Madelyn Deutch, Lea Thompson and Zoey Deutch. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
From Back to the Future to Switched at Birth, Lea Thompson’s prolific career spans decades and genres. Yet, the actress’ proudest career moment was working with her daughters, Maddie and Zoey Deutch.
“The proudest moment of my career was showing my daughters, Madelyn Deutch and Zoey Deutch, The Year of Spectacular Men, the movie I made with them,” Thompson, 63, reveals exclusively in the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now. “My daughters Maddie and Zoey produced it and starred in it along with me, and Maddie wrote it, scored it and wrote and sang the songs. Being able to create something with my two daughters that I admire and love was my proudest moment.”
The 2017 film was a complete family affair, with Thompson’s husband, Howard Deutch, also serving a producing role. Thompson’s feature film directorial debut, the movie follows Maddie as Izzy Klein and Zoey as her sister, Sabrina, as they navigate young adulthood. Thompson also stars as her daughters’ mother in the film.
While Maddie and Zoey have carved out their own respective careers, they can lean on Thompson for advice on navigating Hollywood — and vintage clothes, of course.
“I collect a lot of things, but my favorite collection is vintage clothing because I can use it in different movies and my kids can borrow it,” Thompson tells Us.
Keep scrolling for more fun anecdotes from Thompson, who currently stars on Hallmark+’s The Chicken Sisters:
New episodes of The Chicken Sisters are available to stream every Thursday on Hallmark+.
1. My favorite place to vacation is my double-wide in Montana.
Lea Thompson attends the Los Angeles Premiere of ‘The Substance’ at Directors Guild Of America on September 16, 2024. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
2. I relate to my Chicken Sisters character, Nancy, in that she’s such a family person. She’ll do anything to hold her family together. I’m different because I swear a lot.
3. I kept both pink date-night outfits from Some Kind of Wonderful.
4. I have ambidextrous eyebrows. I can lift one eyebrow at a time, which is especially important when you’re an aging actress, which means I don’t have Botox in my eyebrows.
5. My fondest childhood memory is swimming all day in the lake with my brothers and sisters in Minnesota.
6. My first car was a white AMC Gremlin. It was a very strange car. It cost $999 new, and it was such a terrible car that it was stolen — and returned — twice. Nobody wanted it!
“Great Scott!” Back to the Future debuted in theaters in July 1985 — and has been a major pop culture staple ever since. Michael J. Fox stars as teenager Marty McFly, who travels back in time from 1985 to 1955 with eccentric scientist Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and meets his parents as high school […]
7. My favorite item in my closet is my mom’s painting jacket with paint all over it. She passed away, so I put it on to get a hug from her every day.
8. If I wasn’t an actor, I probably would be what I started out to be: a dance teacher or choreographer, because I was a ballet dancer. My first job was in a ballet company, the Minnesota Dance Theater. I got paid $63 a week.
9. My favorite movie is one I’ve loved since I was a little girl growing up in Minnesota: Harold and Maude. The soundtrack was by Cat Stevens, who was also one of my favorite songwriters.
10. The actress I looked up to growing up was Audrey Hepburn. I just thought she was everything.
11. My favorite song to sing for karaoke is “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt.
12. The proudest moment of my career was showing my daughters, Madelyn Deutch and Zoey Deutch, The Year of Spectacular Men, the movie I made with them. My daughters Maddie and Zoey produced it and starred in it along with me, and Maddie wrote it, scored it and wrote and sang the songs. Being able to create something with my two daughters that I admire and love was my proudest moment.
Madelyn Deutch, Lea Thompson and Zoey Deutch in ‘The Year of Spectacular Men.’ MarVista Entertainment
13. My favorite meal to cook is my mom’s spaghetti, which means whatever is in the refrigerator and ground beef.
14. I’m really into Chinese food. My go-to takeout order is chicken, veggies and fried rice.
15. Growing up, my celebrity crush was Michael Jackson. The big thing was Donnie Osmond or Michael Jackson, and I was in the Michael Jackson group.
16. My favorite book is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. I love science as it pertains to being human because I feel like it helps me be a better actor and director. It’s a fascinating book, I just love it. I’ve read it three times because I want to remember everything in it.
17. The film I starred in that I always watch when it plays on television is Back to the Future because it’s on TV a lot.
Lea Thompson in ‘Back to the Future,’ 1985. Cover Images
18. My most starstruck moment was when I met Sally Ride, the first woman to ever be in space, when I was filming SpaceCamp. I was so speechless and floored. I’ve always been a space junkie, I just love space and science fiction.
19. I can’t live without a bath, it’s how I unwind.
20. I collect a lot of things, but my favorite collection is vintage clothing because I can use it in different movies and my kids can borrow it.
21. My secret talent is I make fantastic Halloween costumes.
22. The most famous person in my phone book is Michael J. Fox. He’s been my [onscreen] son for [almost] 40 years!
23. One thing I learned from playing Amanda Jones in Some Kind of Wonderful was that I really shouldn’t wear a miniskirt and cowboy boots. It doesn’t look good on me.
24. The song that brings back the best memories is “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey because that hit when I first started acting, and I was getting part after part.
25. My favorite moment from Caroline in the City was in the “Caroline and the Cabbie” episode. I couldn’t stop laughing at Saverio Guerra, who played the taxi driver.
