HOLIDAY TOUCHDOWN Stars Talk ‘Amazing’ Movie: ‘Could Not Have Been Luckier’
By Movieguide® Contributor
The stars of Hallmark’s HOLIDAY TOUCHDOWN: A CHIEFS LOVE STORY are sharing their favorite parts of working on the Christmas movie.
“It was amazing,” Hunter King, who plays lead character Alana, told Movieguide®. “Never did we think that we’d get to be in a movie with Donna Kelce [mother of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce] and Andy Reid [the Chiefs head coach].”
She shared one of her favorite parts of making the movie — getting to act alongside some of the Kansas City Chiefs players!
“A bunch of the players came and did a cameo,” King said. “They were so professional and so good and so charming. They just graced us all with their presence, and we really could not have been luckier to have them there and act alongside them.”
Mary Elizabeth McDonough also praised the Chiefs players’ acting performances, saying, “They were so comfortable on camera. They were so funny.”
The movie’s central theme of football and its fans even rubbed off on Canadian star Tyler Hynes.
“I watch [the Chiefs] every night before bed,” he laughed. “That’s become my obsession lately.”
The movie’s themes of family and togetherness especially touched some of HOLIDAY TOUCHDOWN’s other stars.
“I cried at the first table read,” Ed Begley Jr. admitted.
Diedrich Bader added, “We all cried…we genuinely felt something.”
“The thing about a Hallmark movie is, you know the formula,” Bader continued. “Like, it’s like comfort food, but that doesn’t mean that comfort food can’t be delicious.”
HOLIDAY TOUCHDOWN: A CHIEFS LOVE STORY tells the story of Alana and Derrick. Alana is working to get her Chiefs-superfan family named “Fan of the Year.” Derrick, the director of fan engagement for the Chiefs, is supposed to rate Alana and her family to see how they compare to the other competitors.
“As the pair spends time together, it’s clear there’s a spark between them but when her grandfather’s vintage Chiefs good-luck winter hat goes missing, Alana begins to doubt everything she believed about fate, destiny and even questions her future with Derrick — unless, that is, a little Christmas magic can throw a Hail Mary,” a description of the movie on Hallmark’s website reads.
In a statement about HOLIDAY TOUCHDOWN: A CHIEFS LOVE STORY’s production, Darren Abbott, Chief Brand Officer at Hallmark, said. “With Hallmark and the Kansas City Chiefs both homegrown, rooted in values, tradition and community, there is a special alchemy between these two iconic organizations.”
“By blending the warmth of Hallmark storytelling with the excitement of professional football, we are thrilled to give audiences a front-row seat to this community’s spirit, rich traditions and passionate fans that define Kansas City, all wrapped up in the comforting and uplifting Hallmark way,” he concluded.
READ MORE: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS GET HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIE
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