Melissa Peterman on Faith, Family and Working With Her Bestie Reba (EXCLUSIVE)
Plus, the ‘Happy’s Place’ star opens up about being an empty-nester
They say that lightning doesn’t strike twice, but Melissa Peterman and her good friend Reba McEntire are defying the odds with the success of Happy’s Place. After starring together in the beloved sitcom Reba, which aired from 2001 to 2007 and remains popular in syndication, the two besties reunited for Happy’s Place, which debuted Friday nights last fall on NBC and has been renewed for a second season.
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“The minute that the Reba show ended, we were already thinking, When do we get to work together again? So by the time it happened, I had already said yes in my heart a million times,” Melissa tells Woman’s World as our cover girl (get your copy here!). “Reba and I have a very unique chemistry and a bond that just works really well.”
Not only did portraying Gabby on Happy’s Place give Melissa a chance to reunite with Reba, but it also brought her back together with other collaborators from the Reba years.
“Kevin Abbott, who was our showrunner on the original Reba show, is our showrunner on this show,” Melissa says. “His wife Julie [had the] idea of the plot of Happy’s Place. When they told me about it and they talked about Gabby, I wasn’t worried about what the character would become because I knew I was in good hands. Getting to work with these writers again and to work with Reba, I had my fingers crossed hoping we’d get magic twice, but I knew for sure that I would love the journey. So I said yes immediately.”
Melissa Peterman dishes on ‘Happy’s Place’
Happy’s Place stars Reba, her boyfriend Rex Linn, Belissa Escobedo, Tokala Black Elk and Pablo Castelblanco. “What Happy’s Place does so well is that they maintained the magic that we had on Reba but opened it up and brought in a whole new cast of characters that are just as lovable,” Melissa says. “These characters are all very different. They’re different ages and they come from different backgrounds. The writers did a really great job mixing heart and humor.”
Reba plays Bobbie McAllister, who inherits Happy’s Place, a bar owned by her late father. She’s surprised when her father’s other daughter—a much younger half-sister she never knew she had—shows up to claim her inheritance and run the bar with her. Belissa plays Reba’s half-sister Isabella and Melissa plays Gabby, a waitress who is Bobbie’s friend and confidant.
After six seasons playing Barbra Jean on Reba, was Melissa concerned that fans might have trouble seeing her in this new role? “If anyone calls me Barbra Jean, I’m never mad,” Melissa smiles. “I will absolutely take it anytime because that was my first big break. But in approaching Happy’s Place, Kevin and I had a lot of discussions—and Reba and I talked about it too—about what makes her different because the chemistry that we have, what that dynamic is, that’s what works really well. How do we do it in a new setting? Obviously, I think actors bring a little bit of who they are to every role. So I think you’re going to see some of that.
She continues, “Gabby is quirky, but in a much different way than Barbra Jean. I feel like the character of Barbra Jean was thrust upon the Reba character because she married Reba’s ex-husband, so she was going to be part of the family no matter what. In this dynamic, that is sort of Belissa’s role. She’s the half-sister that is thrust into this family, and that’s a dynamic that they’re working on. The Gabby/Bobbie dynamic is that they are friends. They have a genuine friendship.”
Melissa thinks the late Happy was very intentional in the people he hired to work at the bar. “Everyone that he hired on, he knew that they needed a family,” she says. “He knew that they needed to be working here because they were a little bit broken or a little bit lost, and that they needed to be here and find their family. A lot of times, depending on where you are in your life, you’re closer to your work family than you are your real family.”
Melissa loves working on Happy’s Place and feels they are serving up something viewers need. “People want that feeling of comfort,” she says. “You know these characters. You’re going to laugh. It’s going to be safe. You can watch it with everybody, and there’s going to be heart. Reba is pretty magical about the mixing of the heart and the humor. I learn a lot watching her.”
Melissa talks family and motherhood
The Minnesota native is just as happy and fulfilled in her personal life as she is her professional one. Faith and family are her foundation. Married for 26 years, she has a son in college and admits that has been an adjustment. “It’s hard to become an empty-nester,” says Melissa, whose 19-year-old son, Riley, attends college in Chicago. “As parents, we worry, but I remind myself how exciting it is to be 19 and out on your own. We want kids to make the right choices, but we have to allow them the freedom to choose. Now when he calls, I try not to ask, ‘Did you do this or that?’ I just let him talk.”
Melissa is also close to her parents, Pam and Dave, who have moved to Franklin, TN, just outside Nashville. “My parents have just fell in love with Franklin,” she says. “They bought a place a couple years ago. They traded in Tucson as their snowbird getaway and traded it for Franklin. I absolutely love it there. I’ve spent a lot of time in Nashville with Reba and I love that my parents have found a home there. They just love the music. They feel very at home.”
Life is good these days and Melissa is thankful for her blessings. “My gratitude level is just through the roof,” she smiles. “I feel very, very grateful. I am happy. I’m lucky that I get to go to a job that I love with people I love. How often do you get a second chance to work with your best friend?”
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