Alison Sweeney’s new Hallmark movie, OPEN BY CHRISTMAS, premieres tonight, November 12, on Hallmark Channel at 8 p.m. Here, the actress previews what to expect.
Soap Opera Digest: How did OPEN BY CHRISTMAS come about?
Alison Sweeney: OPEN BY CHRISTMAS is a script I’ve been developing for over a year. It’s been a great project to work on. I loved the hook — my character finds a note in a high school book that she never saw! And she wants to figure out who sent her this romantic card.
Digest: What is the premise of the story? It sounds fun!
Sweeney: It is really fun! There is a bit of a mystery (which I love), and Nicky is determined to figure out who sent her this old Christmas card in high school. Along the way, we get to experience Nicky and her best friend Simone getting into the holiday spirit, each with their own love story.
Digest: Where did you get the idea?
Sweeney: I really wanted to develop a script for two female leads equally. I love the idea of depicting these two best friends and I think our audience will really relate to how important friendship is along with romance and family during the holidays.
Digest: You play Nicky; what is your character like?
Sweeney: Nicky is a successful businesswoman in New York. We see her from the beginning doing well in life, but a little nervous about coming back to her hometown for the holidays. When she comes back for Thanksgiving we get to see why she’s a little reticent — she has an embarrassing story in her past that makes the whole high school thing a memory she’d rather not dwell on. It’s cute —and fun — and I think a really relatable thing. While we were developing this concept, half our calls would devolve into everyone sharing their own embarrassing high school memories. It was very therapeutic!
Digest: You have new co-stars for this film. What was it like to work with them?
Sweeney: I really enjoyed working with Erica Durance, who plays my best friend Simone. She’s a super actress, with a great resumé so I had a lot of confidence she’d be great for the role. But you can never predict the chemistry of friendship, and we really hit it off. We have a lot in common and that really helped us connect off the bat. Brennan [Elliott] was so fantastic to work with, too! I knew he would be because Lacey [Chabert, ex-Bianca, ALL MY CHILDREN] told me how much she enjoys working with him. And he really made the movie better every day. The way he brought his character to life was so fun — sometimes it was hard not to laugh in the scene because he is so funny, too.
2021 Crown Media United States, LLC
2021 Crown Media United States, LLC
Digest: Tell us about Nicky’s dynamic with Simone. You’re playing up the BF angle more in this film, right?
Sweeney: There are so many great friendship scenes between Nicky and Simone. We see the strength of their friendship from the beginning, but along the way, we also see that these two women tell each other the truth, even when it’s hard. I think that’s such an important element of a real friendship.
Digest: What was it like to film a Christmas movie months before the holiday? Does it put you in a holiday mood?
Sweeney: I guess I’m used to celebrating Christmas twice — at DAYS, we film Christmas way far in advance, so it’s similar. I love everything about Christmas so it’s fun to get so much of it! And people tease me that I’m always a little cold filming in Canada, so even in the summer, I don’t mind putting a coat on!
Digest: You’re also the executive producer of the movie; how do you split your time between that and being the star of it?
Sweeney: In advance of the movie, I obviously am able to dedicate myself to my job as EP. And I try to do as much as possible in advance so that while we’re actually filming I can concentrate on my performance, but that doesn’t always work out. So I just try to separate out time to concentrate on my performance, rehearsing with my co-stars etc. without distraction. And then do the business stuff during some of the other breaks we have as actors.
Digest: Anything else to share?
Sweeney: Well, a special moment for me in developing the movie was coming up with the what was written in the Christmas card that Nicky finds in her school book. We debated this at length in our development meetings. And at one point, I pitched a very special quote from Romeo and Juliet — and everyone loved it. I still remember that quote verbatim because it is the a line that Jack says to Jennifer on the roof of her apartment building in a very romantic scene that I will always remember from when I was a huge fan of DAYS before I joined the show. (I have a dopey smile on my face as I type this). As most readers of Digest will know, I was a huge Jack and Jen fan. It took me a long time to admit to Missy [Reeves, Jennifer] that I was a fan — I even had their photo on my science notebook in high school. Anyway, that quote from Shakespeare obviously really stayed with me, and I hope the longtime DAYS fans who watch the movie recognize it and enjoy that little Easter egg.
“With love’s light wings did I o’reperch these walls,
For stony limits cannot hold love out.”
