When the Christmas season comes around and people are in the mood for some festive TV films, Freeform's "25 Days of Christmas" and the lineups of holiday films on Hallmark and Lifetime are surefire ways to feel the cheer of the time of year. This year, Food Network has a Christmas movie of its own that sounds positively sweet as it features Last Man Standing's Molly McCook and her real-life dad.
Candy Coated Christmas stars Last Man Standing’s Molly McCook and centers around her character going to Peppermint Hollow, Washington in order to sell her mother’s childhood home as the family business suffers from bankruptcy. It's a departure from Food Network's traditional programming, but a fun one! McCook’s movie dad is actually played by her real-life dad John McCook. The former Good Trouble star spoke to TV Insider about her father and it seems like working together was a big hit:
My dad playing my movie dad couldn’t have been more fun, I think just because we’ve never been able to work together like that before. But also we were playing different characters. We have a very, very special relationship in real life and we’ve bonded so closely over the fact that we’re both performers and he’s a best friend to me, and although Molly and Fred in the film are close, their relationship is quite different. So it was really fun and silly for us and very special to look at each other and do what we love at the same time. But also it was a little bit of a challenge to be playing these different characters that aren’t the people that we’ve been together for 31 years. It’s going to be something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
Based on what Molly McCook had to say, her real dad playing her on-screen dad was a big perk of Candy Coated Christmas! The actress is close with her father and it all worked out for the better. Plus, it sounds like the on-screen father/daughter dynamic of Food Network's Christmas movie will be very different from the one McCook portrayed with Tim Allen for Last Man Standing.
As for John McCook, he is well known in the soap opera world, as he’s starred in The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless. Daughter Molly McCook has also appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful and has had recurring roles on Netflix’s The Ranch and Good Trouble on Freeform. Her most known role is as Mandy Baxter-Anderson in the final three seasons of Last Man Standing.
Candy Coated Christmas has already premiered on Food Network so make sure to check your local listings to see when you can catch this father/daughter duo in the network’s first Christmas movie!
