Jane Seymour has fond memories of her friend Christopher Reeve.
The actress, 73, spoke about her “amazing” boyfriend at the 18th annual Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday evening.
“He was just a great guy,” she said Peopleafter being asked about her reaction to the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
‘He was very smart, he was fearless and he loved being alone. “He loved flying airplanes and sailboats and riding horses,” she said, wearing 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 boyfriend Christopher Reeve at the 18th annual Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday evening
“When we made the movie, Chris and I literally fell madly in love,” she revealed at the 2022 film show. TCM Classic Film Festival.
‘When you see this film, you see the real thing. But we didn’t let anyone know. So a few people working on the show did figure it out, but we were as subtle about it as possible.”
The couple reluctantly split when the actor learned his ex-girlfriend was pregnant with their son Matthew. Although they never married, Reeve and Gae Exton had a second child, Alexandra.
Although they never reunited romantically, Reeve and Seymour remained close friends until his death in 2004, at the age of 52.
After the Superman star was paralyzed in a horse riding accident in 1995, he used his energy to help others suffering from similar conditions.
“After his terrible accident, the really hard thing for him, apart from not being able to move and not being able to breathe on his own, was that he could never be alone again,” the Harry Wilde star revealed.
Due to the nature of his injuries, the Rear Window actor required 24-hour assistance.
‘It took two people 24/7 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 ’80s Somewhere in Time, but split when they learned Reeve would have a child with his ex-girlfriend.
“He was just a great guy,” Seymour told People. ‘He was very smart, he was fearless and he loved being alone. He enjoyed flying planes and sailboats and riding horses (pictured in 1980)
“Once he processed what 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 left in rehabs,” he told me, “where families are gone and wives and husbands are gone, the insurance company is gone and they just sit there wishing their lives were gone,” he said. Glow and Darkness star revealed.
“He used all his energy, all his intellect and all his visibility to really move the dial and get the stem cell thing going, when no one wanted to do that. Now it’s normal.’
The Remains of the Day star was implementable in promoting embryonic stem cell research, using donated embryos from couples who had built their families using in vitro fertilization, and established the 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 cord 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 be released on MAX later this year
“He refused to believe that it was impossible for people with spinal injuries to recover, and that no one spent a lot of money on spinal injuries,” the Emmy winner said.
“They just gave up and he just said, ‘No, no. I have to do something about it.”
Reeve’s wife, Dana, died of lung cancer in 2006. Their son Will, along with his older siblings, sits on the board of directors of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is “dedicated to curing spinal cord injuries by advancing cutting-edge research and innovation.” improving the quality of life for individuals and families affected by paralysis,” the website says.
Super/Man: The Story of Christopher Reeve is expected to debut on MAX later this year.