There’s magic within the air, and Jennifer Love Hewitt is completely feeling it.
The 9-1-1 actor is the star, director, govt producer, and coronary heart and soul of Lifetime’s uplifting unique film The Vacation Junkie.
Hewitt performs Andie, a younger lady whose enterprise, Vacation Junkie, is employed to fill the Parker household’s giant, lavish residence with Christmas spirit whereas they’re away on trip. However the holidays have additional significance and emotional weight for Andie this yr, as she’s coping with the latest lack of a beloved one.
Whereas she’s decking the Parkers’ halls, she encounters ruggedly good-looking handyman Mason (Brian Hallisay), who has his personal case of vacation heartbreak. May these two probably discover peace, love and pleasure in one another? We received’t unwrap that current early.
Lifetime
That Hewitt and Hallisay make a merry match onscreen isn’t any shock, since they’ve been married since 2013. “I’ve identified endlessly that I’m married to the dreamiest human ever, and it was so good to have the ability to see him be dreamy each day on this film,” Hewitt says. “I imply, he simply crushed it. And I’m excited that each one the ladies who love Christmas films are going to have him to kind of drool over for the Christmas season, which is sweet.”
There’s much more of Hewitt and her household in The Vacation Junkie. The movie is partly impressed by her enterprise, Vacation Junkie, which designs greeting playing cards, attire, decor, and way more for particular events all year long. Two of her three kids make temporary appearances within the film. A number of longtime associates, together with Greg Grunberg (who appeared together with her in The Consumer Record), have roles. Some 9-1-1 solid and crew pitched in, too. She even carried out and cowrote an unique tune, “Christmas Magic,” for the movie’s soundtrack.
Hewitt additionally drew inspiration from her mother, whose passing left a void in her coronary heart that’s nonetheless deeply felt through the holidays. “My mother undoubtedly was a vacation lover,” Hewitt says. “She was simply magical as an individual. My mother was the form of particular person the place actually you’d stroll in together with her right into a restaurant, and if she didn’t go away with 20 new associates, one thing’s incorrect with these individuals.”
Hewitt’s discovered consolation and pleasure in sharing her mom’s traditions and zest for all times together with her personal kids.
Making such a private film was a rewarding expertise for Hewitt. “I undoubtedly had to consider it. I used to be like, ‘Do I wish to put all of this on the market?’ However it felt prefer it was time,” she says. “It additionally felt prefer it’s simply a lot of who I’m. My household is simply who I’m, and so it was like, ‘Properly, if I’m going to be open and I’m going to be susceptible and I’m going to share about myself, then it needs to be us, as a result of that’s my No. 1 factor.’”
And what does Hewitt consider the festively flamboyant attire that’s donned — often with a nod and a wink — throughout vacation gatherings? “I really like an outfit that represents just about any vacation, so I’m down with an unsightly Christmas sweater,” Hewitt says. “I personally help them. I do suppose that they’re wanted as a Christmas custom and that they’re enjoyable.”
The Vacation Junkie, Film Premiere, Saturday, December 14, 8/9c, Lifetime