With production well into season two, Stevenson has formed a strong bond with McKillip, born in 1992, with whom she has most of her scenes.
"There is no more angelic face than that child's face," Stevenson says during a break in filming in the show's sets in Vancouver, Canada. "She is just unearthly beautiful. They really have to dull her down. And she's so kind and sweet. And she has this incredible singing voice.
"Her mom, Linda, brought in this tape. You really identify with the characters, and I love her, she's like my daughter. So she put this tape in, and I watched her. There she is, her tiny little body on stage, the microphone is bigger than she is, and she's singing away. I burst out crying, 'Oh, my God, that's my baby!' Her mom's like, 'I know.' Her two moms are crying.
"Britt was not there, of course, and she was mortified that her mother had brought it. You know kids, 'Mother, stop showing that tape to everybody.' So I ran and got all the girls out of makeup. They all packed into my trailer, and we were watching it, because it's so miraculous, coming out of that little frame."
Joy's relationship with George was strained and distant before George died at the age of 18. As a Grim Reaper, George still walks the Earth, but she now has a different outward appearance to other people. There are times when George has sought out contact with her mother and sister, but no real reconciliation is possible.
Stevenson says, "I hope it makes young girls stop and say, 'It's true. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow. I'd better try. I do have this horrific relationship with my parents -- I could really try to break down the walls now.'
"I grew up with my mom, very much like Reggie. I was Reggie, and my mom was pretty Joy-ish. It's very hard to be a single mother. Now, as a mother, I understand what she was going through, but you don't have that perspective as a child. She was just a rage-a-holic to me, and someone who was really hard to live with. So to create empathy now -- it's so weird for me to be playing her and watching Reggie.
"I watch those scenes, and Reggie is so distant from me, so trashing me in every scene that we have. I think, 'That's what I did to her! That's what I was doing to her every day. That's awful.' She had nothing but money stress and money tension.
"So I also hope the show makes mothers and kids and anybody say, 'This is the only time we have. Don't wait until you're 40. Cut them some slack.' It's really hard to do. It's that corny Pollyanna saying that I really do believe, that we're all doing the best we can."
Since George's death, Reggie has acquired odd obsessions, including collecting toilet seats. While it makes for dark humor in the show, it's deeply disturbing for Joy.
"She really scares me," Stevenson says. "It's a horrible thing to say about your own child. She's spooky. I mean, George wasn't as spooky as Reggie. George was just belligerent. I felt that she fell out of love with me, and that really crushed me.
"That's what Joy's tragedy is. To watch your child fall out of love with you must be devastating. Then to not have the chance to fall back in love, to have an aborted mission, toilet seat took her out, that's the real tragedy."
Now that Joy's marriage is ending, the question arises -- will Joy find love again? Apparently, those who buy the DVD set of the show's first season, released June 15, can hear Mandy Patinkin, who plays Rube, George's undead boss and mentor, render his opinion.
"When we did the DVD commentary," Stevenson recalls, "someone said, 'Where do you hope to see your character if the show goes for five, six years?' And Mandy, God bless him, goes, 'I hope I'm married to Joy. I hope that's clearly where I'm going.' We were laughing, we were like, 'Of course that's going to happen.'
"He's the perfect man. But there's got to be some chinks in Rube's armor. He's got to fall down a bit, stumble a bit. He's so smooth, something should happen, whether it's me, or anyone, who rattles his cage. Something's gotta get into Rube.
"But wouldn't that be funny, that Joy and Rube could be dating? I would love that. How weird for George. That would be the weirdest thing, if he has to hide it from her, which he's so not used to doing. He's used to being perfect, and she's always hiding things from him, but how great to have the tables turned. Let's make a call right now."
