Just like the movies? Hallmark Channel stars including Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert and Jonathan Bennett revealed how they spend the holidays — and whether it resembles any of their Christmas-themed films.
“I try to honor the, like, day after Thanksgiving [rule to decorating],” Sweeney exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2022, when asked about when she puts up Christmas items.
The A Magical Christmas Village star confessed that she loves Halloween, so that’s when her neighbors first see her holiday spirit. “You gotta give Halloween, it’s due,” she explained. “My favorite meal to cook all year long is Thanksgiving. So I love Thanksgiving [because] the family [is together]. It’s like my favorite day.”
The Murder, She Baked actress, however, revealed that the “very next day” she goes into Christmas mode. “It’s, like, time to go get a tree or get your tree out and start putting on the ornaments and the decorations and the lights and get to work,” Sweeney told Us.
Later that month, the soap opera star dished to Us about which Hallmark movie trope she loves the most — and it doesn’t include decorating early.
“I love the ice skating. So Luke MacFarlane plays my love interest [in A Magical Christmas Village] — so good, so handsome,” Sweeney said while celebrating Hallmark’s 2022 Countdown to Christmas at Radio City Music Hall. “We did, of course, the classic Christmas ice skating, like, klutzy character that has to fall and it was so fun and funny and he was so good helping me through it.”
Bennett, who starred in his first Hallmark movie in 2010, exclusively told Us in October 2022 that he can’t get enough of the “near-miss kisses” each season.
“We do about six near-miss kisses in The Holiday Sitter. We give everyone everything they want,” he said of his 2022 holiday film. “And what’s so special about The Holiday Sitter is that yes, an LGBTQ+-led movie, but it’s not for just LGBTQ+ people. The Holiday Sitter is a movie for everyone just like Hallmark Channel is for everyone. And Christmas is for everyone.”
Jordin Sparks, who made her Hallmark debut in 2021, agreed with Bennett. “Hallmark is family,” she exclusively told Us in October 2021. “Hallmark is love.”
Chabert, for her part, gushed over the process of making films with Hallmark Media, having worked with the company since 2010.
“It’s a true collaboration when everyone comes together and brings their talents to make that happen,” the Party of Five alum exclusively told Us in October 2021, referring to the 15-day turnaround she had on Christmas at Castle Heart. “I’m always in awe.”
Scroll down to see how Hallmark Channel stars past and present celebrate the holidays from year to year: