Jania Ashlynn
The actress discussed her journey whilst taking on her new role.
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“I had no prowess when it comes to horseback riding,” she shared with PEOPLE. “The most complex horseback riding I had ever done is maybe on a trail ride where I’m on some very old horse that just follows the one in front of it and carousels.”
Though she didn’t have much experience in the setting, she decided to take the roll.
“I almost feel like I manifested this whole job,” she shared, “because right before the project came to me, I was just sort of thinking about, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to own a ranch and have chickens and cows and horses?’ I mean just indulging in this complete fantasy. But to the point of looking on Zillow and sending my husband listings that he just would delete.”
“Then the script comes and I thought, ‘I can’t believe that this is happening, and I get to live out this fantasy without any of the responsibility,’ which is fantastic,” she continued.
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She talked about the perks of filming on a Canadian cattle ranch in Calgary. “Much of the crew were wranglers so we had the best circumstance to be taught not just how to ride, but how to care for horses,” says Travis, recalling one episode where a mare goes into labor. “Just the language that goes around and what actually happens, how one deals with that. And just the workings of a ranch and what that entails. It sure looks pretty in pictures, but man, it is hard, hard work.”
Travis also touched on the joy of playing a mother on screen.
“I love her grit and grace, and the fact that for me, it’s an opportunity to play somebody that is a fully formed person,” she says. “That may seem like a small thing, but often I find female roles are basically accessories to the guy or the straight person to the guy’s comedy. And this was a chance to play somebody that has a full spectrum of feelings and emotions and desires and ambitions. And that was a thrill. I’m still very much discovering her, and I’m enjoying that.”
