By Michaela Gordoni
Hallmark star Kristoffer Polaha explained how movies can become a mission — and transform communities.
“Hollywood becomes Holy-wood…What’s happening is that we are leaving this community better than when we found it,” he said from a film set in the Dominican Republic.
The production paid local children in the Haitian village a daily wage for being extras. They also cleaned the river and painted and stuccoed their church.
“We then added a coat of beautiful, tranquil blue paint, wrote HOPE on the back wall, a reminder of the greatest gift that is born out of a relationship with Jesus, and then we painted several of the surrounding houses, creating a renewed sense of home pride in the community, which I could feel as we wrapped from that location,” he wrote in the caption.
Related: Actor Kristoffer Polaha Drops Hints About His Next Project
The production crew played games with and got to know the locals.
“I saw one little girl grow from camera shy to knowing how to find the lens. Just like a young person getting the chance to be in a school play in the US, I watched as this experience-built self-confidence and promoted a sense of possibility for the future,” Polaha said. “I’m now very curious to see what these little ones do.”
He continued, “To make a movie is a blessing. To make this kind of movie is life-changing. But is it enough?”
The movie that Polaha is working on is with Reserve Entertainment. He hasn’t revealed anything else about the project.
His recent projects, through Hallmark, include MISSING THE BOAT and A GRAND OLE OPRY CHRISTMAS, Entertainment Now reported.
In January, he celebrated 10 years since he made his first Hallmark movie, DATER’S HANDBOOK, with Meghan Markle.
“It is wild to me,” the actor said. “Ten years went by in a flash, and it’s been an incredible ride. It’s like a Russian doll: I kept opening up this gift and another gift was inside, and this gift, and it just kept giving.”
Another project he’s working on is AMERICAN HOSTAGE, a 1970s thriller series for MGM+ with Jon Hamm.
“It’s the most intense show I’ve ever been a part of,” he said in January. “Everybody involved is extremely high caliber. I’m feeling pretty good to be a part of it.”
Polaha will play Dick Hall, a finance company president who is taken hostage. It is based on the scripted podcast of the same name, which Hamm also stars in. It is expected to premier late this year or sometime next year.
Read Next: How Actor Kristoffer Polaha Prioritized Family On Journey to Hollywood
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