The Hallmark Channel’s first Countdown to Christmas movie, “Twas the Date Before Christmas,” premieres on Friday, October 18, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. The movie stars Robert Buckley and Amy Groening. Read on to see behind-the-scenes stories, including where the movie was filmed.
‘Twas the Date Before Christmas’ Was Filmed in Toronto, Canada
Finally the time has come for Hallmark’s famous Countdown to Christmas! The season starts with “Twas the Date Before Christmas,” a quirky story about a blind date setup.
Robert Buckley posted on Instagram about an injury he sustained while filming.
“Do I do my own stunts? Nope,” he wrote. “Do I still find ways to get hurt? Yup. Do snacks make everything better? Always.”
The medic seen in Buckley’s picture is from Reel Medics in Motion, a Canadian team in Toronto that describes itself as “Provincially Certified Medics qualified to treat any type of medical situation that can arise on set.” Their presence reveals that this movie was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada region.
According to the dates in Buckley’s posts about the film, the movie was filmed in March 2024.
Here’s another funny video Buckley shared from behind the scenes:
A lot of people are excited that this new movie has Groening as a lead. User CobraPowerTek on Reddit wrote: “Groening got a lead role, finally!!! She’s always funny and engaging as the sidekick, I hope she nails this.”
Groening shared a series of behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram. “@robertearlbuckley is a ridiculous hoot and luckily now, also my good friend. This is a fun one, don’t miss it!” she wrote.
Meet the Cast
Hallmark’s synopsis reads: “To prevent her family from canceling the ‘Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics,’ Jessie (Groening) lies and says she’s inviting a date to the long-standing holiday tradition. She meets Bryan (Buckley) on a dating app, and he agrees to spend the holiday with her and her family. As Jessie and Bryan engage in eccentric activities like the search for the Christmas tree star, gift wrapping contest and snowball fight, they start to develop real feelings for each other. Soon her family begins to catch on to their secret and Bryan suspects she may be hiding the real reason for her unusual Christmas date request. As the celebrations continue, Jessie must work to keep all her stories straight and save her date with Bryan.”
Robert Buckley, who plays Bryan, gained recognition for his portrayal of Clayton “Clay” Evans, a bold sports agent, on The CW’s series “One Tree Hill,” according to his bio. More recently, Buckley starred in “iZombie,” another CW series based on a DC comic, developed by Rob Thomas. Buckley is also known for starring in “Chesapeake Shores,” where he replaced Jesse Metcalfe’s character.
Buckley and his wife Jenny Wade have one son.
Amy Groening is Jessie. According to her bio, she’s a Canadian Screen Award-nominated actor from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She started out with lead roles in grindhouse horror films, collaborating with Astron-6 and Troma Entertainment. Groening later acted in the Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre in New York City before relocating to Toronto, Ontario.
According to her bio, Amy is excited to be part of the Hallmark family, having appeared in over 10 films, including the fan-favorite “The Santa Summit.”
Also starring, according to IMDb, are:
Peter Bou-Ghannam (Devi)
Fabio Ricci (Xavier)
Ava Arrindell (Haley)
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