Sweet Magnolias Season 4 was a fantastic chapter for Annie Sullivan (Anneliese Judge).
Annie and Ty became an official couple, and Annie and her friends started the Mini-Magnolias, their own tradition with milkshake nights.
Besides that, Annie became more passionate about photography and got accepted into college. Viewers got to know more sides of Annie than ever before.
Besides acting, Anneliese Judge hosts a book club on her Instagram. It isn’t your typical book club. It’s a community focused on discovering new stories and perspectives at your own pace! They highlight a must-read book with exclusive interviews and lively discussions each month.
They’re reading Sweet Magnolias: Stealing Home by Sherryl Woods this February.
Anneliese and her friends encourage viewers to join them for an exclusive chat with Miss Woods and Sheryl Anderson, the showrunner behind the Sweet Magnolias series.
TV Fanatic recently chatted with Anneliese Judge, during which she spoke of her love of romance novels and tropes and how that applied to Ty and Annie.
She also shared how much Annie has evolved and pursued her own dreams while in Serenity.
Check out the interview below.
Hi Anneliese. It’s great to see you. The Ty and Annie fans will be happy this year. They don’t have to wait that long for them to become a couple.
I know. I’m so excited to see the reaction.
Why did it take so long for Ty and Annie to admit their feelings to one another?
I think that adds to the realism of it. Real relationships take time to grow and develop. I’m a romance lover myself, and in my book club, we read a lot of romance and its subgenres. That push-and-pull is such an essential aspect of it and makes it more special.
It adds to those relationships’ realism and the characters’ relatability because genuine relationships don’t happen overnight.
I agree with you. So, are you a fan of the best friends-to-lovers trope?
I am a big romance lover. I have a book club, and we read a lot of romance and its subgenres. So, as a romance lover, I have been rooting for this since Season one. It was exciting to see the characters finally come together.
Yes, I am also a fan of that trope, and I was looking forward to seeing it come together because I like slow-burn couples. However, they have been very slow; many people have been rooting for them.
So besides her romantic relationship, Annie had a significant arc. She found herself in Sweet Magnolias Season 4 and learned who she was and where her home was. Why do you think she chose roots as one of the most essential parts of who she was?
We’ve grown up with Annie. We’ve watched her grow into this bright and confident young woman who recognizes, especially this season, how incredible her village is, how supportive they are of her, and how many people she has who love her and support her, want to see her succeed, and will catch her if she falls.
That was special to see, and it was such a big moment for her to find this girl group and solidify friends in Serenity who were like the Sweet Magnolias, who could help her grow, guide her, and push her to be the best version of herself.
She longed for and struggled with that for a long time. Playing that was special and fulfilling for me as an actor. It’s terrifying when you’re at that age in high school, ending your high school career and looking to the future.
You have a lot of big decisions to make. Having that village and that support system helped her realize what she had in Serenity.
Absolutely. How do you like Annie, CeCe, and Lily becoming the next generation of Magnolias?
I’m thrilled and honored. Playing Annie has been the honor of a lifetime. I am so grateful to this show for everything it’s given me and for the creative outlet it is for me. Playing that and having our milkshake night felt full circle and fun for me this season.
The girls have their milkshake nights, which mirror the margarita nights, and I love female friendships.
The women in my life are vital to me and unique. I’m so grateful to them for the way that they support me. To see that reflected on the screen was incredible.
Absolutely. I liked some of those scenes a lot. I also noticed that this season, Annie was guided by Chef Erik and Miss Paula. Were there specific reasons you chose those adults in general?
Again, it shows Annie’s village, how large it is, and how many people she has. They both offer different perspectives; Paula is creative.
Erik is an executive chef in the kitchen after her mom. He’s almost another guiding figure who can give her excellent advice. She tends to go to him quite a bit for his perspective. She also works closely with him in the restaurant.
She probably realizes how many adults are there for her and willing to help her make the big decisions and deal with the things coming up for her.
I was excited about that because in the books, Annie and Erik had many scenes, and I hadn’t seen that a lot in the TV series, so I was excited about that.
Oh, that’s awesome. Annie spends much time working with her mom in the restaurant, and Erik takes a more significant role.
I think Annie spends even more time with him, so it’s natural for her to admire him, feel inspired by his work ethic, and go to him for his two cents.
Annie’s story ends on a cliffhanger. Do you think any relationship could survive a long distance?
I think every relationship takes two people. So I’m hopeful. They both realize that finally getting what you want might not be exactly what you want.
They’ll continue to grow and have their self-discovery journeys, and I hope they continue to blend. But we’ll have to see if we get another season. I hope so; I’m crossing my fingers.
It takes two, though. I think it takes two people to make something work like this. I hope that it can sort itself out. But every relationship has challenges, and they must decide what they want to fight for.
Absolutely. I hope we get another season and see them work it out because I want to see where Annie ends up at college and see more of her photography.
I was so excited that we included more of her photography this season. I feel like it’s ebbed and flowed for her. We see a lot of her photography, a lot of her working with her camera.
That’s not necessarily her focus, but she’s always loved it. And I’m excited to see her pursue it as a career path and continue to fall in love with it creatively.
I was very excited. This season, we get to see a more significant personal and, hopefully, career path and just a relationship story. We learned more about Annie as a whole person.
Me, too. She’s so multifaceted and has so many layers. This was a fascinating season, during which we saw so many of her interests and watched her work through some vulnerable moments. I’m excited for everyone to watch her grow this season.
Do you think it will be hard for Annie to leave Serenity and her family and friends?
I would have said no if you had asked me about Sweet Magnolias Season 1.
I think she was excited to leave. I don’t feel like she had the perspective to appreciate what she had there, how wonderful the town and the people of Serenity are, and how special it is now to her.
But this season, I felt she would be sad to leave Serenity. When she leaves for college, I think she will be homesick. Annie loves Serenity and values the people there and the memories.
I think she will be surprised by how much it affects her to leave her home that way.
Yes, I could see that. What do you think Annie has learned about the ups and downs of relationships from the Magnolias?
I think she’s learned that Helen’s words were wise. There will be some rain to have a rainbow. She’s learned that, as I said, relationships take time and effort.
With her girl group, I believe she understands the importance of having some fiercely loyal friends who want to see her win and who love her for who she is at her core. If she makes a mistake, she also understands the importance of apologizing.
The importance of making things right when she’s wrong, but also that, you know, to know that she’ll be given the grace to grow and learn and figure things out and know that her friends will always be there for her and her family will always be there for her.
Those are all significant things. Do you think Annie and Ty’s relationship mirrors any other romantic relationships on the show, or is it similar to any others?
The slow-burn aspect is similar to Helen and Erik’s. Still, every relationship is unique and faces its own set of challenges. Every person in each relationship comes from a different place with different wants, needs, and dreams.
So, they’re all very different. But the closest would be Helen and Erik’s slow-burn aspect.
They are very different. I was also going to say that Helen and Erik, partly because of the ups and downs, took their time to be apart and come back together, and I think that Ty and Annie could be like that, too. If they need to take time apart to learn who they are and come back together.
I’m excited to see what our writers do. If we’re blessed with another season, it would be special. I trust that whatever they write will be fantastic and share much wisdom and reliability.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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