For Josie Bissett, 'Pregnant at 17' was More Than Just a Film

By Stacy Jenel Smith

February 16, 2016 3 min read

For Josie Bissett, Lifetime's Feb. 20-premiering "Pregnant at 17" was like making several movies in one — an emotional drama in which she plays a woman who discovers her husband's infidelity; a psychological thriller in which her character becomes obsessed with finding out all about her husband's young lover (Zoe De Grand Maison) and begins stalking her; and an action flick involving a kidnapping and a homicidal ex-con. And as if that weren't enough, there are a couple of major twists along the way.

"I loved it right away specifically for that," says the beautiful blond, who rose to fame on "Melrose Place," during an afternoon's chat. "There was so much emotional range. It was fun to dabble in getting dirty and doing stunts."

Bissett has been dealing with her own emotional ups and downs in recent times. Her beautiful home in Bellevue, Washington state burned last year and "I'm still sort of just healing and coming to terms with everything that's happened," she admits. Inching her way through the insurance process has been challenging. "It's such an awful process," she says.

"I had just finished remodeling. When I go into the house now, I can't visualize it being clean. But the land and the water were the most important to me anyway" — and she still has her property and view of Lake Washington.

Her professional life has certainly provided distraction. Bissett and her 13-year-old daughter, Maya, recently returned from Korean location of "Operation Chromite," in which Liam Neeson plays U.S. General Douglas MacArthur and Bissett plays his wife. The Korean-made epic details the decisive Korean War battle of Inchon.

"Mine is a small, small role," she admits. "But it was such a great experience to be there and to have my daughter with me in a whole new culture." And she loved working with Neeson, "one of my favorite actors and people."

Bissett's taste for far-flung travel was also satisfied a couple of years ago, when she journeyed to Sri Lanka as part of a team with the Starkey Hearing Foundation. "It was one of the most beautiful, unforgettable experiences of my life."

She was trained to fit people with hearing aids, people who'd never had access to such devices before. "It was amazing, watching the faces of people when they could hear for the first time — a miracle."

Next, she'd like to combine her love of home design with her television presence and get involved in a design show of some sort. "It has, of course, been on my mind a lot, especially with what happened to my house," she says

. Who knows, perhaps a good thing will come out of a bad one.

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