Jennifer Finnigan

OF ‘WELCOME TO CHRISTMAS’ ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

Since you’ve done holiday movies before, what was the appeal of “Welcome to Christmas” for you? You know what? I’ve only done one other one, and that was about five years ago. It was a really great experience, and though they can be similar, they also can be quite endearing and charming. I guess you do search for elements that make them different or unique, but the director here (Gary Harvey) was someone I had worked with two times before, so I trusted him and liked him. Also, one week of shooting this was out in this ski-mountain town in the interior of British Columbia, a place I’d never been to ... and probably would never get to, if not for this movie, so I thought it would a fun little adventure for my family. We spent (daughter Ella Jack’s) first birthday in this adorable little town, and they even put up this sign that said, “Thanks, Hallmark, for giving us that Christmas spirit!” You’re playing a high-powered resort developer here. Are there certain elements you look for in tackling such a much-used theme as “Christmas movie”? If I’m going to do one of these, I have to be able to do some comedy – so I look for a character who’s sort of prickly or kind of a Grinch, somebody who goes through a journey. Essentially, I want there to be some funny bits, because I’ve been doing drama for so long. It’s nice to go for three weeks and do some light fare where I can just be silly and quirky.