When I was a kid, I would sit on my Grandma’s lap and watch soap operas. She would tell me how invested that she was in certain relationships on the show. I can remember watching Days of our Lives with her and she would tell me how John and Marlena were the best couple in soaps. After she passed away, when I missed her, I would turn on the show. That is how I became familiar with Jen Lilley.
As time has passed there have been other shows that I have found myself invested in. When The Bold Type was on the air, I watched that show religiously with friends. Dan Jeannotte was on the show and there were times I would scream at the television over his character of Ryan Decker. He would piss me off.
But those are roles of the past, yet roles of theirs that have some importance to my love of movies, television, and well story telling over all. From books to television to movies, my heart clings onto things that mean something to me.
As I have grown up, I found Hallmark movies and they too mean something to me. They were an escape during the pandemic and yet, they are still an escape, even with the pandemic being over. They are something I look forward to whether it be at Christmas time or all year long.
Tonights movie is A Royal Setting, and when Hallmark asked me if I wanted to talk to its stars, Jen Lilley and Dan Jeannotte, I hesitated. I tend to get really nervous when I am interviewing people that have influenced me. Paris, Wine & Romance – the last movie they did together is one of my favorites. It’s a movie I stop and watch every time it is on.
FAIRYTALES
When the zoom opened, I felt my heart into my throat. Lilley was smiling and she instantly made me want to cry, telling me, “I feel like you guys are really good at championing, like, the emotional side of storytelling and like characters and heart. So I’m looking forward to this one.”
It meant a lot to me, because a lot of times I get in trouble for my blunt nature. I don’t sugar coat things, and my lack of filter sometimes gets me in trouble. We instantly discussed how I love Hallmark movies but I don’t believe in love and I hate Christmas. Jeannotte laughed and mentioned that I almost made him spit out his water.
I may not like or believe in love and I may get questioned a lot about watching Hallmark, so I say, “I’m like, anti love and anti Christmas, I’m like, I watch every one of them [Hallmark movies]. My friends who know me, they’re like, wait, you like that, but like, you’re like, No love doesn’t exist. But like, it does.”
Lilley responds, “Fairy tales are great.”
WHY THIS ONE
She’s smiling and it instantly makes me less nervous. So I ask why this was the movie for them to come back together on. Lilley says, “First of all, it was at Hallmark, which made me thrilled. So that was very exciting to me. And then I found out that I got to work with Dan, and Dan is such a great actor. I mean, we had so much fun working together the first time. And the first time around. As everyone pretty much knows, I was six months pregnant, like a little bit uncomfortably pregnant, with my daughter, Julie, and so I was, I’m a pretty high energy person, but I felt like Dan didn’t get my best.”
She continued, “He got me, like, very pregnant and just trying my best. So I was excited to reunite with him and see how much more fun we could have being dynamic actors. Because, I mean, Dan, I’m sure you could comment and agree, but it’s so nice when you get paired with another actor that really is an actor’s actor who can, who might prepare the scene, but at the same time, if you do something unexpected, like if your scene partner does something unexpected, you can react naturally and let go of whatever you prepared and ride the scene. That’s magic. And I think that Dan and I both do that, and so it just makes it more enjoyable as an actor, because they’re they’re long days. I mean, they’re fun days, but they’re long days. So when you do have scene partners and our entire ensemble cast, I’m sure Dan, you would agree, was very talented. I mean, I think everyone had comedic timing, which you don’t always find, and it was just it felt like such fun, camaraderie and energy on set. So I I just, it was a very obvious yes. I mean, I was probably screaming. I was so excited that I got to do it.”
DAN THE MAN
While some knew, I didn’t know that she had been pregnant, but here we are. I don’t always read about peoples personal lives and I don’t like to ask about them. I think that there needs to be somewhat of a distinction between the job and the personal.
Dan answers why he wanted to do the movie and says, “To find out that Jen was going to be involved, that definitely made it a yes for me. And, you know, like she’s saying, we have these long days, you we film this whole these movies, these kind of movies, we film them over about two weeks. It’s like a really short period, and you’ve got to move at a certain kind of pace, and you’ve got to know what you’re doing. And so to know that you’re with someone who’s such a pro, it’s just makes everything easier. And then, yes, I agree, Jen. Jen and I had a lot of fun together. Like, I thought she was great in Paris, wine and romance, but it’s true, she did have more energy this time around, and it was so we had so much fun. I was like, I’ve seen a little bit of the movie. Apparently, she hasn’t yet.”
TABLES HAVE TURNED
I was surprised that she hadn’t seen the movie. Others have to be surprised too, right? I would have thought that actors see the movie before anyone, but then again, nothing in Hollywood really surprises me. Before my brain can think, I remark about how I just finished the movie, and Lilley asks me what my favorite part of the movie was.
I feel truly nervous when people ask me questions because I don’t want to offend anyone, and I’m never sure what might upset someone. But I answer, “My favorite part was at the flower fest; the whole flower festival. I loved the way that that was put together and I loved the genuineness of you guys playing matchmakers. I could totally see your characters being matchmakers. But I also loved the genuineness of your characters, like relating to each other. I felt like there was a sense of vulnerability at that moment, and it just made me, like, giddy.”
The thing about A Royal Setting is that it’s not the quintessential romance. It’s not only full of romance, but it’s also really funny—I genuinely belly laughed at some moments.
Lilley says, “I’m glad to hear that, because that’s what I said in interview yesterday. I was like, I think that this one’s different because there’s so much comedy in it. But, you know, Erin, we never know. Like, well, I guess Dan knows because he got the screen. Erin, I was like, I never know how much comedy ends up in it or not. So, yeah, that I got from a director because, like, it was cut, and I was like, I need this scene. So I’m always excited to hear when, when comedy makes it in. Just like, what?”
A SUPPORTIVE KING
Jeannotte adds, “Okay, Jen from, from, I didn’t watch the whole thing, but skipping through it, watching bits of it, what you’ll be happy to hear and what the audience will be happy to see is all the times that you like bow, that you curtsy and stuff. Oh, my God, yes, yeah, it’s really silly.”
In the movie it’s the subtle things that make a person laugh throughout – a smile, a curtesy, a laugh, or Fred. And you’ll get to know what Fred means when you watch the movie.
While we’re laughing I casually mention that Dan likes to play royal roles and he says he doesn’t know why. But that’s okay, because in all honesty, I really love the royal roles that he plays. They are fun. He’s fun. He’s a great actor and all of theaccents that he does are entertaining.
And who doesn’t love a prince.
I get a notice that my time is almost up and I ask them, “My last question, but what stone would you guys add to the Prism of Promises and why?”
STONES
While you have to watch the movie to see what that is, Lilley says, “I’m gonna go with the Sapphire, because it’s one of my favorite stones. And I think that there’s, you know, we love each other, like the depths of the ocean. Poetic.”
And Jeannotte, “If it’s me as a person, I’m going to put in, I’m going to put in an emerald into the Prism of Promises. Because the the green of the emerald makes me think of the nature forest, the earth. And I think that that’s something that I want to this generation and future generations to make more of a promise to care for nature around us.”
Lilley says, “I love that you have the land I bring the ocean. Let’s do this.”
And at that moment I say to Jeannotte, “I thought that was the best beauty pageant answer I’ve ever heard in my life.”
And we end the interview laughing. I say my thank you’s and leave the interview as quickly as possible because I have tears rising in my eyes. Why? Because I had been having a bad day, but leaving this interview I am happy and I feel thankful.
And I am appreciative that I am happy and thankful.
A Royal Setting airs tonight, March 28th, on The Hallmark Channel.
