Sarah Drew may have found fame in her 30s as Dr April Kepner in Grey's Anatomy but it's now, at the age of 45, that her creative life is flourishing in ways she never expected. "For me, once I hit 40, my creative life took off in a new way," she tells HELLO! "It was then that I started writing my own stuff – and I've now written and produced three movies (Birthright Outlaw, A Cowboy Christmas Romance, and A Carpenter Christmas Romance), one of which I starred in."
"I'm no longer shy about asking to dive in as an executive producer, and participate and use my voice, and I have so much more confidence than I ever did in my twenties or 30s," she says.
Sarah leads the Hallmark series Mistletoe Murders, playing Christmas shop owner Emily Lane who helps to solve murder mysteries but is hiding a big secret of her own. Emily is unapologetic about the choices she makes, and Sarah, who asked to be an executive producer on the series, says she is the same – now.
"I did a lot of apologizing before entering into my second act. I feel so much stronger and more grounded, and I know I have so much more to offer," she says. "But it's also true that I watch lines come up on my face. I don't love things about how my face is aging. I am still aware of the cultural expectation for women to look like they're not aging when they are so it's complicated, and I'm not going to pretend that it's not complicated."
HELLO! has been reframing the narrative of what being in midlife means, championing women over 40 to take control of their lives, their health, their desires and their direction, and Sarah shares that she is seeing that reflected across Hollywood and the TV industry as well, as she is one of many women in their 40s and older leading series.
"I've watched so many shows with leads in their late 40s, 50s, 60s lately," says Sarah. "I'm watching Down Cemetery Road right now that Emma Thompson is starring in, and it's amazing: she's so gloriously sexy and brilliant and beautiful. There's Keri Russell in The Diplomat, and Claire Danes is in every show."
Sarah has also realized what all women realize: that you "can't please everybody". The mom-of-two spent a "consuming" decade of her life on ABC series Grey's Anatomy, which she joined at the age of 29, and it has been well-documented that she often felt like she did not have a voice on the show.
"In my 20s and 30s, I was so grateful to be there, and so I tried to make everybody happy all the time," she shares. "But now I'm ready to make some of my own rules, and demand respect in new ways that still feel grounded in authenticity and kindness and grace."
"I feel very strongly that my job as an artist is to tell stories that make people feel like they're less alone in the world, that they're seen, and beloved in some way," she adds, sharing that one of her rules is to only tell stories that reflect her Christian faith and find good in the pain.
Sarah married her husband Peter in 2002 at the age of 22, and they are now parents to two teenage children. Her son is following in his mom's footsteps, taking an interest in acting and appearing in his first professional production this Christmas, which means the family will stay in town for the holiday season.
The actress is a "big holiday person", sharing that she hosts a Christmas caroling party, is part of a music collective called Reindeer Tribe that records a Christmas album every year, performs at her church for the Christmas Eve service each year, and then holds a big Christmas Eve party where her husband makes cheese fondue.
"Traditions are so important," she says, revealing that her parents began the carol party when she was a child and that she has started her own with her two children: "We started a new tradition the year the movie Spirited came out in 2022. When we decorate the tree, my husband makes us Manhattan cocktails, and the kids get sparkling apple cider, and we put on the movie and decorate the tree and that's become a very fun tradition."
"But for me it's about the sacred aspect of it; I could not care less about Santa!" laughs Sarah. "I love the new beginning of it all, of love entering the world to heal the brokenhearted, and I try to infuse that into all the projects I participate in."