continued to push forward and has never given up on her dreams. She’s built an illustrious career that spans across film, television, and music, including roles on MTV’s critically acclaimed #1 scripted series, Awkward., Days of Our Lives, North Shore, and countless others. She’s taken each experience as an opportunity to learn more about herself and her story is an inspiring message for all the dreamers out there. Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Nikki about Truly, Madly, Sweetly, how she balances life as a mom and wife with her career, and a possible Awkward. reunion.


PC: Tell us about Truly, Madly, Sweetly, your character, and what drew you to that project.
Nikki: Truly, Madly, Sweetly is about a girl named Natalie, who is a dreamer and a baker, and Eric, who is more of a businessman. The two of them get thrown together because of a woman named Bea, who owns a bakery. She’s Eric’s aunt and Natalie’s mentor. She taught Natalie how to bake. The two of them inherit Aunt Bea’s old bakery. They have to come together and decide what to do with the bakery. He wants to sell it. She wants to keep it. She wants to have her own bakery like she’s always dreamed of, and she wants to preserve Aunt Bea’s legacy. Like all Hallmark movies, they end happily ever after. It’s more of a journey about the two characters getting there.

What I loved about this movie is that it’s a real two-hander. They gave the guy a great storyline, as well as the lead actress. Sometimes, it’s just the lead actress who has the storyline. There’s a lot of comedy and it’s a sweet story. The moral of the story is to bet on yourself and never give up on your dreams. For me, that’s what drew me to it.

In my life, I’ve been knocked down so many times. I’ve been in this business for over thirty years, ever since I was a little kid. I’ve had to start over so many times when I didn’t even have two dimes to rub together, just like Natalie. When we find her at the beginning of the movie, she’s starting over. Her boyfriend has broken her heart and he’s also stolen all of her recipes and turned them into a book that he claims to be his own. Now, he’s experiencing superstardom, while she’s working in a food truck. She’s barely even making the payment on that! But she never gives up. I think that’s what’s super inspiring about this character and this story. Along the way, she takes another chance at love.

PC: Your co-star, Dylan, is a writer and executive producer on this film. He’s said in previous interviews that he has always pictured you as Natalie. How did the two of you meet and does that add an extra layer of pressure heading into filming?
Nikki: [laughs] A couple of years ago, I went up to him at a Hallmark event and we started talking. He and his wife are both writers, and I told him, “I’m super interested in working with women in this industry who are writers, producers, and directors.” He jokingly was like, “But, not me!” I was like, “No, no, no, you too!” They’re a team. They work together as a team. I find what he and his wife do terrific. It’s great that they work together.

I’ve always heard he was a terrific producer to work with. For me, in my life, I have two kids, I have a lot going on. I want to work with people that are good people. I want to have good experiences as much as possible. Any time that you can set yourself up for a good time, you want to. That made me really interested in working with Dylan. When this came along, I had a seven-month-old. We were coming off not only just having a baby, but having a baby who had open heart surgery at five-days-old. He had just gotten off oxygen when Hallmark called. It was a hard decision, in terms of my personal life, but it was an easy decision to make professionally.

PC: How are you able to juggle both your personal and professional life?
Nikki: It’s hard. It’s really hard. Any mom who tells me that they’ve found a great balance, I’m always like, “What’s your secret?” I have so many friends who are moms and they work. A lot of them run huge businesses. I find that you can’t find balance. Balance is b.s. in a way. [laughs] You do the best that you can and that’s the truth. But at any given time, you’re not fulfilling one of your jobs. You can’t be in two places at one time. When I’m with my kids, I can’t be at work, and when I’m at work, I can’t be with my kids, and then there’s the husband! He always says he comes third. [laughs] I don’t know that you can actually find the perfect balance, but for me, my family always comes first.

If there’s anything that I need to handle or if I need to be with them, then work has to wait. That’s just how it is. With that being said, I had a mother who loved her job. I saw her work from the time I was a little girl. It was so inspiring, and it built so much confidence in me and so much self-worth. I had this beautiful example of what it was to be a working mother, and I want to give that to my kids. I want to show my sons what that looks like. I want them to see their mom who’s not only fulfilled in her family life but also her work life. That’s really important to me. I may never find the perfect balance but at the end of the day, it’s about having your priorities in line. For me, it’s family first and work second.


PC: That’s a great answer! Like you said earlier, Aunt Bea is a mentor to Natalie. Who was that person for you in your career?
Nikki: Oh, wow! That’s a really, really, really, good question. It’s interesting. I’ve been lucky enough to have had a few mentors in my career. I’ve had so many people throughout my life who have inspired me, and I’ve had a lot of great teachers.

It started with my dance teacher when I was four-years-old. I’ve been lucky enough to have had a lot of mentors in life, not necessarily in the industry, but mostly in life, which I feel is more important. I’m a teacher myself. I teach at Warner Loughlin Studios and I teach comedy and drama at UCLA. I find that one of the more rewarding experiences about being a teacher is that you get to help other people believe in themselves and help them find their self-worth. You get to help them find their creative center and help them get inspired by their own lives. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of those people. But, the most important job of a teacher is to teach them to become the best version of themselves as human beings. I always say, “You feed the human. You feed the actor.”

For me, Chuck Yerger was a huge mentor to me. He was my teacher in the Mickey Mouse Club. I had to do on-location education because I was on set. Chuck taught everything from English to science. He was a great mentor as a human being. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever known in my life. Also, my grandfather was such a big mentor to me. I have this wonderful woman in my life, Madeline. I’ve known her since my late twenties. She is my North Star. She’s a true guiding light in my life. I look around me and there are so many people who have shown up to help me to be the person I am now and help me be the best version of myself, and they continue to do so. I really feel that if you have people in your life that are helping you grow your human self, it’s going to affect your creative self.


PC: Like you said earlier, Natalie has always dreamed of owning her own bakery. When the opportunity presents itself, it’ll force her to overcome her trust issues. What was your favorite aspect to explore with your character?
Nikki: Honestly, it was the trust thing. It was really interesting to explore, even though I’ve been with my husband for nineteen years. [laughs] I obviously have a lot of trust in my man. I think just having faith in general, you know? The last year of my life has definitely been the most difficult I’ve ever experienced with my son. I have to say it’s taken an overwhelming amount of trust and faith in believing that he’s going to be okay, that he’s going to make it, that his heart will be made whole, and that he’s going to live an incredible life.

It’s very easy to allow fear and doubt to plague not just your mind but your heart, and let it consume you. You’re a human being. You’re going to have doubts and that’s okay. Fear is okay because fear is a great teacher. It forces you to wake up and be present. It tells you to pay attention to what’s happening right now because things are changing. However, it’s the way that you move through the fear and doubt that matters. It teaches you a lot about how you trust and whether you have faith. It applies to anything in life, whether it’s the health of your kid or falling in love–it’s taking that leap of faith and believing that it’s all going to be okay in the end. Coming out of the situation that I had, it was creatively a lot of fun to explore her issues with trust. I think it’s also why I was the right actress to play this role at this time.

Photo Credit: Hallmark

PC: Later this year, you’re also starring and executively producing Reunited at Christmas. Can you tell us about that project and how challenging it is to have dual roles?
Nikki: [laughs] It’s been quite the challenge. I can’t even tell you! It’s funny, usually when you’re doing these Hallmark movies, it’s a pretty easy experience. You’re working with crews who do a lot of these. They know the footwork. They know what needs to happen. Everyone has their jobs. But, everything and anything that we could have had against us, in terms of a challenge, we definitely experienced it with this movie. But, we’re making a great movie. It looks amazing and it’s so good. I’m really excited about it.

It’s a different project for Hallmark. I’m so proud that they want to tell this story and they’re allowing me to tell this story. I pitched this idea to them about a year ago and it’s about a family who has gone through a divorce. For about six years, they’ve all experienced the holiday shuffle with the kids going between the mom and dad. They’ve fallen apart in terms of spending time together. Everyone ends up going their separate ways. The matriarch of the family ends up passing away. Her dying wish is that they spend one last Christmas together, celebrating with all the traditions that they used to do as a family. That’s a very different story for Hallmark to tell.

It’s a true ensemble piece. There’s not just a strong A-storyline with the romance. There’s a strong B-storyline with the parents coming back together. This is a very real Hallmark movie. We’ll even see the awkwardness of a family who hasn’t been together for a long time. We’ll see them coming together and the moments where you remember what you used to fight about. But in the end, what I wanted to accomplish with this story is for people to see that no matter what you’ve been through as a family, it’s so important to come together, especially for the holidays, and spend time with each other, and make the traditions and being together a priority. Life is so short. You’ll wake up and wonder why you let all that time pass you by. That was the true inspiration of the story. No matter where you move to, no matter what happens, always try to come back together.

The other thing that’s quite different about this story is that I play a girl who’s afraid to get married. She’s scared to pull that trigger and say yes. She’s scared of getting her heart broken. She’s scared of ending up like her parents. There are so many cool, interesting parts to this story that I think are still very Hallmark, and still very on brand, but at the same time, it’s a little different. I think the audience is really going to relate to it. I think it’ll do well. I hope it does! It’s my first time producing one of these. I’m just like, “Please, God, let it do well.”

PC: The film actually finds you reuniting with Mike Faiola, your co-star from Awkward. How helpful is that as an actor to go into a project with someone you’ve worked with and know?

Nikki: It’s super helpful. When I was looking for guys for this project, I really, truly had a short list. I knew that I wanted a specific type of guy and Mike definitely fell into that category. Also, when you’re doing movies like this and you have three weeks to finish it, it’s a grueling schedule. It’s not always the most glamorous. Everyone needs to be all-hands-on-deck. You can’t be a prima donna, a princess, or a prince. You have to jump in and you have to get it done, no matter what it takes. I knew, having worked with Mike for six years, that no matter what he was going to have a great attitude, he was going to show up prepared, he was going to do a great job, he was going to have a lot of fun, and make the best out of any situation.

I did a Hallmark movie last year and it was a spring baseball movie. We were out on the field and it rained every single day of the production. It didn’t just rain, it snowed and it hailed. We were going back to Vancouver and we were thinking that we could be up against that again. Steve Monroe was the director of Perfect Catch, the film where we had so many weather elements against us. I was so impressed by how he kept his cool. I don’t know how he did it, but he made it look like that movie didn’t have a drop of rain. I was like, “We need this guy!”

From Steve to Mike, I’m so lucky to have them both on this project. It was such an easy choice across the board. It was so nice to be reunited on this movie and hopefully, if it does really well, we’ll get to do the sequel and be reunited again.

PC: You’ve done a few projects with Hallmark. How did that relationship form and what has it meant for your career?
Nikki: I love working with Hallmark. They are so good to me and my family. They walk the talk. The things that they stand for, they really, really believe in, which are family, faith, love, happy endings, and resilience in their characters. They’re all things that every single person at the network truly believes in. It’s not only inspiring, but it’s uncommon in our industry. I have a lot of respect for them.

I also love being able to do romantic comedies. I grew up on them. That’s what I watched as a kid. That’s where I learned comedy. It was from watching When Harry Met Sally, While You Were Sleeping, and every single Julia Roberts movie. There aren’t enough romantic comedies out there. Hallmark is churning them out.

Outside of that, it came along at a time in my career where I also wanted to be a very active participant in my children’s lives. These projects allow me to do that. For this one, I did prep, then I went home, and then I came back for the filming. Then, I’ll go home, write, and develop my next project until I come and do the next one. It allows me to be in both worlds. For that, I’m forever grateful to them.

Working with Bill Abbott, Michelle Vicary, and Randy Pope, they’re really just personable, wonderful, hands-on executives. I can pick up the phone and call Randy, Michelle, or Bill anytime. I can email them and get a response back within 24 hours. What network does that?

PC: There have been a lot of television shows that have been rebooted recently. Do you ever think we’ll see an Awkward. reunion?
Nikki: I would love it so much! I have been thinking about pitching MTV an Awkward. movie or mini-series. I think a movie would be a lot of fun. It could be their ten-year high school reunion. I’ve been toying with the idea of going to MTV and pitching them that. If MTV doesn’t want to do it, there’s always Netflix. I think it would do so well. Awkward. ended too soon. It was at a weird time when people were really starting to stream, especially our demographic that was watching Awkward., that’s how they were getting all their shows. I believe MTV made a big mistake with pulling the plug. They were too focused on the live numbers and I think our audience agrees. I think there are a lot of people who would have followed that show for another two or three seasons. Hopefully, we can do some kind of reunion show or movie. The other show that I think would be so fun to bring back to life is North Shore. I did that in Hawaii for Fox. I’d love to go back to Hawaii. That whole cast was so much fun to work with. It was a soapy, nighttime drama. Also, girls and guys in bathing suits, beautiful beaches, cocktails, drama—who wouldn’t want to see that?

PC: When you look back on your Awkward. experience, what stands out to you the most and what was the biggest lesson you learned?
Nikki: I’ll come at this from both a personal and professional aspect. From a professional aspect, I learned what kind of material I wanted to do. Lauren Iungerich created such a cool, fun, unique world to play in as an actor. It was super challenging and fun, especially for a character like Lacey. She had to be both dramatic and comedic. She was so outlandish at times, but I had to find a way to always ground her so the audience would believe she was a mother. I was always working really hard to find that right line of making them laugh but also making people believe that this mother is a real human being who would say these things to her daughter. I loved being challenged like that on a daily basis. It also was so much fun to play Lacey. I miss her every single day. She was such a challenging character. When I found her and was able to bring her to life, I realized I could do anything that I put my mind to. It gave me a lot of confidence.

Personally, I’m still friends with every single person on that show…not just friends; we’re family. We’re family forever. That was the greatest gift. I will forever be grateful for the relationships that I built on that show. Desi Lydic is one of my best friends. I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life. Barret Swatek, who played Ally, is also one of my best friends. I love her dearly. Jillian, I talk to her every week. Molly, Beau, Brett, they all come to my kids’ birthday parties. All of them have a special place in my heart. At the end of the day, it was one of those magical situations where I was fulfilled on both a professional and personal level. That’s the kind of projects I want to be involved in. That’s the kind of stuff I want to do. Life is too short to do something that may professionally fulfill you but personally make you miserable. I grew up on that show in a really big way.

Make sure to follow Nikki on Twitter and Instagram, and catch Truly, Madly, Sweetly premiering tonight on the Hallmark Channel at 9/8c.

Photo Credit: Inda Reid