The countdown to Christmas is on as the 2023 TV schedule continues to wind down, and that means everything is merrier and brighter than ever on Hallmark. Movies ranging from Lacey Chabert’s A Merry Scottish Christmas to The Santa Summit with a unique spin to Nikki DeLoach’s A World Record Christmas have already been released in 2023. I spoke with DeLoach for her latest Hallmark Movies & Mysteries project, and she reflected on the “crazy” time that she filmed a holiday movie in the middle of a heatwave.
A World Record Christmas arrived in November 2023 as a take on a true story, and Nikki DeLoach opened up about the movie celebrating neurodiversity with the story of a young autistic boy who wanted to break a Guinness World Record. Of course, if Hallmark is going to have 40 movies ready to celebrate the holiday season, that means filming Christmas content throughout the year. When I spoke with the actress, I asked what time of year her latest movie was filmed, which led to a reveal about a project that she filmed years ago. She began:
We were filming A World Record Christmas in the spring. We did it in March actually, which is actually kind of cold in Canada. [laughs] It's not as bad as January and February, but it's still pretty chilly in March.
March may not be part of the most holly-jolly season, but it’s at least not so hot that the actors have to sweat through all of their sweaters while filming for Hallmark movies! I noted to the actress that there was a moment in A World Record Christmas that her character, Marissa, was wearing a particular coat that left me wondering if they’d filmed over a sweltering summer. Nikki DeLoach responded and shouted out a different movie that was a lot hotter than viewers could tell after the TV magic:
No, it wasn't! And by the way, I was so grateful because I have definitely done the Christmas movies in July. Cranberry Christmas, I will have to say. [For] that one, they were having a giant heatwave in Vancouver, and it was like a hundred degrees outside and Ben Ayres and I were outside. And I had never been so bundled up for Christmas. [laughs] In terms of my wardrobe, I had this giant winter coat, a sweater. I had pants, I had Ugg boots, I had a knit cap, I had gloves, I had a scarf. Poor Ben Ayres almost passed out on set. It was so hot.
Cranberry Christmas released back in 2020 as part of Hallmark’s Miracles of Christmas programming slate, with Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres portraying a separated couple who must pretend to still be as madly in love as ever for the people of their town. Naturally, sparks begin to fly again between the duo for a feel-good TV film. It just wasn’t as feel-good for DeLoach and Ayres when it came to bundling up for winter while filming outdoors in July! DeLoach went on to explain more of what made the experience so crazy:
We had ice packs taped all over our bodies. I couldn't stop sweating. I didn't know what my makeup was doing. It was so crazy! But that specific movie comes to mind in terms of how hot it was, so I was so grateful to shoot this movie in March. It was not unbearably cold outside but it was just cold enough that those jackets and scarves and gloves felt absolutely perfect.
Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres aren’t the only holiday movie stars to struggle with channeling the Christmas spirit in the hottest months of the year, as Candace Cameron Bure went through the same for a 2022 project. Fortunately, the heat of Cranberry Christmas didn’t burn DeLoach out on Hallmark movies, and A World Record Christmas was a fun and emotional part of the holiday lineup.
And the holiday lineup still has a lot in store before the end of the year, with highlights including Catch Me If You Claus with Luke Macfarlane and Italia Ricci and A Biltmore Christmas with Star Trek’s Jonathan Frakes. If you want to look even further ahead than Hallmark’s slate of Christmas movies, be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule.
