Exclusive Interview: Alison Sweeney On Hallmark’s ‘This Time Each Year’ With Niall Matter
Hallmark’s Miracles Of Christmas kicks off with This Time Each Year starring Alison Sweeney and Niall Matter. This is a different movie for Hallmark and the Days star took over two years to develop this idea for the network.
The writer is Juliana Wimbles who Hannah Swensen fans will recognize as Lisa, who works at The Cookie Jar and handles everything while Hannah does her sleuthing.
In this exclusive TV Shows Ace interview with Ali, she talks about this groundbreaking movie, as well as working with Niall Matter, and director Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe. She even reveals how her Days Of Our Lives experience helped her with a pivotal scene.
There are some small spoilers here. Therefore, some fans may want to read this after they see this movie.
The Theme Of This Holiday Movie
Alison, This Time Each Year is very different from any other movie you have ever done. I am not sure they would have made this five years ago. Can you talk about this movie.
Yes, I feel the same way. I read the script and got to be part of developing the script with Juliana, and Michael. As we brought it around to a world that Hallmark was comfortable with.
We wanted to preserve–Hallmark wanted to preserve this difficult subject matter.
This is something that comes up at every holiday. This is real life! This is an issue that people battle all year long, of course, but at the holiday, things are more difficult.
Niall’s character plays a guy that has been sober for about a year. And, the holidays adds tension and stress, and the family. It’s complicated.
He is trying to get his life back together and win his wife and family back. His wife who loves him so much is afraid to trust him, and afraid to give him a chance because of what happened. You get this lovely, delicate balance of these people who love each.
Crystal Lowe, who directed this movie, it was her brilliant idea to have those Christmas cards opening the movie. It shows the arc of their relationship–when they met, when they started dating, how they got engaged. These are quick little snippets of the Christmas cards they sent together throughout the years.
You see how wonderful their relationship was, and how cute they are to each other. Then, you see it take a turn in year 10. You’re thinking, ‘I know how this story ends.’ Things happen. People drift apart.
But that’s not this story.
This is a story of how hard it is and how willing these two are because they love each other and how important it is they want to fight to be together. They don’t know how. They don’t always say the right words. But, they are going to figure it out.
That’s a little bit more serious story elements. But on top of that, we have the most wonderful family. He comes from the McCalls. And every actor played that gregarious, outgoing, funny, just so much personality kind of family, you would want to hang out with them!
We were just watching. Every scene-Crystal and I were watching at the monitors and saying, ‘I would want to be at this Christmas dinner. I want to hang out with these people. These people are great!’
So much fun, so much charm, so much romance, but also while addressing a pretty important family dynamic that people struggle with during the holidays.
We wanted to address it. We didn’t want to shy away from it. But, we wanted to treat it gently in a way the Hallmark audience and Hallmark family could feel safe and brought into a world that they might identify with.
Alison Sweeney On Working With Niall Matter & How Days of Our Lives Experience Helped In Scene
There is a beautiful balance of the seriousness of the situation with lightness of the holiday. This starts with the direction. We are not in the beginning of the story, we are 10 months in. This is your first time working with Niall Matter. That first kiss–wow! You could feel the history of 10 years together.
Thank you so much! We have been developing the script over two years. It had been through a lot. It was an emotional rollercoaster just getting it made. Then, I had the day that I was going to meet Niall.
I was just thinking to myself, ‘I hope the chemistry [works], I hope this works, I hope he’s a nice guy.’ I didn’t know anything about it.
He just came in, such a charmer. He had so many great ideas. He brought so much to this role. I can’t imagine it being anyone else. He was brilliant! Funny. Easy to work with. Talented and giving. I can go on and on.
He is a lovely person and a great actor to work with. So he and Crystal and I on the first day of production when we did the opening credits for the Christmas cards, we sat there for hours, just the three of us, after we were done filming. We went over the entire script. We talked about all the scenes. We just spent some time developing what we wanted the whole movie to be.
People don’t do that. He really gave up a lot of time for us and it just paid off. It paid off throughout the whole movie.
I have one thing to say about the kiss, I love that scene too. I love that idea that she’s trying to play it off. And of course, I always knew, I did spend a long time on Days Of Our Lives, I had a sense that kind of make-believe in front of the mom might put them back together, might remind them of their chemistry. And remind them of why they love each other and were married for so long.
Just the idea of her of just trying to get away with just a quick peck on the cheek, hello! With him looking at her like, ‘You walked right into my arms, you can’t get away with that!’ That’s a reminder to her, of the chemistry they share.
I love how that played out. And she can’t even hide how affected she is. I know the audience all understand exactly how she feels in that moment.
Scenes With Laura Soltis
You and Laura Soltis, who plays your mom, had some nice scenes together. She is another classic Hallmark actress. There is a big revelation in the mother-daughter relationship.
We didn’t want to go into the cartoonish sort of version of a mean mom. But, we wanted her to be a bit bigger than life. What we thought of as we were developing these characters, we wondered ‘Who are their parents that made them who they are?’ How did they get here?
And a perfect example is this mom, Laura’s character. She loves life, and is ready for a cruise, going with the flow. That is the kind of person who makes a kid a little more meticulous, follow the rules. You find that kids react like that by doing the opposite.
We wanted to reflect that they had a journey to go on as well. Each character’s relationship has with their own parents has a bit of growing to do. Around the holidays, relationships can be strained. You can assume how your parents are going to react to something. It can be stressful.
We also thought this can be a breakthrough moment. There can be some opportunities for people to say some hard truths. And to be able to capture the other person admit that, ‘Yes, I have been doing that.’ That relationship between Lauren and her mom has that growth in it.
Niall has a beautiful scene-such a great spouse. Such a good man and a good husband. Maybe he is nervous about his own future with Lauren, but he is going to stick up for her to her mom. Maybe just help explain, open her eyes about her relationship with her daughter in a way she totally didn’t expect.
He does it so gently, It is so honest. I felt like it was a real moment that cut me as a mom. Laura played it beautifully. I am talking about subtleties here. This movie is filled with those types of moments.
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Don’t miss Alison Sweeney and Niall Matter in This Time Each Year. This Yan-Kay Krystal Lowe directed film premieres on Hallmark Mystery on Thursday, October 24, at 8 p.m., Eastern.
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