Christmas movie veterans Luke Macfarlane and Italia Ricci joined forces for Catch Me If You Claus, which was a fun holiday caper for Hallmark fans on Thanksgiving night. Viewers were able to see just what the leading man meant when he revealed that Elf was an inspiration for his role of Santa Claus' son, as well as witness a kiss that lasted a whole lot longer than other Hallmark lip-locks. The two stars spoke with CinemaBlend about the romantic moment between their characters, including whether they made Hallmark history.
In Catch Me If You Claus, Avery (Italia Ricci) was hours away from getting her big break as a news anchor on Christmas day when Chris (Luke Macfarlane) crashed her peaceful night with the claim that he's the son of Santa Claus himself. Hijinks ensued as they had to crack a case in time to save Avery's job as well as Christmas itself, with sparks flying between Avery and Chris until they finally kissed with her sitting on top of him in a car.
The kiss was technically to conceal themselves from bad guys who were on the hunt for them, but it also lasted a lot longer than was necessary and gave away just what Avery and Chris were feeling for each other. When I spoke with the Catch Me If You Claus stars, Italia Ricci shared why the kiss was one part of the movie she was excited for viewers to get to see:
The whole thing is so funny. I feel like we might have Hallmark's longest kiss. That might be in the van. I don't know how long it's edited together, but when we shot it, it was like sixty seconds long. [laughs] To the point where I was like, 'Are you guys gonna cut or are we just gonna make out all night?'... We were hiding in plain sight, but I feel like I was like, 'I think we might break a record here.'
In doing my due diligence as a journalist, I went back to Catch Me If You Claus and timed the lip lock. The finished product on screen came out to just over 29 seconds. While that's shorter than the minute of kissing while they were filming, it was still a pretty long and pretty intimate kiss. Of course, with the number of Hallmark movies that air each and every year, it's impossible to say if Italia Ricci and Luke Macfarlane's kiss in the car is indeed the longest in the network's history without a whole lot of research.
I do think it's one of the longest of the 2023 Christmas lineup so far, though, including the leads in A World Record Christmas (which changed its original ending) and A Biltmore Christmas. I spoke with Luke Macfarlane shortly after the interview with Italia Ricci, and the actor who previously seemed to be quitting Hallmark shared his thoughts on possibly making Hallmark history:
I think that ten years from now, when people are doing in-depth, PhD-level research on film studies, they will support that. I think we definitely have a good chance of that crown, that ribbon, if you will. It was a long kiss. There's a lot of tension between those two. They just really had to get it out in that kiss. Yeah, it went on pretty long.
Considering that Luke Macfarlane starred in no fewer than fourteen Hallmark films before Catch Me If You Claus, he knows what he's talking about when it comes to Christmas movie kisses! And I think there would be quite a market for some "PhD-level research" about Hallmark holiday specials. Italia Ricci has plenty of experience in the genre as well, including films like Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Love in Winterland, and Rome in Love.
The 2023 TV schedule may be winding down as November turns into December, but there is still plenty of cheer to be found on Hallmark in the holiday season. Check out our 2023 Christmas movie schedule for what to watch before the new year and beginning of 2024 TV premiere season!
