The Way Home Star Chyler Leigh On Nod To Spoof She’s All That Scene

Episode 5 of The Way Home may have sparked a little déjà vu for viewers when Chyler Leigh’s character, Kat Landry walked down the stairs. It turns out the producers knew that the actress had a similar moment in Not Another Teen Movie. That movie was a spoof of Rachael Leigh Cook’s movie She’s All That. Read on to find out more about this great tribute played by the Grey’s Anatomy alum.

Chyler Leigh scene in The Way Home pays homage

Fans who have kept up with the episodes of The Way Home may have experienced déjà vu in one of Chyler Leigh’s scenes at Kat. In episode 5, viewers saw Kat walking slowly down a staircase, wearing a beautiful red dress, backed by Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer. Producers clearly knew that the Hallmark actress had experienced a similar scene 22 years ago.

Talking to TVLine, Leigh said that the producers of the new time travel family drama “definitely knew” she had created a similar moment before. In fact, 22 years ago, Chyler had a similar moment in her role in the spoof movie, Not Another Teen Movie. In the original movie, She’s All That, Rachael Leigh Cook also descends a staircase after a makeover to meet a stunned Freddie Prinze Jr.

In Chyler’s version of the spoof movie, Not Another Teen Movie, she played opposite Chris Evans. However, instead of tripping on the final step like Cook, Leigh’s character crashes through the staircase.

Meanwhile, in The Way Home’s version of the iconic scene, Kat walks down to meet her best pay Elliott, with whom she gets to chaperone the high school’s 90s-theme dance. However, when Kat gets to the bottom of the stairs, she stumbles, just like Cook’s character Laney in She’s All That.

Readers can watch the scene in question in the Twitter video below:

Loving #TheWayHome soundtrack? Tune in tonight to hear "Kiss Me" by @sixpencemusic as Kat and Elliot head off to chaperone the school dance. ❤️ Listen to the full series soundtrack here ➡️ https://t.co/FiBGvwjFjY pic.twitter.com/HAk8sqrvuK

— The Way Home (@TheWayHomeHC) February 19, 2023

Chyler Leigh’s reaction to the script

Meanwhile, when Chyler read the script for the fifth episode, she couldn’t help but laugh. She said:

I was laughing so hard. I was like, ‘Oh my God, you did not!’

Leigh continued, “But they always had that moment in mind from the very beginning. From what Alex [Clarke] and Heather [Conkie], our showrunners, had told me when I had the initial conversation, they were saying, ‘When we got this project, we always had you in mind. And so, when we wrote that, it was always kind of part of, like, a wish for that to be able to happen.’”

However, the Grey’s Anatomy alum was a little worried about repeating that iconic scene. She said:

I was like, ‘Wow, this is like 20-something years later. I feel a little bit old, but at the same time, maybe I can still rock that red dress.’

Meanwhile, she did rock that beautiful red dress indeed. However, Leigh did make a tweak to the beautiful outfit as the movie was filmed in icy cold Canadian weather. She managed to sport a cardigan when filming outside the dance.

Chyler also noted how much fun it was to do the iconic scene, saying, “At least I didn’t go crashing through the staircase, which is cool!”

Readers can see the original spoof scene in Not Another Teen Movie here:

While awaiting season 2, readers can catch season 1 of The Way Home on Peacock, Hallmark TV and Hallmark Movies Now.