Interview
Janel Parrish Lives Out Her ’90s Halloween Movie Fantasy in Hallmark Rom-Com ‘Haunted Wedding’
Janel Parrish ain’t afraid of no ghosts, or at least her character Jana isn’t in her new movie Haunted Wedding, which premieres on October 12. Jana is an amateur ghost hunter who gets engaged to her fellow paranormal sleuth boyfriend, Brian (Dominic Sherwood), at the beginning of the film. However, their plans for wedded bliss hit a major roadblock when an 18th-century ghost, Angelique (Cassandra Potenza), haunts their wedding venue and refuses to allow them to tie the knot until her own tragic romance is healed. Hijinks ensue as Jana and Brian use their ghost-hunting skills to reunite Angelique with her long-lost love, Malcolm (also played by Sherwood), who is trapped in the pub not far away.
Parrish admitted to Swooon when we caught up with her before the premiere of Haunted Wedding that she prefers her ghostly encounters to be secondhand. “I want to hear everyone else’s ghost stories, but I don’t necessarily want to see them myself. It was kind of fun because with the theme of this film, a lot of the cast and crew spent a lot of time telling each other ghost stories,” she said.
The actress also revealed that ghost stories with happy instead of creepy endings are her favorite. “I love the ones where people are visited by loved ones. I think those give us a lot of hope. I love the feel-good ones. It makes me so happy,” she added.
A love of ghosts and romance made Haunted Wedding a dream project for Parrish. The movie has creepy moments, but it is mostly a laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that isn’t afraid to delve into real relationship drama.
“This movie honestly has it all. I have my fun, creepy moments and my rom-com moments as well. That’s what makes this movie so great. There’s something for everyone,” Parrish said. “This is such a different genre from what I’ve seen Hallmark do. I love that it was kind of unique and something different. I’m a Halloween baby. My birthday is the day before Halloween, so I grew up loving any kind of Halloween movie. I said on set while we were making this film that I feel like I’m living my ’90s Halloween movie fantasy right now. It’s so much fun.”
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Part of the fun of making the movie was also working with Sherwood. While both actors are most known for their time on their respective Freeform shows, Pretty Little Liars and Shadowhunters, the pair had never met before working on Haunted Wedding together.
“We could not believe that we had not met before this film. We have so many mutual friends, and obviously, Shadowhunters and Pretty Little Liars were on Freeform around the same time, but somehow our paths never crossed. It very much felt like fate that we should finally meet and work together,” Parrish revealed. “From the moment we met, we were best friends. I called him my set bestie. We had way too much fun together. I just posted a few fun behind-the-scenes moments where Dom would scare me. He probably got me like 15 times successfully on this set.”
Despite the scares, Parrish said that the duo’s close working relationship made the scenes between Jana and Brian, especially the dramatic ones, feel that much more real. She’s excited for fans to get to see what they’ve put together when the movie debuts.
“When you have a great work dynamic with somebody — that’s always the hope and the wish. We were like, ‘Oh my God, great. Not only do we really like each other, but we work so well together and we can play off each other,'” she said. “There’s that trust as actors that we’re going to be there for each other as good team partners. It’s just so exciting. I think it is really reflected in the film. When you watch it, you can tell we are having fun, and I love that.”
Haunted Wedding, Movie Premiere, October 12, 8/7c, Hallmark
