In July 9, the Little House on the Prairie universe officially returns!

The Netflix revival of the beloved book series authored by and based on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder premieres on Thursday, over five decades after its NBC version hit screens.

The original version premiered in 1974, starring Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls and making her a household name for its nine season run. Now, that name will be carried forward by Alice Halsey, and the two have seemingly already formed a deep bond.

While Melissa, 62, is not explicitly involved with the new series, she did pay a surprise visit to the set to support Alice, 11, who revealed in a new interview that she instantly found herself enamored by her former counterpart.

“Melissa Gilbert came to set one day and we got to meet her and she’s so nice,” she shared in an interview with People. “I ran off and I gave her a big hug.”

“We didn’t even know each other,” the pre-teen continued. “I just saw her and I ran to her. I think she’s a really nice person. She was just so supportive. So supportive. It just made me feel so welcomed into the Little House world.”

Speaking of taking on the iconic role, Alice added: “I think it’s a huge privilege to be able to play this amazing character. She’s been an icon across generations and I feel so honored that I get to play this character and be shown onscreen as Laura Ingalls. I think my favorite part might have been being able to just figure out who she is because she definitely has a lot of sides to her.”

“I knew that I had to honor her legacy and her story because she really was an amazing woman, a storyteller, a writer and a hard worker. So I felt a lot of pressure. But I think I was surrounded by amazing castmates, and I’m just so glad that I could do it with them.”

As for the remainder of the main cast, Luke Bracey stars as “Pa” aka Charles Ingalls, Crosby Fitzgerald plays “Ma” aka Caroline Ingalls, Skywalker Hughes plays Laura’s older sister Mary, Jocko Sims plays town physician and Ingalls neighbor Dr. George Tann, Warren Christie plays John Edwards, Meegwun Fairbrother plays William Mitchell, Alyssa Wapanatǎhk plays his wife White Sun, and Wren Zhawenim Gotts plays their daughter Good Eagle.

Rebecca Sonnenshine serves as the showrunner and executive producer for the Netflix reboot. “I always like to say that this show is a love story about a family,” she told Tudum of the series.

“They’re a family you want to be with, you want to know, you want to spend time with. That’s really at the core of what Little House on the Prairie is about: a family that is there for each other, tells stories to each other, tells stories about themselves.”

Speaking of what we can expect from the first season of the revival, she explained: “It’s about people deciding who they want to be and looking for a better life. It leans into the idea that it’s never too late to do that.”