‘Love & Jane’: Alison Sweeney Reveals Inspiration Behind Hallmark’s Austen Flick
Preview
On February 10, Days of our Lives alum Alison Sweeney will star in her 28th movie for Hallmark, Love & Jane, as part of a month-long celebration of famed author Jane Austen.
In the film, Sweeney, who is both star and executive producer, plays Austen enthusiast Lilly. “She’s a modern working woman, but she dresses in a romantic way and she speaks in an old-fashioned way based on her love of these books,” Sweeney shares.
“She has boyfriend trouble and wishes Jane Austen were there to give her good advice, and when she wakes up the next morning, lo and behold, Jane Austen is in her living room. It’s really fun the way the story unfolds from there.”
Austenland (Credit: Giles Keyte/©Sony Pictures Classics/courtesy Everett Collection)
The origin of the film started by chance on a night in a hotel room. “I have always been a huge fan of Jane Austen,” says Sweeney. “Like everyone else, I’ve watched the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice a million times. I was filming a different project and one night in the hotel, I saw the [2013] movie Austenland with Keri Russell.”
“I went to work the next day and I was telling David Weaver, the director that I was working with, how much I loved this cute movie. And he was like, ‘Wait, you love Jane Austen?’ I said, ‘Of course, I love Jane Austen!’ And the conversation led to him pitching me an idea that he had for a story about a woman who loves Jane Austen, and then comedy ensues. I fell in love with it right away and said, ‘We have to pitch this to Hallmark.’”
Turns out, the network already had plans for movies about the author. “After ours came in, they developed the idea of creating a whole event around these Jane Austen stories they had,” Sweeney adds.
What Sweeney most appreciates about the project is the message, adding, “Lilly meets her true love [Trevor, played by Benjamin Ayres] and gets advice from Jane on that, but what I really love about the story is that Jane’s advice is really more about Lilly needing to work on herself and care about who she is, rather than catching a guy.”
Love & Jane, Movie Premiere, Saturday, February 11, 8/7c, Hallmark
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