Christine Lahti's 'Open House'

(CBS)  Oscar and Emmy winner Christine Lahti is returning to CBS on Sunday in the television movie "Open House."

The movie is based on the best-selling novel by Elizabeth Berg. In the movie, Lahti plays Samantha Morrow, a recently separated wife and devoted mother forced to start over again. In the process, she finds love in the most unlikely of men. Lahti discusses the role on The Early Show.

The movie also stars Academy Award-winners Eva Marie Saint ("On the Waterfront," 1954) and Rita Moreno ("West Side Story," 1961), as well as Daniel Baldwin ("Homicide: Life on the Streets") and Chris Potter ("The Big House"). The Early Show's own contributor, Colin Cowie, makes an appearance too.

Lahti's character is a devoted wife and mother who is devastated when her husband, David (Potter), walks out on her and her son. To survive, she decides to take in boarders.

Samantha meet new friends and a potential love interest in the mover, King (Baldwin), a blue-collar worker with a big heart.

Lahti says "Open House" is a smart, quirky "dramedy," a combination of comedy and drama. She says it's not the typical network movie because it's literary and intelligent.

Lahti says she used her mother as a model to play Samantha because they are similar to each other. She says her mother and Samantha depend on men and they were blindly devoted to their husband, child and home — at the sacrifice of her own happiness.

Lahti says she was surprised to learn that so many women are in a similar dilemma. But Sam had options. She chose to become a mom and a wife with all the trappings that surrounded her, says Lahti. She says there is the potential for women to fall in the trap of dependency, and they have to create a safeguard against that. It may mean owning a separate credit card or bank account. Lahti says a lot of women can identify with this kind of situation even though they are not in it, because they all know someone who is.

She says Samantha used her humor to survive and never became a victim. Lahti says Samantha's growth from the insecure housewife to empowered woman was a great journey, and she learned a lot from the character.

Some Facts About Christine Lahti

• Born in Birmingham, Mich., April 4, 1949
  
  
• Attended University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Majored in speech and
  drama (BA 1972); Enrolled in 1968 as a language student but later switched to
  speech and drama
  
  
• Attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla.; Did a year towards
  graduate degree in fine arts; left school in 1973; Attended Herbert Berghof Studio in NYC
  
  
• Lahti worked as a singing waitress one summer during college; traveled to Scotland as a member of the Ann Arbor Mime Troupe, then went to London, appearing in a mime
  production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest"
  
  
• In 1973, she moved to New York City; supported herself as a waitress by day and
  performed off-off Broadway by night; Lahti even worked as a mime for a while in
  Central Park
  
  
• In 1977, Lahti made her first Off-Broadway appearance as the female lead opposite Chris Sarandon in David Mamet's "The Woods" at the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public
  Theater
  
  
• In 1978, Lahti made her television debut as Tania Reston in live-action, comic book adventure
  (movie-series pilot) "Dr. Scorpion"
  
  
• In 1979, Lahti made her feature film acting debut in "... And Justice For All"
  
  
• In 1980, Lahti made her Broadway debut in Steve Tesich's "Division Street"
  
  
• In 1984, Lahti's breakthrough film role in "Swing Shift" earned her a Best Supporting
  Actress Oscar nomination
  
  
• In 1987, Lahti obtained an Emmy nomination (Best Supporting Actress) in the ABC miniseries "Amerika"
  
  
• In 1988, she starred with River Phoenix and Judd Hirsch in Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty"
  
  
• In 1991, Lahti won a Cable Ace Award for Best Actress for her performance in the TNT movie "Crazy from the Heart", directed by husband Thomas Schlamme
  
  
• In 1995, Lahti replaced Mandy Patinkin as a star of CBS drama "Chicago Hope"
  
  
• Lahti made her directorial debut, "Lieberman in Love", in 1995 and earned an Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film for her work
  
  
• In 1997, Lahti starred in the TNT movie "Hope", directed by "Swing Shift" co-star Goldie Hawn
  
  
• In 2001, Lahti made her first feature directorial debut with the movie "My First Mister"; It was screened at Sundance

"Open House" airs on CBS Sunday, Feb. 16, at 9 p.m. EST.