When A Little Women’s Christmas hits the 2024 Christmas movie schedule on November 23, Great American Family viewers will be treated to an ensemble of network veterans including Jillian Murray, Jen Lilley and Jesse Hutch. One member of the cast, however, is brand new — Hutch’s daughter Charlize appears in her first acting role. Lilley, who plays mother to Charlize’s Daisy, sat down with CinemaBlend to talk about the classic book adaptation, and she had the best reaction to the newcomer’s performance.
In the movie, Jen Lilley plays the oldest March sister Meg, whose husband John (Jesse Hutch) is stationed overseas and unsure if he’ll make it home to spend Christmas with his wife and their daughter Daisy. Casting Hutch’s real-life child in that role of A Little Women’s Christmas means that Lilley got a front-row seat to the youngster’s first steps in the industry, and it sounds like she’s got a lot in common with her dad. Lilley told our own Sean O’Connell:
Her name is Charlize, and that was her acting debut. And she was such a rock star. She was so funny on set. Because Jesse also directs and produces, and Charlize… she's going to be a director. Like, she almost kicked Brandon, our director, out of his chair. Jesse and I were like, ‘Charlize, maybe just rein it back a little bit, babe.’ Like, ‘We know. Big girl on set! But maybe learn the politics. Don't tell the director what to do!’ She was great.
Charlize Hutch sounds like she was quite the force on the set of the Great American Family movie, and you have to love how Jen Lilley can already see a career behind the camera for her. I’m sure the young actress will learn the ropes — including what you should and shouldn’t say to your director — soon enough, and it will be exciting to see if the father/daughter dynamic duo shows up on the screen together again.
In A Little Women’s Christmas — a modern retelling of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel — Jen Lilley spent quite a bit of time with Charlize Hutch. The adaptation puts a lot of focus on the troops and the sacrifices they make for our country, and it was important to Jen Lilley to portray military life correctly. That led to some emotional scenes between Meg and Daisy, as the mom tried to stay strong for her daughter when John wasn't sure that he'd make it home for the holiday.
For those who tune into the movie’s premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, A Little Women’s Christmas features some more heavy hitters in the holiday movie realm, with Jillian Murray starring as Jo March, Trevor Donovan as Fritz and Laura Osnes as Beth. Julia Reilly and Kyle Kupecky round out the cast as Amy and Laurie, respectively.
No doubt the March sisters will bring plenty of feel-good family moments — and a little drama of course — but be sure to keep an eye on young Daisy, because this may be the first time we see Charlize Hutch on our screens, but from what Jen Lilley had to say about the actress, I don’t think it will be the last.
