I’ve been on a few Hallmark sets in my day, and while some of them do film in the cold and grittiest of weather, a lot of Christmas movies –spoiler –are filming when it’s extremely hot outside. That means actors are wearing winter coats and sweaters when it can be sweltering out. This is true for upcoming Christmas movies across networks like Hallmark, GAF and Lifetime, and Christmas movie queen Danica McKellar would like to remind us all of her sacrifice.
There are plenty of secrets behind creating holiday movies, but the one that’s always stood out to me the most is that many of these film in the summer months. That’s not a huge issue when the actors are on a sound stage, but as Ms. McKellar notes, it takes some strategy to keep cool when the production moves outside. Take a look, and throw on the volume for an amusing Chappell Roan musical assist.
I can’t even imagine how distressing this must have been for the GAF star. We’ve seen Candace Cameron Bure and others complain about wearing sweaters in the heat, but McKellar has on the full getup here. She’s got boots. She’s got a thick coat and a scarf. She has on tights and gloves! It looks disgusting, and Hallmark’s Alison Sweeney has confirmed the Christmas in summer thing is gross. I can still remember her telling CinemaBlend how it feels to have “sweat dripping down the back of your neck” while trying to portray a magical holiday moment. Yuck.
The movie seems to be in production now. Despite it being September, it’s still been pretty hot in many parts of the country, and McKellar said in another video her upcoming film has been shooting in Kentucky. I don’t know what the temp is there exactly, but I do know it’s been in the high eighties just a couple of states over here in Missouri. (Or for you Canadians around 28-30 degrees Celsius.) Some stars like this schedule, but McKellar looks like she's just trying to survive.
The actress has several GAF movies hitting the 2026 TV schedule just in time for the holidays. The one in question looks to be The Christmas Yes List, as co-star Sam Page is also seen in the footage. The premise has the actress playing a NY businesswoman who heads to a small town (obviously) for the holiday season. There she’ll embark on an “unconventional holiday challenge” during which she’ll meet a successful executive (Page). Hot. Literally.
The network announced that movie, as well as the rest of its holiday season lineup a short while back, and we’ll doubtless get more updates about the production in the coming months. In the meantime, Danica McKellar has another movie returning to GAF this week, Swing Into Romance, which she filmed with Dancing with the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko back in 2023.
And in the future, when you are watching these movies and you see a lead looking beautiful and dewy, just remember it’s likely sweat.
