Alison Sweeney Couldn’t Help But Get ‘Emotional’ Filming With Her Daughter (EXCLUSIVE)

When longtime Hallmark star Alison Sweeney gets emotional in the opening scene of “Romance at Hope Ranch,” those tears in her character’s eyes are the real deal. Playing Hope Morgan, the mom of a college freshman dropping her daughter off at school for the first time, their goodbye scene felt like art imitating life, given that her actual daughter, 17-year-old Megan Sweeney, was making her acting debut in the role opposite her.

“It just felt so real, I’m kind of getting emotional even talking about it,” Sweeney sweetly told EntertainmentNow ahead of the movie’s premiere on February 28, 2026. “It just felt like such a sincere moment between my daughter and I, and I think that really served the movie.”

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Alison Sweeney Says Her Daughter Megan Handled Their Emotional Scene Like a Pro

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Megan is a key player in “Romance at Hope Ranch,” and her mom couldn’t be prouder of her acting and focus on set, and how she took feedback from director Tailiah Breon.

“It was so great, she really delivered,” Alison gushed to EntertainmentNow. “She was great in the (opening) scene. She listened, she was really good working with the director, and Tailiah was great working with her.”

But for that opening scene in the dorm room, Alison said, “I think Megan and I kind of had a real moment. The movie starts off with Hope dropping off her daughter at college, and we’d run our lines, we both kind of just looked at it like any scene. But then when we were in this cute little space that they had decorated with a college situation, and we had brought her (equestrian) ribbons from home, and put them up on the wall for set (decoration).”

“And when we were doing the scene,” Alison continued, “there was a moment where — and we didn’t even talk about it right then, but we kind of talked about it later — it just felt so real.”

Impressively, Megan stayed in character as her mom got teary-eyed, which is not easy to do — especially when someone’s just starting out as an actor, Alison said.

“She stayed in it, and she played it sincere in that moment, and she understood (what to do),” Alison smiled. “Her instinct was to take advantage of this real feeling and use it in the scene, and allow it to be, and to be okay with sharing that emotion on camera. She really understood that the value of that, and made the most of it.”

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Will Alison Sweeney’s Daughter Follow in Her Mom’s Footsteps as an Actress?

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When Megan filmed “Romance at Hope Ranch” with her mom, she was still 16 — the same age Alison was when she landed her first big role, as the iconic Sami on “Days of Our Lives,” which the actress didn’t even realize until after they’d shot the movie, calling the synergy “wild.”

But she’s very relieved Megan got to experiment in such a safe environment with her, noting that when she was 16, “I was driving myself to the studio and, like, doing these very crazy scenes on the show.”

“She had a great confidence on the set,” Alison said of Megan, “and she made friends with everybody. She just brought such a positive energy to everything and every scene she was in.”

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But don’t expect more cameos anytime soon. Megan, who’s still in high school, did not get bitten by the acting bug — much to her mom’s relief.

“I asked her how she felt about it, if she was interested in doing it again, and she sort of was like, ‘No,'” Alison laughed. “She loved it, she’s really glad she did it, but I think she has other ambitions for herself and her career, and I mean, to be honest, I have tried hard to help her not want to be an actor her whole life.”

“Romance at Hope Ranch” premieres on Hallmark Channel on February 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern time and will be available to stream the following day via Hallmark+.