Lea Thompson may be 65, but the multi-hyphenate has perhaps never felt more creatively fulfilled. The actress, who broke out in the 1980s in Back to the Future and Some Kind of Wonderful, made the jump behind the camera in the mid-2000s as a director. In 2026, Lea added a new bow to her string as she became the executive producer on USA Network's hit drama Anna Pigeon, which has now been renewed for a second season.
Anna Pigeon was a project Lea had been trying to get off the ground for 12 years. The Bell Media/USA Network procedural is based on Nevada Barr's series of books, first published in 1993, and set in the stunning but terrifying world of Glacier National Park in northwest Montana, where Lea has had a house for years, and where her parents lived for 35 years.
The show was shot on location, with Alberta, Canada used as their playground, and on their first day of filming, Mother Nature gave Lea and the crew real insight into the life of a park ranger as not only did a grizzly bear and her cubs show up, but the sky also filled with lightning, forcing all electrical equipment to be put down.
The network's executives were also there that day.
© Penske Media via Getty Images"I'm so glad I'm such a veteran because I really know how to shoot my way out of a difficult situation like a gunslinger!" she tell HELLO!
"Not only did the grizzly bear and her cubs show up, but there was lightning, so I had to stop for two and a half hours – and out of a 11-hour shooting day, that's a huge part of your day."
"I really know how to shoot my way out of a difficult situation like a gunslinger!"
The 10-part series introduces viewers to the titular Anna (played by Chicago PD's Tracy Spiridakos), a theater stage manager turned Park Ranger in her late 30s who moved from New York City after the murder of her husband in a home invasion. As each episode focuses on a new crime taking place inside the park, Anna's back story, and the mystery around her husband's death, is slowly unveiled across season one.
© VersantTaking control of a cable show in this way is a moment that Lea doesn't believe could have happened when she was younger; as the director and the executive producer, Lea was given permission to shape the series, deciding to include magical realism, with the deceased husband appearing on screen in times of stress, as well as a narration by Anna to offer insight into "a more poetic version of Anna that lives in her head."
"Unfortunately, I feel like it would have been much harder for me to do this job when I was in my 20s and 30s," she tells HELLO!
"There are a lot of things that, as you get older, help you adapt and bring something special and unique to the process.""An appreciation of other people's jobs is extremely important," she continues. "The understanding, empathy, and the humility of being older. It is exciting - and it is unfortunate we fall for all of this stuff [that says] we're only worthy when we're beautiful young things."
"It's so easy to buy, but I feel like – even chemically – we get more confident as we get older, because estrogen is so difficult to live through, but as it calms down, you realize that you are worthy and you have the right to take up space."
© VersantA fated decision
Lea broke out in 1985 alongside Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, and a year later appeared in SpaceCamp and Howard the Duck. She had also been asked to read a script for a movie called Some Kind of Wonderful with director Howard Deutch attached, but turned it down.
When Howard the Duck was released, the year after Back to the Future, it was critically maligned and a box office bomb, something which Lea admits left her "devastated" and scrambling for work because, as she puts it, she felt she was "never going to work again."
By this point, Some Kind of Wonderful had gone through huge rewrites, and she decided to accept the role of Amanda; it was a decision meant to be, as Lea and Howard fell in love on the set.
© Patrick McMullan via Getty ImageThe pair went on to welcome daughters Madelyn and Zoey – both actresses – and will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2027.
Behind the cameras
Lea made her directorial debut in 2006 with the television movie Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall but it took another seven years before she found regular work, going on to direct episodes of TV shows Switched At Birth, Stargirl, Resident Alien, and Will Trent over the last decade.
"Directing is like a treasure hunt, or like a thrift shop," she says. "You're getting all these little pieces, and then you're sewing a quilt, and making something beautiful out of nothing, with the help of all these incredible professionals."
© Getty ImagesDuring that first day on the set of Anna Pigeon, Lea decided to use the unexpected free time to shoot Tracy for potential B-roll footage, with Lea, Tracy and one cameraman hiking away from the set.
It was a decision made by an experienced professional that proved worthwhile: "I said, 'I need you to turn to your left, and then I need the camera to go to your right. And I need a nice close-up, just looking at the beautiful view.' And that's the shot they use for everything!"
A second season was confirmed two days before season one's finale, and it was news Lea had been hoping to hear for some time.
"We're doing extremely well with the ratings. We're really holding our own on cable, and I'm super proud, and amazed and excited – I think it would be a shame if they didn't get the gang all back together.
"I think there's so many exciting stories to tell and so many exciting places for her to go and to do, and so much trouble that Anna Pigeon can get into."
Anna Pigeon season one concludes on October 9, 2026 at 10/9c on USA Network
