Rita Wilson Discusses Her New Track 'Til You're Home' and Wanting to Produce 'Hopeful Content'

Rita Wilson is opening up about the special meaning behind her new song "Til You're Home" with Sebastián Yatra.

The multi-hyphenate star, 66, tells PEOPLE that when she started writing the track — which serves as the theme for the upcoming movie A Man Called Otto, starring her husband Tom Hanks — with songwriter David Hodges, she remembered how a friend told her after her dad's death that "the conversation continues."

"I didn't know it at the time, but it actually became true," Wilson says. "I talk to my parents. I talk to my friends who have passed away. That presence is just as vibrant, in a way, as when they were alive. That was a starting point."

From there, Wilson contemplated the idea of home and how it related to the story of A Man Called Otto. Based on the book "A Man Called Ove," the film centers on Otto Anderson (played by Hanks), a grump who no longer sees purpose in his life following the loss of his wife. When a young family moves next door, his life is turned around.

"Home is that place that you feel the safest, that you feel the most yourself," she says. "Home is where family is, not where the house is."

Harper Smith Rita Wilson

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With those ideas in mind, "Til You're Home" was born. When it came time to record the song, Wilson instantly thought of Sebastián Yatra for her duet partner, as she fell in love with his voice after hearing him sing in Disney's Encanto.

"We were incredibly lucky he said 'yes' and all the planets aligned,'" Wilson previously said in a statement.

Erick Quituizaca  Sebastián Yatra

Along with writing "Til You're Home" for A Man Called Otto, Wilson also served as a producer.

"It took five years to bring this movie to the screen, from the first phone call I made to try to get the rights to having our first screening at The Academy Museum [in Los Angeles]," she says. "As with anything in life, the things that you love, take time. They need to be nurtured, they need to be shepherded."

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Even though the film doesn't take place during Christmas, Wilson says it "feels hopeful in the way that It's a Wonderful Life feels hopeful."

"It's a person choosing life after coming out of a very dark place," she says. "We all have dark periods where things aren't going well. When you can be reminded that there's a reason to live and people to live for, it's such a beautiful feeling."

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A Man Called Otto is just a taste of what's to come from Wilson, who launched her new film production company, Artistic Films, last week.

"My production company is a way for me to embrace and pursue things that have inspirational and hopeful content," she says. "In music, I also have an ability to do that. When you're writing a song, you can't hide behind anything. In some ways, I think that influenced me wanting to have a production company because I think there's a great desire to see more films that will give people that experience of hope and community."

A Man Called Otto hits select theaters Dec. 30 then everywhere Jan. 13.