Amanda Detmer plays Wendy in the fresh Netflix film, A California Christmas.
Wendy is one of the main roles in the holiday-themed movie and is the family matriarch. The mother of two’s husband had been killed in a car accident a few years before the flick takes place.
Currently, Wendy has cancer and has decided to forgo further treatment after more than one round of chemo.
To add to that sad situation, the family ranch is underwater and close to bankruptcy when a big-city real estate establishment tries to convince her to turn the rich agricultural acreage into a more industrial outpost.
A California Christmas was shot on location in the Golden State
A California Christmas was filmed in Petaluma, California, a city an hour north of San Francisco in the wine country’s Sonoma County. The historic Hotel Petaluma, built in 1923, is among the highlights of this storied hamlet seen in the Netflix film.
Amanda had likely been familiar with the territory before being cast in A California Christmas since she originally hails from Chico, according to IMDb.
Her home town is about 160 miles south of Petaluma and is situated on the northeastern edge of the Sacramento Valley.
Although she’s a California girl, Amanda studied in Manhattan at New York University’s acclaimed Tisch School of the Arts where she earned her Master of Fine Arts degree. Before that, she studied for her undergraduate degree at Chico State University.
Amanda Detmer is an accomplished actress
The Netflix project, A California Christmas, is far from the first for this seasoned actress.
In fact, Detmer has earned dozens of show business credits.
Among them, she has been seen on the big screen in such films as Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Saving Silverman (2001), The Majestic (2001), Big Fat Liar (2002), and You, Me and Dupree (2005).
She has also worked in live theater.
In 2001, she played opposite T.R. Knight of Grey’s Anatomy fame in a production of the Tony Award-winning Amadeus at the esteemed Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Amanda played Mozart’s wife.
Amanda Detmer appeared on Empire and Private Practice
The 49-year-old thespian has also appeared in many other roles.
For television, she was cast in Empire, Private Practice, Man Up, What About Brian, Necessary Roughness, Second Chance, A.U.S.A., and Baby Daddy, among others.
Sadly, Amanda made national headlines last December when she was reportedly arrested on DUI charges, according to People.
The outlet stated that on December 10, 2019, “Authorities [alleged] that Detmer was driving [in Chico]… when she crashed her car into a utility pole at an intersection. She left the scene, police claim, and was tracked and stopped less than a mile away.”
While People quoted Chico police who stated that Detmer’s car sustained “heavy front end damage,” the outpost also claimed she was charged with a DUI, property damage, and leaving the scene of a traffic collision.
In A California Christmas, Amanda co-stars with Lauren Swickard, Josh Swickard, Al Afshar, and David Del Rio.
A California Christmas is currently streaming on Netflix.