The Cutler Did It

Donna Mills sinks her teeth into another ruthless role, Lillian Cutler in Lifetime’s V.C. ANDREWS’ DAWN.

- Mara Levinsky

Donna Mills, best-known to soap aficionados for her iconic 1980-89 run as ice queen Abby on KNOTS LANDING, and more recently, her Daytime Emmy-winning turn as Nina’s murderous mother, Madeline, on GH (2014-15, 2018), has added another ruthless beauty to her roster: Lillian Cutler, the chilling matriarch in Lifetime’s four-part limited series V.C. ANDREWS’ DAWN. Lillian is the proprietress of the Cutler’s Cove Hotel, but has made a second career out of tormenting granddaughter Dawn, for reasons that unfold over the course of the series. “I think Lillian is probably the meanest of all my villains,” says Mills, who checked in with Digest about the project.

Digest: What drew you to the idea of taking on your latest formidable villain, Lillian Cutler?

Mills: I had the very good fortune of being able to read the fifth book [in VC. Andrews’s series], which is about her. It’s called Darkest Hour. They didn’t [adapt that book for this series], they only did four of the books, but it explains her. It really tells you why she is as mean as she is, why she is so troubled and so adamant about everything. It talks about her upbringing and the things that she went through. That’s a real plus when you’re playing a character, that you get to have that background.

Digest: And you usually don’t have that kind of source material to provide such insight.