For the first time ever, Hallmark has added scripted series to its annual Countdown to Christmas lineup. Holidazed a Hallmark+ eight-episode series, follows six families from different backgrounds, cultures and generations, all living on the same cul-de-sac, as they gather for the holiday season. Each family has their own set of unique challenges this holiday season, but they all learn one thing unites them all: love.

Ahead of the series premiere, Collider spoke with veteran actors Dennis Hayslett and John C. McGinley, as well as Ser’Darius Brian, about the new series. They all agree on one thing: Holidazed isn’t your average Christmas storyline seen on Hallmark.

The ‘Holidazed’ Stars Say the Show Has a Lot of Substance to It
Hallmark films are known to be light and full of hope and love. HOLIDAZED has those elements, but the men of the series say there’s a deeper tone to this series than your typical Hallmark project.

COLLIDER: You guys are making history here with the first, well one of the first holiday series on Hallmark. So tell me about how special it was to be a part of this inauguration of sorts.

JOHN C. MCGINLEY: It was my entry into the Hallmark of it all, and it was so lovely. I didn’t have any…of of course I did…I had some things that I assumed about Hallmark and everything was wrong because when I got up there, it was a well-oiled machine. It was a bunch of pros at every station – whether they’re the gaffers or hair or makeup – everything ran like a well-oiled machine, and that appeals to me. I don’t like to sit around for a long time and then do 20 takes to try to find one.

And Dennis and I have done enough films around the planet that when you walk onto a set and the cast and crew is on the same frequency. It’s an invitation to go and that’s what I felt like the minute I got up to Vancouver Island.

SER’DARIUS BRIAN: Yeah, for me this was my first Hallmark Christmas project and I had done my first Hallmark movie earlier that same year, and like he [John] said, I had a lot of preconceived notions and I was completely wrong. They’ve given this project a bit more edge. They’ve given voice to people from all walks of life now, which is also, I think part of the sort of new undertaking that Hallmark has committed themselves to in a really real way, and they gave the actors an opportunity to sort of spread our wings and give our own input into the characters and into the storylines as well. And they listened, they were listening ears to us in the creative process as well.

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MCGINLEY: There was nothing superfluous in each household. Each household had a little meat on the bone, if you will, whatever, whatever the cultural household was. [There was] conflict and there was something for the actors to play in every house…

DENNIS HAYSLETT: And trauma…This was my second project, but it was totally unlike the first project I had and it was well..

MCGINLEY: Why?

HAYSLETT: Because…it wasn’t a lack of intensity or anything else from the first one. It was just a film that we all sort of just..it just flowed. But on this particular project, it was a series. We all were in one house together, whether it was the Latin house, the Asian house, the Irish, Italian house, or the African American house. And, and it was very reminiscent of some of the Christmases I had – the conflicts, even though the conflicts weren’t the same. You know, you can mix and match and you can also embody some of the conflicts that you had previously in your real life and how they translated to this one. And then it got really then it just got really fun yeah 100% and and then.

The finale was just…it just blew me away because the finale we were in this one big house with all the actors and the biggest problem we had was telling people to be quiet because the ladies in the other room over there and oh my God, tell me about how much fun it was. It was just a big, big family situation, and that’s how I grew up. I had 6 brothers, 2 sisters, my mother and father, and then as we grew and got married and had children, then we had a house full of love. And then you have the children’s tables….not table but tables. And then the Chinese checkers come out and then the dice come out.

And that was the beauty of it and we really had that camaraderie. We couldn’t go back and forth to our trailers because it was like a 1.5, 2 miles away, and it’s just time-consuming. So we’d all just decided we’re just gonna stay here and have a little green room, and we would always just talk.

And as we talked, I mean, the other actors coming in, the guests of our houses, whatever, I would just watch them, they would just [be] that wide-eyed. These guys are like a real family and I love that. Oh, and by the way, I have not said this before, but my daughter made her debut in this.

COLLIDER: How is that bringing your daughter into the fold and then on such a project that centers on family, holiday, community?

HAYSLETT: I had little or nothing to do with her getting this part. I had nothing to do with it.

COLLIDER: So no nepotism?

HAYSLETT: Well, anytime I can give her some nepotism – I’ve seen enough of it in other families [so if I can] 100% if I can help give her a push…it’s even cooler when they earn it though. She earned this. And Gina, she said, ‘You know, Dennis, you had nothing to do with me giving her this part.’ I said, ‘I know.’ We had this big dinner and my daughter was visiting at the time, and she had just read for it. And then she was meeting Gina and all the producers and everything, and she never said anything. I said, ‘You know what, girl, go. I love you. Enjoy the moment and everything else.’ And I just loved having her there.

The ‘Holidazed’ Cast Became One Big Family During FIlming
The cast was made up of more than two dozen leads, creating one of the largest in the network’s history. Luckily, everyone got along, so much so that they’re all on board to return for a second season.

COLLIDER: Now there are a lot of seasoned Hallmark actors in this. There’s a lot of seasoned actors in this series overall. Obviously we have legends like yourself, Dennis, like you, John, and then my queen Loretta Devine is in this. So as someone who is on the younger end of things and not as seasoned, how is it having such legends around you, Ser’Darius?

BRIAN: I mean, I take every opportunity no matter the age or experience of anyone on the set. I take every opportunity to try to learn from the people that are around me. Out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom, so what I believe is it’s even more of a plus to be able to work with guys like this that have combined the 100 years of experience between the three of them. And so I was just taking notes. It’s an honor to be able to share the screen with people like them and it can be in the same breath and so count myself lucky.

I said yes immediately when I saw their names on the offer. I was like, ‘Yeah, there’s nothing to even think about.’ My agent was like, ‘Don’t you wanna read the script?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m busy, but I’m, I’m doing it. Like there’s no way I’m not doing it.’ So it was an absolute honor. I learned a lot. And to continue to learn from watching them for years to come.

COLLIDER: Now I hear that season 2 may be in the works.

HAYSLETT: The first I heard of this.

MCGINLEY: Oh yeah, I heard.

BRIAN: Oh he knew already. John knows everything.

MCGINLEY: You got light in a bottle, you try to recapture it. Are you kidding me? This stuff doesn’t come along every day.

COLLIDER: No, it doesn’t, especially for shows. Things have changed so much with television now. It’s not just linear, you know, and now we have the streaming platforms. So there’s so many more possibilities now. So what is your hope for a show like this to continue and really continue to capture that holiday joy and storytelling?

MCGINLEY: Oh Italy. All the families wind up in Tuscany.

COLLIDER: Every season they’ll go to a new country to match the household.

HAYSLETT: Yeah, take all the families to the islands.

BRIAN: For me, I would just hope that we continue on this great path of truthful storytelling. That’s always the best and the easiest kind of storytelling. Again, I always say: it’s much easier be, than it is to act. We didn’t have to act so it”s a big party over here. They just have to pay us for it, so we’d love to do it.

Holidazed is available to stream on Hallmark+

Holidazed Release Date November 14, 2024 Main Genre Comedy Seasons 1

Stream on Hallmark+