Andrea Logan White is no newcomer to the film industry. She is quite the accomplished actress and filmmaker with more than 17 films under her belt, and often works alongside husband producer/actor David A.R. White (co-founder of Pure Flix Entertainment). With experience in memorable roles, Andrea has played many characters including the prestigious role of “Pepper Poppyseed” in Princess and the Popstar from the beloved Veggietales series.
In the upcoming side-splitting comedy Moms’ Night Out Andrea has the role of “Izzy”, best friend to Sarah Drew’s “Allyson”. Andrea gives an incredible performance that you are sure to enjoy as Moms’ Night Out releases this week in a theater near you!
Sonoma Christian Home Editor at Large and SAVN.tv’s Suzanne Niles recently had the privilege of engaging in a conversation with the delightful Logan White about her role in the laugh-out-loud Moms’ Night Out.
Actress Andrea White recently on the red carpet premiere of “Moms’ Night Out”; Photo Courtesy of Andrea Logan White.
SCH: You are in one of the funniest yet honestly heart-warming movies I have seen in a long, long while. I have screened it three times, including the premiere last week and I am going this weekend when it opens at the box office.
ALW: Wow, that is so incredible that you are seeing it for the fourth time. That is so encouraging, thank you. That blows me away, thank you! We hope to hear more of that from our audiences.
SCH: Do you have children and if so, what stage of life are you in with them?
ALW: My husband and I have three children, 7, 4 and 14 months. The baby was 11 weeks old when we were shooting, so literally the whole film, I was nursing her in between scenes and through some very long nights.
David and Andrea balance a busy lifestyle; Photo Courtesy of Pure Flix.
SCH: How did you get involved in Moms’ Night Out?
ALW: In the midst of our real life, my husband and I were struggling to just get out together by ourselves. We were exhausted, trying to balance parenthood and marriage. We were able to get out on a date one night and we went to a movie. It was then we had the idea to make a film about marriage and parenting, how hard it is, yet make it funny.
On a daily basis, what was happening in our home was great material for a movie. So we developed the concept and brought it to writer Andrea Gyertson Nasfell. Then Jon Erwin co-wrote with her as well. Andrea is a mom of two young ones herself, and director Jon Erwin has three. We all wanted to connect to moms and families, to show how hard it is to keep the marriage alive and not put yourself or your husband last. You should not lose yourself once you have children and you need to really encourage yourself. We are all a mess, but we are God’s masterpiece. We want to encourage moms and dads: to inspire the human spirit.
Andrea Logan White, Patricia Heaton, Abbie Cobb and Sarah Drew in a scene from “Moms’ Night Out”; Photo Courtesy of Provident Films.
SCH: Moms’ Night Out is relatable to young moms or moms who have been there, or even grandmas. How did the filmmakers achieve that wide spread generational appeal?
ALW: I give credit to the writers. Our goal is always to make something that appeals to a wide demographic and different generations. My 81-year-old grandparents were at the MNO premiere, and I am planning bring my kids Friday night. When you make a clean family comedy you can broaden your audience.
My kids, for example, will watch any movie with other kids and laughter in it. With my grandparents, when you bring marriage, family and faith into the story, they love to watch that. I know that my husband’s mom before she passed, she was 96 and she loved to watch Patricia Heaton in Everybody Loves Raymond. Everybody can relate to family and comedy.
Izzy (Andrea Logan White), Allyson (Sarah Drew), Sondra (Patricia Heaton) and Zoe (Sammi Hanratty) share good news with the search-and-rescue party; Photo Courtesy of Provident Films.
SCH: Speaking of Patricia Heaton, what was it like to work with a comedy pro like Patricia?
ALW: Oh my goodness, she is such a professional. It was truly fascinating to watch her. She is one of the most wonderful, likeable people. I walked into the makeup trailer on day one and I had my baby in my arms, and she was just gushing over the baby and talking about her own four kids with me.
She was on set working on Everybody Loves Raymond right after she had her children (Patricia Heaton and her husband David Hunt have four sons). As we spoke, Patricia was curious about my family, the baby, and how I was managing it all. She asked about our company Pure Flix. She is not your typical Hollywood actor; a lot of actors can be self-obsessed.
See the trailer for Andrea’s new movie:
From the moment I walked on set she was focusing on my family and me. And then to see just how amazing she was with her acting and so generous with giving Jon and Andy feedback. Really she has no ego, and I just sat there in awe and in so much respect for her and how open she was about her life and her career. Really, I just can’t say enough good things about her.
SCH: Moms’ Night Out is obviously a movie made about motherhood, but I also saw it address the aspect of our need as women, for relationship. Sarah Drew’s character Allyson, and your character Izzy have a very strong, ‘I’ve got your back’ kind of friendship. Was that purposeful, to encourage women that we need community and the support of one another?
ALW: It was so purposed. We feel like we have to have it all together and we are all crumbling one way or another inside. Abbie Cobb, who plays single mom Bridget in the film, does it all by herself and doesn’t have the luxury of having a husband. Bar none, hands down, single moms are my heroes. I have a friend who is a single mom and we have raised our sons together and she didn’t have a husband at any point at all, and I have seen the struggles she has gone through. She has had a lack of community and I have seen some of her darkest moments and I think community is so pivotal.
The girls go out on the town; Photo Courtesy of Provident Films.
I just got a text this morning about a large group of single moms who are bringing their older kids to the film and I think it is bringing them together. I know when I don’t have my community of moms it is hard. We get down, we need each other, and we need to pray for each other. If you are married, marriage is hard, then you bring children into it, you may be a working mom and none of us have it perfect or absolutely right. We need to continue to pray for each other, no matter what our circumstances are.
SCH: When working together as actresses in the type of relationships your characters had in this film, does it translate to off screen and do you actually walk away with lasting friendships?
ALW: Absolutely, when we saw each other at the premiere we were like little junior high school girls, we were giddy and gaga. I think we were just excited that when the interviews slow down and things settle, we could actually reconnect and enjoy this ride together. On some of our days off while shooting I got to have lunch with Abbie Cobb and we got to share our heart and our lives with one another: Patricia and Sarah, as well.
Andrea Logan White and Sarah Drew play good friends in “Moms’ Night Out”; Photo Courtesy of Provident Films.
It is good to see that even though we are all on different paths in this town as actresses, Patricia is on The Middle, Sarah is on Greys Anatomy, Abbie just did a pilot for ABC and my husband and I are doing films for Pure Flix, we all are so similar and we enjoy each other. I was in awe of all of their hearts for God, and just how normal we all are. I think people put actors in Hollywood on pedestals, but you know what, we are all just people and the only reason we are where we are at is by the grace of God. Long story short, we really adore each other and want to continue to encourage each other.
SCH: There was some great physical comedy in this movie. So running in heels, how did that work for you?
ALW: Oh goodness, well I think that was actually the easy part, like I said shooting the film while having a newborn. And all of that stuff that looked painful was actually so much fun. The shot that you see in the movie where we are running in heels was actually shot at four and five in the morning. We were actually trying to beat the rising of the sun. Since it is a film about a mom’s night outing, of course we needed to shoot at night. We had moments of exhaustion, but we really didn’t feel tired. I think because we had so much fun that it just wasn’t that hard. Sure we may have felt the pain, but we just had such a blast doing it together.
Some of the “Moms’ Night Out” cast behind the scenes; Photo Courtesy of Facebook.
SCH: Had you done physical comedy before?
ALW: At Pure Flix we did a comedy called Holyman Undercover and what people don’t understand is that comedy is actually the hardest genre to do. If you try to be funny, you’re not funny, and the timing and how many plates you have spinning in the air trying to juggle and hoping they all hit.
And then, the audience laughs and it is really miraculous. It is quite complicated even though it looks easy. With comedy there are so many things that you have to get right to even get a good laugh, but oh my, it is really the most fun to do. I myself am the biggest dork at heart, like a little schoolgirl when it comes to comedy. I just love comedy. And with Moms’ Night Out we all loved it and just had a blast on set.
Izzy (Andrea Logan White), Allyson (Sarah Drew), Bones (Trace Adkins), Bridget (Abbie Cobb), Sondra (Patricia Heaton) and Zoe (Sammi Hanratty) cut loose in an end-credit scene; Photo Courtesy of Provident Films.
SCH: Izzy has a husband named Marco, played by the wonderful actor Robert Amaya. Marco seems a bit paranoid. How would Izzy advise a wife to encourage a husband with that type of personality?
ALW: The funny thing is, I am actually a lot like my character “Izzy” and I can feel that the husbands can’t do it anywhere as good as moms can, but God has shown me time and time again, to keep my mouth shut, because we all have our different ways of doing things. There is no “right” way. I think just as children need our praise, husbands need our praise more than anyone. I mean, who is going to want to do anything if you constantly cut them down, I know I wouldn’t.
Why would our husbands want to do something if all we do is criticize them? I read in a book once that every time you criticize someone they need at least five positive compliments to even delete that one critical comment. I know that every woman likes to have control and we like to sometimes wear the pants; but that is not the way God designed it. It is God, husband, wife, and children. There is a blessing that flows from that.
The movie poster for “Moms’ Night Out”; Image Courtesy of Provident Films.
So often I think that I need to have my house clean, my house in order, but then here is my husband down on the floor wrestling with the kids and guess what? The kids are giggling more than ever and that is something I have to savor and enjoy and just let the house be. The entire chaotic mess can wait, and I can enjoy the kids being kids and just let it all unfold because it is never going to be perfect. You know, I love my husband more every day and I think that in the film, Marco, like the rest of us, just isn’t going to do it all right. But, if we all survive at the end of the day, so be it.
SCH: Ok Andrea, can you please give us a short commercial message as to why SCH readers should come out to see Moms’ Night Out this Mother’s Day weekend?
ALW: Well, I think it will encourage every family member, mom, dad, and child, to know that we are all God’s masterpiece – and that is my favorite line in the movie. We are made for his purpose and if you keep God first the rest will unfold. We need to know we are here for each other, embrace each other exactly where we are in life. We want you to know that you are not a failure. We hope by going to the film you can escape your pain, your struggle and laugh. Don’t take life too seriously. Know that God has a plan. Reach out and ask for help if you need it. We want you to laugh as hard as we have, and know that we made this film because we love you.
The cast and crew of “Moms’ Night Out” at the red carpet premiere; Photo Courtesy of Twitter.
Andrea Logan White is an absolute delight, and a young mom who is wise way beyond her years. She gets it, she gets what is important and she knows that God loves her just the way she is. Andrea put a lot of love into creating the character of “Izzy” in “Moms’ Night Out and it would be a real shame if you didn’t get to see her wonderful performance.
So, for Mothers Day, let your family know that you want to be encouraged, you want to laugh and you want to be reminded that God loves you for exactly who you are. Make sure they know the perfect way to enjoy that message is by heading to the box office and buying you a ticket to Moms’ Night Out for Mother’s day. Enjoy this movie with your family and take some friends along too. It will be your best Mother’s Day yet!
Did you love this interview? Check out Patricia Heaton – Moms’ Night Out Movie Interview
Find out more about Moms’ Night Out at the Christian Film Database
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