Interview
Janel Parrish Is Manifesting Entire ‘Haunted’ Franchise After Hallmark’s ‘Haunted Wedding’
Jana (Janel Parrish) and Brian (Dominic Sherwood) had a ghostly adventure trying to get down the aisle in Hallmark’s Haunted Wedding. They almost didn’t make it after multiple attempts to reunite their wedding venue spirit, Angelique (Cassandra Potenza), with her long lost love Malcolm (also played by Sherwood), didn’t go to plan. It’s difficult enough trying to get one couple down the aisle in a Hallmark film, but Haunted Wedding had the complicated task of giving the audience two happily-ever-afters.
“We’re really getting into the timeless romance era of it all,” Parrish told Swooon in a recent interview about the film. The actress went on to say that doing double romance duty is one of her favorite things about the movie. “It’s just so fun to have two totally different types of romance. You have some really fun modern romance that I was really happy to be a part of, and then you have this sweeping romance from the past as well.”
This is Hallmark, so naturally, both couples did figure everything out and got their happy ending. However, there were some touch-and-go moments for both couples. As Angelique’s ire grew with the delay of Jana and Brian’s promises to her, cracks started to show in the modern couple’s relationships. They didn’t just have to overcome a ghost ruining their catering and wilting their wedding flowers, but they also had to be honest with each other about core wounds that hadn’t fully healed yet.
“Instead of just watching two people get to know each other and fall in love, these two people already know each other. They are already in love, and that means knowing each other’s deepest, darkest insecurities,” Parrish said. “It’s so sweet to watch them navigate that because that is real life. Brian is so tender with her heart and her past trauma, and it is so sweet to watch.”
The actress elaborated that Haunted Wedding was able to go to those deeper emotional places because of the instant connection she formed with her costar.
“Dom is so great at those emotional moments. As an actor, I felt so safe with him to tap into the vulnerability that Jana feels. He always had my back, just the way Brian does with Jana,” she revealed. “Honestly, those scenes were some of my favorite ones to film with Dominic because I felt so good and grounded in reality. You really have to be comfortable with an actor to bring that out.”
The heartfelt moments of Haunted Wedding are even sweeter because they are balanced with laugh-out-loud comedy. Parrish told us that there was constant laughter on set but also divulged there was one scene in particular that was almost impossible to get through.
“There was a scene where we kept having to say sorry to the crew because we couldn’t get through a take. It was the scene where Brian and Jana see Angelique for the first time. There’s a moment when our director, Jeff, who is brilliant, came over and told Dominic, ‘I want Angelique to put her hands through your mouth. When she does it, I want you to make sounds [like you’re sick],” Parrish detailed. “The first time he did it, he just looked so ridiculous that Cass and I just started laughing. Then, for about 15 minutes, we went in the circle of who was going to break. Once you’re on the giggle train, you can’t get off. You sort of have to walk off-set and reset and then come back. We couldn’t even look at each other. It took so long for us to get through that scene, but we were having the best time.”
The cast and crew had such a good time making the movie that Parrish and Sherwood are already campaigning for a sequel. They have multiple ideas for Brian and Jana’s next ghost-hunting adventures, starting with the couple’s upcoming honeymoon.
“Dom and I are pitching this. We want it to happen. We went to the director and the producers after, and we were like, ‘Listen, we know this is up to the film gods, but we love working together so much, and we loved working on this project so much. What if we did Haunted Honeymoon?’ We literally said that. ‘What about Haunted Thanksgiving? Let’s just do every holiday. Haunted Valentine’s Day, and these two show up and have some ghostly encounter.'” And it wouldn’t just be Brian and Jana. The actor duo wants everyone back for the fun.
“Every single time, Earl comes along and finds some way to screw it up. Bring the whole merry band of characters that you meet in the film,” she said. “So I’m putting it out there. I’m manifesting it into the universe that there’s going to be more Haunted because it’s just so much fun.”
You can definitely sign us up for any and all of those follow-ups, Hallmark.
