Janel Parrish and Ryan Paevey took to Facebook Live Thursday to promote their Hallmark movie, Coyote Creek Christmas. During the brief interview, they talked about acting like kids while on the set of the movie.
For Paevey, that meant hunting for insects with his 8-year-old co-star, Azriel Dalman, and watching cat videos on his phone with Parrish.
“You got us hooked on cat videos,” Parrish said.
In the movie, Parrish plays a type-A event planner who returns to her small town to help her parents promote their inn with a “Christmas Around the World” party. While researching traditions from Japan to Iceland, she meets Paevey’s character, Dylan, a single father who lends a helping hand.
For Parrish, it was fun to watch Paevey with Dalman.
“You guys had such a great connection,” she said.
They both commented on how Dalman kept their spirits up on days when filming became exhausting.
“Movie-making seems like it’s all glitz and flam,” Paevey said. “But it can be early mornings and late nights.”
Now and again, one of them would ask Dalman how he was holding up. He would smile and say that he was having the best time ever.
Food, food, and more food
In addition to having fun with their pint-size co-star, Paevey and Parrish said they both learned a lot while on set.
“We did our research and we find all these beautiful ways to celebrate the holidays,” she said. “I learned so much.”
Food is front and center in everything.
“There’s a lot of food love in this movie,” she said.
Emotional support waffles
Both stars talked about the fast pace of filming a Hallmark movie. With long days on location in a remote area, the work can be tiring, both said.
To make matters even worse, they spent most of their time filming near a waffle bakery.
“The smell of sugar all day, every day, I was like ‘I need a waffle,’” Parrish said.
Paevey came to the rescue, dashing out and buying them both waffles, but by the time he got back to set, it was time to film.
Parrish said he ended up stashing the waffles under a table and whenever there was a break in filming, they would run over and eat their snacks.
Coyote Creek Christmas will air Saturday, October 30 on Hallmark Channel at 8/7c.