Jane Seymour carries fond memories of her friend Christopher Reeve.
The actress, 73, spoke about her ‘amazing’ pal at the 18th Annual Oscar Wilde Awards Thursday night in Los Angeles.
‘He was just an amazing guy,’ she told People, after being asked about her reaction to the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
‘He was really bright, he was fearless and he loved to be alone. He loved to fly airplanes and sailboats and ride horses,’ she said while in a teal dress.
The pair met on the set of the 1980 romantic drama Somewhere in Time.
Jane Seymour, 73, shared fond memories of her longtime friend Christopher Reeve Thursday night at the 18th Annual Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles
‘Chris and I, when we made the film, we literally fell madly in love,’ she revealed at the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival.
‘When you see this film, you will see the real thing. But we didn’t let anyone know. So a few of the people who worked on the show kind of sussed it out, but we were as subtle as we could be about it.’
The couple reluctantly parted when the actor learned his ex-girlfriend was pregnant with their son Matthew. Although they never married, Reeve and Gae Exton, went on to have a second child, Alexandra.
Although they never got together romantically again, Reeve and Seymour remained close friends until his death in 2004, at the age of 52.
After the Superman star was paralyzed in a 1995 horse riding accident, he used his energy to help others suffering from similar conditions.
‘After his terrible accident, the really tough part for him, apart from being unable to move and unable to breathe alone, was that he could never be alone again,’ the Harry Wilde star revealed.
Due to the nature of his injuries, the Rear Window actor needed around the clock help.
‘It took two people 24/7 just to keep him alive. And I think he really didn’t want [his wife] Dana to have to be the caregiver,’ she explained.
The pair met while working on 1980’s Somewhere in Time, but parted when they learned Reeve was going to have a baby with his ex-girlfriend
‘He was just an amazing guy,’ Seymour told People. ‘He was really bright, he was fearless and he loved to be alone. He loved to fly airplanes and sailboats and ride horses (Pictured in 1980)
‘Once he’d processed what had happened to him and Dana told him, “You’re still you,” he decided, “What can I do to help other people in this situation?”‘
‘”Because there are a lot of people,” he said to me, “left behind there in rehabs with families disappeared and wives, husbands disappeared, the insurance company disappeared, and they’re just sitting there wishing life away,”‘ the Glow and Darkness star revealed.
‘He took all his energy and all his intellect and all his visibility to really move the dial and get the stem-cell thing going when nobody wanted to do that. Now it’s normal.’
The Remains of the Day star was implemental in promoting embryonic stem cell research, using relinquished embryos from couples who built their families with the help of In Vitro Fertilization, and established Christopher Reeve Stem Cell Research Fund.
The Superman star was paralyzed after a horse riding accident in 1995. Seymour and Reeve remained close friends for the rest of his life (Pictured in Los Angeles in April 1997)
‘He refused to believe that it was impossible for people with spinal injuries to recover,’ she said, praising him for his pioneering work in support of stem cell treatments (Pictured in Los Angeles in March 1996)
Christopher Reeve died in 2004. The documentary, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is expected to stream on MAX later this year
‘He refused to believe that it was impossible for people with spinal injuries to recover, and nobody was spending very much money on spinal injuries,’ the Emmy winner said.
‘They just gave up on them, and he just said, “No, no. Got do something about it.”‘
Reeves wife, Dana, dies of lung cancer in 2006. Their son Will, along with his older siblings, are on the board of directors at the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is ‘dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research and improving the quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis,’ according to the website.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve story is expected to stream on MAX later this year.
