When it comes to interviews, I become a different version of myself. A shy, slightly terrified version who apparently believes that every silence needs to be filled with whatever sarcastic thought pops into her head. In my everyday life, sarcasm is practically a love language. In an interview? It becomes a coping mechanism, and suddenly every question I prepared has left the building.
I like to think I’m funny. Whether that translates when I’m nervously staring at people through a screen is another conversation entirely.
And when those people happen to be part of something that has meant a lot to me? Forget it. We’re lucky if I remember my own name.
Because yes, someone you’ve never met can make a difference in your life. Sometimes, they do it through a character who makes you feel understood. Sometimes, they’re part of a show that becomes your comfort watch—the place you return to when you need something familiar.
For me, that show was One Tree Hill.
It was my first fandom, and I was committed. Even when the storylines got ridiculous—and, bestie, we know they got ridiculous—I kept watching. Quinn and Clay were one of my earliest ships, the kind of pairing that had me emotionally invested in every look, every conversation, every obstacle. And Deb? She was the chaotic, fun mom Barbara Alyn Woods played to perfection. I loved watching her, even when Deb’s decisions had me talking back to my television.
Lately, I’ve been revisiting that love through a rewatch. So having two stars from that chapter of my fandom life become part of Countdown to Christmas felt like someone had picked out a gift specifically for me.
A wonderful gift. A meaningful gift. A gift that apparently came with the temporary loss of my ability to conduct an interview.
By the time my Zoom opened with Marsha Mason, Barbara Alyn Woods, and producer Andrew Adam Gernhard to talk about Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story, I was shaking. My stomach was doing things I would rather not revisit. Names I absolutely knew suddenly became information my brain refused to provide.
Not exactly the professional entrance I had envisioned, but a very honest one.
What helped was having something I genuinely wanted to talk about. By that point, I’d spoken with several Hallmark stars, and one thing kept coming up: their love for Holiday Touchdown. That enthusiasm made me curious about what had brought this particular story to Chicago—and what it felt like to film somewhere as iconic as Soldier Field.
Because even if football isn’t your thing, there’s something alluring about a love story set against a city that means so much to the people who call it home. I wanted to know how that sense of belonging found its way into the movie.
Woods motioned toward Gernhard, making it clear he was the person to answer.
“I didn’t choose the Bears. I don’t know how Hallmark chooses their teams. But I do feel, in my opinion, you want to go after these teams that have deep cultural roots. And, you know, Chicago is one of the oldest teams, and it’s just a beautiful city. I was excited to come and shoot here rather than shooting in the country or anything like that, shooting in this big city and really showing the culture, the people. So, again, I don’t know how Hallmark chose it, but it was a great choice because you do want that deep fan base. You want that history.”
That was the part of his answer that stayed with me: the people. The history. The emotional investment that exists long before a movie arrives to capture it.
Football might not be my first love or even a love at all, but being deeply attached to something? Building memories around it? Feeling connected to people because they understand why it matters to you? That, I understand.
It’s one of the reasons the idea of family feels so central to a story like this. To me, family is partly about those shared attachments—the things we pass down, the traditions we make room for, the familiar faces we want beside us. A team can become part of that history. So can a city. So can a television show that gives you a place to belong.
I may not experience the Bears the way a fan does, but I recognize the feeling underneath that loyalty.
For Woods, who is from Chicago, filming at Soldier Field brought that connection into a very personal, very real moment.
“I’m from Chicago, so for me to be shooting in Soldier Field—and, you know, I’ve been there several times—but we were shooting, there was nobody there. And we were shooting at night, and it was a little eerie, but it was surreal. It was magical. And for me to meet Mike Singletary in person, I’m getting goosebumps as I’m speaking. That’s how much it meant to me. It was a dream come true, seriously, for me. And yes, the premiere last night was also magical. And the consensus was everyone loved it. And I know that’s what people say at premieres, but you really felt it from people. There were a lot of tears.”
There’s something about hearing someone describe a place they already know and love becoming extraordinary all over again. Soldier Field wasn’t just a filming location in her answer. It was somewhere familiar, suddenly quiet and a little eerie, offering her an experience she clearly wasn’t taking for granted.
And listen, the fangirl in me understood the goosebumps. I was sitting there trying to keep my own composure while talking to someone whose work had been part of my life for years. The circumstances were different, but that feeling of this means more to me than I can neatly explain? That felt familiar.
The romance of this movie had my attention, obviously. But so did the promise of Chicago, the devotion to the Bears, and those connections that make a place feel like yours. For me, that’s where the emotional pull lives: in the people and memories that turn a setting into a home—and the chance to share something you love with the people who feel like family.
See the interview below –
