Amid 34 new Hallmark Channel movies premiering during the network’s 17th annual Countdown to Christmas schedule, the stars of “A Season of Promises” say their film, premiering on November 8, 2026, is a definite departure from what Hallmark fans are used to.
Starring “Good Witch” alum James Denton as the dad of longtime fan-favorites Brooke D’Orsay and Ali Liebert as estranged sisters, the trio didn’t shy away from exploring grief and angst — as the women unite to help their dad find love again — and no one told them to hold back, they said.
“I think people will be surprised and thrilled by it,” Denton told EntertainmentNow. “I think it’s really very real the way people deal with grief.”
James Denton Credits Director Stacey Harding for Letting Them Get ‘Emotional’
Neither D’Orsay nor Liebert have sisters in real life, but growing up with brothers, they told EntertainmentNow, they definitely tapped into their sibling relationships to deliver an authentic performance in “A Season of Promises.”
“The sibling dynamic is very familiar to me, and it was easy to just jump in the stream and create that connection of the banter, the joy, the rifts,” D’Orsay said. “I think everyone, most people with a sibling, can relate to these emotions that these characters are going through.”
“We really got to act our little socks off,” Liebert said, “and no one was telling us to pull it back. It was like, ‘Are we doing this? We’re really doing this!'”
Hallmark’s rom-coms have never been known for their emotional depth; while there’s always a conflict or challenge to overcome, they rarely cause a key character in great distress, much less two.
Denton credited director Stacey Harding, know for past hits like “Round and Round” and “She’s Making a List,” for letting them show real emotion and not hold back in their scenes, explaining, “So often on Hallmark projects, someone will come out from behind the monitors, just because people expect a certain thing and sometimes they feel maybe the audience doesn’t want to get sad or get mad. But nobody ever came out and said, ‘Back it off.'”
“And these two really go at it,” he continued. “It’s not in a mean way, but a very emotional way.”
Brooke D’Orsay Says Hallmark Still Delivers the ‘Light’ in New Christmas Movie
Mixed in with all that emotion are the things Hallmark fans know and love, too. D’Orsay explained, “It’s wrapped up, still, with a light-hearted bow. Because we go there and then they
bring in the light. Like, the script is so well done in that way that it balances the light and the
grief so much, which is very much real life, especially at Christmas time.”
“So we don’t sit in the grief for too long before we kind of bring back in the light,” she continued, “and I think maybe that’s why they let us go as far as we did, is because they knew the light was just right on the other side.”
“A Season of Promises” premieres on Hallmark Channel on November 8 at 8 p.m. Eastern time, and will be available to stream via Hallmark+ the following day.
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