Exclusive Interview: Alison Sweeney On ‘One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery’

Alison Sweeney is back with a new Hallmark Mystery featuring everyone’s favorite baker-sleuth. This new movie is One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery. Mike (Cameron Mathison) has left Eden Lake for Quantico. However, this time around, the sleuthing baker may. have met her match with prosecuting attorney Chad Norton (Victor Webster).

In this Exclusive Interview with TV Shows Ace, the Days star talks about the big cast change, writing her first script, and why Sleuthers love the family dynamics in this long-running mystery series.

Once again, we thank Alison Sweeney for taking the time to talk about this fantastic new Hannah Swensen Mystery. The premiere is on Friday, April 5, at 9 p.m., Eastern, on Hallmark Mystery. Here is what Ali has to say about One Bad Apple.

Hannah Swensen Is Back

Hannah is back! What is One Bad Apple About?

Hannah has decided to try her hand at teaching at the local Eden Lake college. She has been chatting with, the professor you met in the last movie [Zest For Death] Professor Bradford Ramsey[Oliver Ramsey]. She takes up his suggestion that she teaches a course, which she loves and has fun with.

And, lo and behold, she stumbles across another dead body! She feels responsible, and she has to figure out whodunit.

One of the side stories I love in this is that Delores is trying her hand at being a private eye. This causes some stress for her daughters, but also some humor in the movie. It is a lot of fun. That’s my favorite substory in the movie.

Alison Sweeney Wrote One Bad Apple Script

You wrote this script and did a really good job. It is very balanced with humor with Delores–there’s other humorous things. You even refer to a set of books with recipes. Very meta.

It just called out for it! The scenes just write themselves in my head. I couldn’t not do it, crying out for that moment.

Alison Sweeney Talks About The Writing Process

How did you choose Apple Turnover Mystery? How did you develop this for the next mystery?

My partner Craig [Baumgarten] and I, we produce the movies together, we discussed it. First of all, Joanne Fluke has written so many fantastic novels–we have a lot to choose from.

Ultimately, I go through all the novels. Mostly, I pick based on what characters are featured in them, how does Hannah find the body, how is the crime solved…what is the big Act 9 confrontation. Sometimes that is what lures me in.

This time, I really liked the murder. Normally, I don’t mind talking about the crime, but I really feel, I hope that we are going to surprise the audience who the victim is, from the beginning. I want to keep that a secret, which is not normal. Normally, we give that away.

We already developed what the mystery is going to be, based on the novel and ideas we have for the characters. It was my idea that Delores should be a private eye. That is totally from Barbara Niven. Her performances, just along the way, have been so enchanting. I love her so much. I thought it would be such a great twist. 

When I pitched the idea to Hallmark, they said ‘Would you be interested in writing it?’ That is how it happened. I was really honored and thrilled at the chance to write it myself. And, here we are.

This Is How Ali Feel About The Process Of Writing

Did you feel daunted? How did you feel about the process of writing? Were you excited?

I was feeling all of those things at the same time. I was nervous and excited. Also, because I had written the treatment myself, the pitch document, I already felt possessive towards the process. As you are developing the idea, you start thinking ‘Oh, that would be a great scene,’ and thinking how I would write that. I found myself taking ownership.

When it came up that I should write it, I was already feeling that sense of ownership, and wanting to do it anyway. Then, when it came time to deliver, I felt like a kid in school. I had a deadline. I really had to do it. I had those doubts, and concerns.

Then, it actually came together quite fast. It almost felt like cheating, because I know the characters so well. I just can hear Barbara, and Gabe, who plays Norman, in my head. It unfolded in a very organic, I hate that word, but it is true. It just happened. The scenes were in my mind. I just had to write them down.

Alison Sweeney Was Surprised That Writing Her Own Lines Wasn’t Easier As An Actress

Hannah is in a transition period now. What is it like playing Hannah and writing about her at the same time?

I always approach the pre-production as a producer, not as an actress. I sort of wait until it is time to film, and then I wait to be the actress when I am on set. I try not to think about it as an actor until I am memorizing my lines, like the week before. Which, by the way, I thought it was going to be easier because I had written it, it turned out not to be true! I was thinking ‘That’s weird, I wrote it.’ I thought it should be in my head, but it wasn’t.

Alison Sweeney’s Number One Priority

I approach the pre-production process as a producer, not as an actor. I am looking at the whole situation of the series, and mostly the training and education I had from being on Days Of Our Lives for however many years I have been on it.

I am always thinking of the fans, satisfying the fans and keeping them invested, wanting them to watch more. Wanting them to know how much they mean to me, and how much I care about how they feel about watching these movies. That is the number one priority that I have as I tell these stories. This is what I am thinking, from the beginning, from inception.

I also want to give Joanne Fluke’s readers little Easter eggs and shout-outs from the book, so they know what is coming. Such as, if it is Apple Turnover, they know to expect this. I want to give them that feeling also.

Those are all the thoughts of what goes into development of each mystery.

Hallmark EVP Of Programming Lisa Hamilton Daly Promises More Mysteries

I just heard an interview on Hallmark Mysteries & More with Lisa Hamilton Daly. She said that they are going all out with the rebranding of Hallmark Mystery. Are you thinking of another movie?

Stay tuned!

Welcome Victor Webster!

There have been some transitions. We said goodbye to Mike, it was very hard. You did a great job as you honored the past, and now there are new things. Can you talk about Victor Webster and his role as Chad Norton?

I went through all the same feelings that the fans went through as it all unfolded. Then, when Hallmark discussed the idea of bringing Victor, my eyes widened. ‘Yes! I want to make that happen!’ I just love the idea and thought it was such a great way to open up Hannah’s world in a new direction.

I am not a big fan of the recast. They are very different men. I think Victor deserves his own character and story. I poured through all of the novels. I searched for a prosecutor I could bring into this world.

By the way, over the years, Joanne Fluke has certainly given Hannah plenty of love interests. I was so happy, and I started looking for the next mean guy. But, spoiler alert, that was a romance going terribly wrong for her. So, we debated if it should be Ross. Then, I decided I didn’t want to go down that road. Then, I read some fan comments online that said, ‘It better not be Ross!’ I was so glad I decided not to go that route. I was so relieved!

So Chad is a character in Lake Eden. He’s sort of the prosecutor. We don’t know him that well in the stories. I felt he could be a new love interest for Hannah, in the spirit of what Joanne Fluke has intended, without the story being a giveaway, because she has already resolved it in the books.

I like that he is involved in the crime-solving process. And, he is the prosecutor, convicting these assailants and offenders that Hannah helps catch. But, he comes to this from a different point of view. Perhaps more skeptically to what Hannah’s up to, which is fun for me.

I pictured it from the beginning, when you are presenting this to a judge and jury, the last thing you need is a baker with her clues. None of it is evidence-based. There is no chain of command that he can use in a trial. So, I think he would come to this with a different perspective about Hannah’s behavior. In some ways, it is more like what my husband thinks about what Hannah is up to.

Why Does Ali Think Hallmark Fans Love The Swensen Sisters?

All three Swensen sisters are reunited in One Bad Apple. Now the fans really love it when all three are together. Why do you think this is so important?

I think what brings the fans back is the dynamic with the family. I cannot say enough good things about Barbara Niven, who plays our mother, but the dynamic of the three sisters. I think that is what people love about the books and love about the movies. They love the relationship between the sisters.

Again, to Joanne Fluke’s credit, how specific each sister is written. How different they are all from each other? And the love they share. And, how they all torture their mother in different ways. Also, how Delores is tough on her single daughters, and how Andrea [Lisa Durupt] is always right.

I think it has the elements of a real family dynamic that everyone relates to, and everyone is someone in that story with their own family. It is really fun to watch it all play out because you recognize that in yourself. You lean into it and enjoy the outrageousness of these characters, and of course, the circumstance they find themselves in is a lot of fun.

To me, the love between the sisters, and how opposite they are, their reunion, and time together is so much fun to watch–and to play! That is where I get to have fun as an actor. I just entertain myself writing it, imagining how fun it was going to play certain scenes.

When we would get there, I just knew that Barbara and Lisa Durupt would be so funny, playing with flour and joking. They made fun of me asking if I was laughing at my own jokes. I told them ‘No, you’re funny! You make it funny.’ It was so satisfying making those scenes.

Don’t miss the premiere of One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery on Friday, April 5, at 9 p.m., Eastern, on the Hallmark Channel. In addition, Peacock subscribers can watch up to 72 hours after the premiere.

Thank you again Alison Sweeney for talking to TV Shows Ace about your latest mystery!

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Georgia Makitalo

With over a decade of writing experience, Georgia Makitalo specializes in romcoms, westerns, and cosy mysteries. In her free time she enjoys traveling, hiking with her Siberian Husky, looking at the stars with her hubby, and researching Pre-Raphaelite art.

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