Exclusive Interview
Sarah Drew on Sprinkling Spice Into ‘Carpenter Christmas Romance’ & Her Romantasy Obsession (VIDEO)
Sarah Drew hadn’t even read A Court of Thorns and Roses when she created the character of Andrea, a popular romantasy writer (with a character named Lucien!), in Lifetime’s new holiday film A Carpenter Christmas Romance. Writing and executive producing the movie was serendipitous for Drew, who is now “completely obsessed” with ACOTAR.
The film follows Andrea (Sasha Pieterse), who retreats to her hometown to try and finish her latest romantasy novel after fan backlash. Upon her return, she reconnects with Seth (Mitchell Slaggert), her ex-crush who is trying to rebuild their beloved hometown after it was nearly destroyed by a fire. Andrea and Seth fall back into orbit with one another and sparks from more than just his carpentry tools start flying between them. Swooon spoke with Drew about being inspired by romantasy and how she’s leading the charge in adding spice to holiday movies.
Lifetime
“I really wanted to kind of play within the genre that I had written for Cowboy Christmas Romance and sort of try to come up with another story that also had this sort of spicy Christmas-y romance aspect to it,” Drew explained. “And I thought, what better way to enter into that world than have my lead character be a romantasy writer? I thought that could be a really fun way to weave in her storytelling with my storytelling with how the romance develops.”
When Drew stopped by Swooon’s office, she was in the thick of reading the ACOTAR series. “I’m completely obsessed, and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to find this genre,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum admitted. “I find it kind of funny that I wrote a character who’s a romantasy novelist before actually reading a romantasy novel.”
She didn’t have a hand in casting the “amazing” Pieterse and Slaggert as Andrea and Seth, but she knows she hit the jackpot. Drew called Slaggert a “delightful surprise because he’s beautiful. He’s like an Adonis, and then he also has this tenderness and sensitivity and depth that is so beautiful to witness on someone who is also so beautiful outwardly. Their chemistry is sizzling.”
The 2023 film Drew wrote and produced, A Cowboy Christmas Romance, featured Lifetime’s first sex scene in a Christmas movie. Drew continues that streak in A Carpenter Christmas Romance, and she’s proud to expand the holiday genre by adding “some spice to the sugar at Christmastime. Why not spice it up? We know there’s a massive audience for romance. So why not throw that into the Christmas genre, too?”
She revealed that the holiday movie sex scene was a “bit of a risk for Lifetime” with A Cowboy Christmas Romance, but it “really paid off. It was the best-rated movie for Lifetime last year, and it just proves that there is an audience for every different form of Christmas movie.”
When it comes to writing romance and love scenes, Drew noted she’s “extremely descriptive” in the script. “Sasha and Mitchell were laughing about how there’s so much finger flirting in the movie that was written into the script, like his hand grazes her hand, and she strokes his thumb. I build these little itty bitty things because I’m witnessing the building of the whole thing when I’m seeing it in my head.”
For Drew, it’s all about the slow burn. “The slow burn is so important. Otherwise, who cares?” she declared.
Watch the full interview above.
A Carpenter Christmas Romance, Movie Premiere, December 21, 8/7c, Lifetime
