Tamera Mowry-Housley is a name that I grew up with. Sister, Sister was one of my favorite shows growing up. There was something about Tia and Tamera that was always fun and an escape.
I met Tamera once at a taping of The Real. My inner fangirl was flying free and I started to cry — though to this day I am not sure why — and out of nowhere Tamera gave me a hug. I hadn’t noticed her near me, but I tell you, that hug transformed my thoughts about her. I will live and die on the hill that she has one of the most genuine hearts I have ever seen.
Kristoffer Polaha was also a name that I grew up with. Back in the days of The CW and The WB, he starred in Life, Unexpected. Like so many that I know, I will always say that Life, Unexpected got the short end of the stick and was cancelled before its time. I’ve never met the man, but he was a fixture in a lot of things in my life because of that show as well as Ringer. Two shows that played in the background of my basic, boring life.
So sitting down to talk to them I was nervous. I am old as dirt, but the thing about my generation is that it doesn’t matter how old we get — the fandoms of our childhood still live with us. They are a big part of us. I honestly think that is a part of the reason that seeing the stars that helped to shape our lives is why we follow their careers.
And these two I have been lucky enough to watch from TV to Hallmark movies. I didn’t really think I would ever see them in a movie together — because well, I am not that lucky. But it turns out that Christmas came early for me because 2026 delivered on having them in a movie together.
Nerves turned into excitement as the two came across my screen. Instantly when Polaha started speaking I wanted to ask The Calm App to hire him, because that voice is like verbal Xanax, making the person on the other end feel at ease.
And then he makes me laugh as I admit that I hadn’t seen the movie yet.
He responds by saying, “She hasn’t watched it yet, so we can literally tell her anything. So, when our characters get on the rocket ship, and they go to the other planet, they find that there is an entire planet dedicated to Christmas.”
He’s creative. I will give him that. But it had my ears turning red and wanting to hide under my desk. But I loved that immediately him and Mowry-Housley. were laughing and playing off of each other. I mean I was sold on the description of the movie, but also mostly sold because these two were in it.
Sitting back and watching them exchange comments to each other I was entertained. Polaha instantly talked up his co-star Mowry-Housley.
Pohala said, “This young lady, not that she’s an overachiever, not only produced the film from cradle to grave. If you, in Hollywood, there’s this thing, you can get a PGA. It’s the Producer Guild of America logo at the end of a name, if you’ve produced a movie. But there’s four stages that you have to work on. So, there’s the inception of the idea, the writing, all that. There’s the filming, post-production, and then marketing. So, she’s literally, from cradle to grave, with this film, produced a movie.”
There is something comforting about two stars who genuinely seem to get along and are able to sell a person on a movie. As Polaha finished his comment, he also mentioned that it was an impressive thing to watch.
Mowry-Housley said, “When Russell wrote the script, I was, when he was writing the character, and I started reading it, I was like, there’s only one person who can play this. And I hope he says yes to the film.”
Polaha replied, “And it was Andrew Walker, and he’s already done it, so she said, well, who else is available.”
I laughed. I’d barely said a word and these two were answering every question I could ask and didn’t ask.
Mowry-Housley smiled and said, “My first choice was this dude right here. So, I am so grateful he said yes. And you want to know why? Because Zach had to be likable, he not only had to be charming, and a great actor, because I wanted to be challenged. Because he strikes a dialogue.”
I leaned back in my chair, listening to the two, impressed that they were so fun and casual. They have fun and a lot of the time we don’t get to see that. But Hallmark actors have this specialness about them — they are always supporting each other.
I started laughing as they continued to speak to each other and talk about how much they admire each other. This is the easiest interview I have ever done, because I don’t have to say a word. Not that I didn’t try — professionalism and all. The two talk about their chemistry with Polaha saying, “Didn’t I say how great she was as a producer? You know, the other thing, we had great chemistry, which comes, you either have it or you don’t.”
He continues, “Or you have to work to build it, or you have it because you don’t like the person, and it comes off as chemistry, whatever the thing is. It was just very easy working with you. You know what I mean?”
They continue on about having fun and I genuinely believe that these two had a great time on set. But what really got me was when Tamera started speaking about her daughter. Polaha brought it up by saying, “She was also on set as a mother because her daughter got to come in for her debut role and play a younger version of your character, which was awesome to watch.”
Tamera beamed with pride as she said, “It’s really beautiful. Thank you. I didn’t know so many emotions were going to come up. When I saw my daughter, I saw a little bit of younger me, and I immediately became like a mama bear.”
She continued, “I wanted to protect her, but at the same time, she’s a very independent 11-year-old. I wanted to give her space because I knew that that’s what she wanted. I didn’t want to be like this, but I was so proud of her because I saw when she nailed it. I saw when she was maybe struggling with something, and then I was really proud of her when she pushed through and she got it.”
The interview time was up and I hadn’t even asked a question, but I was okay with that. I was entertained. They hadn’t even noticed that I hadn’t finished my question — so didn’t ask one. But I had been entertained for the past ten minutes and that is what mattered to me.
Thankful for the opportunity I had been given to even say hello. Thankful to be in the presence of two of the great ones.
