‘Sweet Magnolias’ Star JoAnna Garcia Swisher on Her ‘Lucky’ Hallmark Movie Debut (VIDEO)
It’s 100% fitting that JoAnna Garcia Swisher stars on Netflix’s Southern feel-good soap Sweet Magnolias because she is just the sweetest herself. We’ve been fans of hers going back to her early days on Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? and, of course, will always adore her six-season run as slightly ditzy and entirely lovable Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery on Reba.
Since then, the actress and wife to former MLB’s Nick Swisher has also headlined some of our favorite short-lived gems, including Privileged, The Astronauts Wives Club, and Pitch. Oh, and her lifestyle brand @TheHappyPlace on Instagram? Heaven.
Now, in addition to Magnolias — which just began production on its second season down in Georgia — Garcia Swisher has As Luck Would Have It, her first-ever foray into the world of Hallmark Channel movies. And as our luck would have it, this particular entry in the net’s Spring Fling collection of flicks is a delightful showcase for her sunny charms…even if the elements weren’t as temperate!
“There were times in our ‘Spring’ movie [when] there was hail flying at me and a lot of weather happening,” she laughs of filming on location in Ireland at the beginning of the year. “I just didn’t imagine I would ever be shooting a movie that took place in the spring in, like, the depths of the Irish winter.”
In Luck, Garcia Swisher plays an American woman named Lindsey who heads to the Emerald Isle to purchase land for a proposed resort and winds up catching the fancy of a dashing local (Downton Abbey‘s Allen Leech) during a small town’s matchmaking festival. In other words, perfect Hallmark content.
TV Insider recently chatted with Garcia Swisher about the movie and we discover that there may have been more than luck involved with her winding up in the role. In addition, she gives us a heads up about what to expect following that Magnolias cliffhanger that sees her Maddie Townsend and besties Dana Sue (Brooke Elliot) and Helen (Heather Headley) awaiting word on who is in the season finale’s car crash.
“Who was in the car is not nearly as interesting, in my opinion, as what’s about to roll out in Season 2,” she says.
As Luck Would Have It, Saturday, April 10, 9/8c, Hallmark.
