LeToya Luckett on Playing the Not-Dead Wife in Lifetime’s ‘I Thought My Husband’s Wife Was Dead’

Lifetime

The title alone has us intrigued.

It was the same for two-time Grammy winner LeToya Luckett, who stars as the wife who everyone thought was dead in Lifetime’s I Thought My Husband’s Wife Was Dead (Saturday, Aug. 3, at 8pm ET/PT).  This emotional thriller is based on the novel Unmissing by bestselling author Minka Kent.

The film introduces us to Lola (Sherilyn Allen) and Leo Winters (Jamall Johnson), whose near-perfect lives quickly unravel when a homeless woman enters their world. The woman is Tori Winters (Luckett), and she’s the former wife of Leo’s who went missing five years ago.

“There was something very, very different about Tori and I knew it would be a stretch for me,” Luckett says. “I wanted to get my hands dirty with this one. And that’s exactly what I did.”

Although Tori is disturbed, she is trying to find her footing, while everyone around her is questioning her motives, where she has been and why she hasn’t gone to the police.

“I can relate to her. I mean, she’s taken what life has thrown at her and she’s not super bitter about it,” Luckett tells. “She has this whole ‘I’m still standing’ attitude. And I can appreciate that about her.”

The former Destiny’s Child singer turned solo artist turned actress can certainly appreciate her character’s pivot, but where she struggled most was on the men’s bathroom floor.

“I’m a germophobe. And I’m talking about pre-pandemic. There was a scene where I had to sleep on the bathroom floor. That was probably the hardest thing I had to do in the movie,” she laughs about it now. “I walked out the bathroom after the scene and I saw it was a men’s bathroom, which made it even more disgusting. I really took seven baths that night because I just felt like I couldn’t get it off.”

But this story is far from what’s expected. It’s an emotional roller coaster.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to put your thumb on it and know how this is going to end. It is a thriller, it’s a mystery, it’s a comedy, it’s a love story all at one time.”