By Michaela Gordoni
Jillian Murray revealed everything there is to love about her new GAF projects, CHASING CHRISTMAS and WHEN HOPE CALLS.
Murray plays artist Mia, who gets whisked into a mission with a TV show host, played by Trevor Donovan, to find the perfect gift for an Angel Tree recipient in MARIO LOPEZ PRESENTS: CHASING CHRISTMAS. The movie premiered on Great American Family on Sunday.
“I think people really, really want feel good movies in their life,” Murray told Movieguide® of why she loves starring in Christmas movies. “I think there’s, like, a lot of movies that are on other things, like Netflix and other streamers, that are just so heavy.”
She’s noticed that current popular Christmas movies have some very heavy aspects to them.
“This is one of the top 10 Christmas movies and it was so depressing,” she said of one title in particular. “And I remember, like, I was with my husband; we were on our couch, going, like, this is why we really need Great American Family…You don’t wanna waste two hours of your night, your precious hours with your family, to watch a movie.”
Related: Sisters On and Off Screen: Jillian Murray on A Little Women’s Christmas
People have thousands of options, and they want to choose something that makes them feel good.
“You don’t wanna go and be like, ‘I gotta wash this down with some sitcom at the end,’” she explained. “And that’s what it felt like. Like there’s a lot of movies that don’t feel…positive.”
“Going into, like, Great American…you’re not gonna have this, like, depressing energy at the end of the night,” she said. “You’re going to leave going, oh, I kind of knew…I don’t know; I think there’s something about that that makes you feel better,” she said.
Murray’s character is a lot like her.
“She’s super me,” Murray told Movieguide®. “She’s very type A, very organized. I mean, you know what’s weird in the script? She carries a little, little daily planner.”
“I’m one of the only people I’ve ever met that carries [one]…I don’t use a phone for it. I actually always have my little day planner and it’s scribbled in and it’s to this day and I’m like, that is so weird that it’s written like that. I thought that was like an odd character thing that was identical to me.”
She will also star in upcoming episodes of WHEN HOPE CALLS: BROOKEFIELD.
“I felt kind of like a fish out of water at first,” she shared. “It was a real last-minute thing and I was just really excited to like, immerse myself. I just — it was a little overwhelming ’cause I jumped in so fast.”
She didn’t have much time to go over the script and study her character, but she absolutely loved the experience.
Murray will star as entrepreneur Justine Marcel and Donovan will also star alongside her. WHEN HOPE CALLS: BROOKEFIELD Season 3 will premiere some time next year, per Parade.
Read Next: GAF’s Modern Retelling of LITTLE WOMEN Boasts Star-Studded Cast
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