What I love about Christmas movies is that I feel like there's just this magical glow about them, because they provide us with an incredible world into which we get to escape. I think in life, things can be hard sometimes; we all have our ups and our downs. And so to be able to steal away into a world that is so colorful, that feels so good to us, that smells like gingerbread and that we can almost taste and feel, just awakens all of our senses. The world of a Christmas movie feels like a really happy place to be.
It's important for people to be able to have those few hours to just go into a world that is pretty and beautiful and feels good — and that's all it feels. You don't have to think or make all these big life choices; you could just sit back and, whether you're alone doing your self-care or with a significant other or your family, you can just take that time to just exist.
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And with these modern Christmas movies on Lifetime, there's also a sense that you could really be that person, rather than it being a superhero. You're jumping into a different world, but it's one where you feel like, "Oh, I could be that girl who bumps into that guy." It's fun to be able to put yourself in somebody else's shoes, to see the possibility of that happy ending.
All of that is why it was on my personal wish list to do a Christmas movie — and not just any Christmas movie, but a romantic Christmas movie for Lifetime. I love Christmas; I love the holidays. It's always been the most magical time of the year for me and my family, because I cook and we bake and then Christmas Eve is so important to me, getting my family and extended family and friends together. I am the person who loves watching Christmas movies with the kids, cuddled up, eating popcorn and candy and having that time together. All of those little traditions are really important and close to my heart.
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And so, truly, being in the exact kind of movie that I would watch with them is a dream come true. Even just shooting the movie was so dreamy: I was so excited and it was so funny to people because it was super hot in Utah while we were filming and I was just like "More jackets, more jingle bells!" When we were shooting the "12 nights of Christmas," I was like: "Oh my God, that's what we do! We do that over at my house and now we're going to see it in the movie!" I was so excited, and I am so excited and it's totally genuine. I really do love being a part of this tradition for my family and for so many other people.
Also, I love and was so proud to be a part of such a strong group of women who are part of this Christmas tradition at Lifetime. The event they held, in which we were all there together with our Christmas movies, it was really inspiring to see how proud we all were of one another and of our movies, and it felt very special to see, and to be part of, such a diverse, wonderful group of women standing by each other. I felt very humbled and grounded and grateful to be a part of something that felt so wonderful. I hope that aspect of these films doesn't get ignored.
It makes me really happy that there are so many people that love these films, and I think it's partly because so many people just really love Christmas. I have a friend who celebrates Christmas in the summertime — a half Christmas, like a half-birthday. It's so awesome — and, when she does, she's already watching these movies. That makes me so happy, because I'm on the side of people that love to dive in and have that escape to this happy place.
As told to THINK editor Megan Carpentier, edited and condensed for clarity.