When Andie MacDowell was first presented with the script for the "Cedar Cove" pilot, her reaction was decidedly mixed. On one hand, she told Reel Life with Jane, she fell in love with the character and the storyline. "I read the script about a small town and an incredibly intelligent woman who helps people, and she's bright, and interesting, and the town was lovely," she said. The problem, however, was that her youngest daughter — "Maid" star Margaret Qualley — was about to begin her final year of high school at the time. With "Cedar Cove" shooting in Canada, MacDowell faced a difficult choice. "I wanted to have that last year with her," she explained. When Margaret and her sister, Rainey Qualley, read the "Cedar Cove" script, however, they went to their mom and insisted that she take the job. "And so I said yes, because they told me to," MacDowell recalled.
Another big draw, MacDowell told Cape Cod Times, was the inherent positivity she saw emanating from the show. "One of the reasons I was excited about doing the series was because when I went to work every day, I was going to be in a warm, fuzzy place. It's very wholesome," she shared. "There's no profanity. It's uplifting, and the fans are super nice and kind."
