22 TV Stars You Didn’t Know Did Hallmark Holiday Movies (PHOTOS)
Chad Michael Murray (Write Before Christmas, 2019)
Who would have thought Riverdale‘s resident cult leader does rom com? The TV star returns to his romantic One Tree Hill roots with this Hallmark Channel movie about the power of an unexpected Christmas card. It premieres Sunday, November 17 at 8pm!
Mandy Moore and Mary-Louise Parker (Christmas in Conway, 2013)
The This Is Us matriarch portrayed a nurse for Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker as Parker rekindles a romance with husband Andy Garcia.
Danielle Panabaker and Matt Long (Christmas Joy, 2018)
The Flash runs into Manifest with this dream rom-com duo for last year’s Christmas Joy. Danielle Panabaker portrays a high-powered market researcher in Washington, D.C. who returns home to her North Carolina hometown to help her ailing aunt. While there, she runs into her former flame, played by Matt Long. Sparks fly just in time for the holidays!
Carla Gugino and Mae Whitman (A Season for Miracles, 1999)
Long before The Haunting of Hill House, Carla Gugino starred in this emotional Hallmark Hall of Fame film about an aunt having to care for her niece (a very young Mae Whitman from Good Girls !) and nephew after their drug-addicted mother (Big Little Lies’ iconic Laura Dern) overdoses. Legendary actress Patty Duke guest starred as Gugino’s guardian angel.
Tom Cavanagh (Trading Christmas, 2011)
The Flash star plays a professor turned novelist who swaps homes for a holiday vacation. Similar to The Holiday, a love rectangle ensues between the neighbors at the respective house swaps. The comedy of errors ends in love for all!
Benjamin Hollingsworth (A Godwink Christmas Meant for Love, 2019)
The Code Black alum has starred in many Hallmark movies, yet this season marks his first Christmas film for the network. With the help of a nosy mother (Kathie Lee Gifford), Hollingsworth kicks up a mistletoe romance. The movie premieres November 15th at 9pm!
James Van Der Beek (Mrs. Miracle, 2009)
The one and only James Van Der Beek of Dawson’s Creek fame stars opposite Everybody Loves Raymond alum Doris Roberts in this festive story of a single man befriending his children’s nanny, Roberts’ Mrs. Miracle.
Drew Scott (The Christmas Parade, 2014)
This Property Brothers reality star played AnnaLynne McCord’s (90210) fiancé with a wandering eye in this 2014 movie about on-air local news reporting.
Eric McCormack, Kristin Davis, and Shirley MacLaine (A Heavenly Christmas, 2016)
Television hall of famers Kristin Davis (Sex and the City) and Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) fall in love onscreen, with Academy Award-winner Shirley MacLaine looking on as a Christmas guardian angel.
Brandon Routh (The Nine Lives of Christmas, 2014)
Ahead of transforming into the Atom for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Brandon Routh played a real-life hero as a jaded firefighter who finds a stray cat and — you guessed it — falls in love with the veterinarian.
Elizabeth Mitchell (The Christmas Club, 2019)
Elizabeth Mitchell swaps sci-fi roles like in Lost and The Expanse for an uplifting turn as a good Samaritan dance studio owner who helps an elderly woman reclaim her lost Christmas Club savings. The Christmas Club premieres November 27th at 8pm!
Sam Page (Christmas in Rome, 2019 ; The Perfect Christmas Present, 2017)
Before Sam Page was the perfect boyfriend on The Bold Type, he played the perfect gift giver! This 2017 Hallmark film features Page as a professional Secret Santa who falls in love with the woman he is hired to find the ideal gift for. Nothing says Christmas like a love triangle! Catch Page with Hallmark queen Lacey Chabert in Christmas in Rome, premiering November 30 at 8pm!
Julie Benz (Charming Christmas, 2015)
On Becoming a God in Central Florida actress and former Dexter star Julie Benz portrays a department store heiress who unwillingly dons a Mrs. Claus ensemble and falls in love with the store Santa Claus (or is he the real St. Nick?) in this 2015 classic.
Sean Astin (Santa Switch, 2017)
Stranger Things’ Sean Astin plays the assistant (dare we say elf? Wink, wink Lord of the Rings) to a mall Santa in the 2017 film Santa Switch.
Dermot Mulroney (The Christmas Train, 2017)
Righteous Gemstones and Four Weddings and a Funeral scene-stealer Dermot Mulroney brought his star status to the 2017 Hallmark film, with Joan Cusack and Danny Glover co-starring as passengers on a cross-country train.
Summer Glau (Help For the Holidays, 2012)
The sci-fi star of Arrow fame plays an elf who is sent by Santa to a Los Angeles family in need of some holiday cheer.
Scott Wolf (A Christmas Love Story, 2019)
Scott Wolf takes a break from parenting Nancy Drew to star alongside Kristin Chenoweth in this season’s upcoming A Christmas Love Story. Wolf plays a widower who learns to love again with his son’s choir director, Chenoweth. The movie premieres December 7th at 8pm!
Nothing raises holiday spirits like hot cocoa and Hallmark!
The channel’s original festive films have hosted a myriad of talent (think most of the cast of Fuller House and Mean Girls favorites Lacey Chabert and Jonathan Bennett), but plenty of unexpected TV stars have also graced the network’s silver screen over the years.
Click through our gallery to find out which of your favorite actors are holiday Hallmark headliners!
