Holidays
21 Hallmark Leading Ladies in Their First Countdown to Christmas Movies (PHOTOS)
Happy Hallmark holidays! The network’s 15th annual Countdown to Christmas is in full swing, with your favorite stars stepping into new Christmas movies.
Hallmark Channel has a bevy of talented leading ladies we look forward to seeing in new holiday films each year (alongside their hunky costars). Lacey Chabert‘s got The Christmas Quest, while Erin Krakow just reunited with her former When Calls the Heart costar Daniel Lissing in Santa Tell Me.
But what about their first Hallmark Christmas movies? Many of these actresses have appeared in a plethora of delightfully cozy holiday films for the network over the years. Swooon is taking a look back at our favorite Hallmark actresses in their first Countdown to Christmas movies.
Lacey Chabert, Matchmaker Santa
The Queen of Hallmark starred in her first Countdown to Christmas movie all the way back in 2012. Since Matchmaker Santa, Lacey Chabert has led 15 Countdown to Christmas movies!
Erin Krakow, A Cookie Cutter Christmas
Hallmark legend Erin Krakow embarked on her Countdown to Christmas career with 2014’s A Cookie Cutter Christmas, which also starred the late Alan Thicke.
Kimberley Sustad, The Nine Lives of Christmas
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of The Nine Lives of Christmas, which started incredible Hallmark veteran Kimberley Sustad. She played a veterinary student who crosses paths with a handsome fireman who adopts a stray cat.
Nikki DeLoach, Christmas Land
Hallmark fave Nikki DeLoach stepped into the Countdown to Christmas spotlight in Christmas Land. She played a successful New York businesswoman who learns her beloved late grandmother has left her Christmas Land, a magical Christmas themed village in the countryside. The dreamy Luke Macfarlane was her costar.
Alison Sweeney, Christmas at Holly Lodge
The Days of our Lives star started her Countdown to Christmas journey with Christmas at Holly Lodge in 2017. Alison Sweeney shared the screen with Abbott Elementary‘s Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Jessica Lowndes, Merry Matrimony
Jessica Lowndes starred in her first Hallmark Christmas movie in 2015. In Merry Matrimony, she played Brie Traverston, a successful woman who can clinch partner at her firm if she can coordinate a Christmas wedding reshoot and ignore all the feelings that come with working with the one-that-got-away Eddie Chapman (Christopher Russell).
Bethany Joy Lenz, Five Star Christmas
One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz teamed up with Victor Webster in 2020’s Five Star Christmas. Lenz played Lucy, who helps her family during the holidays to get her father’s new B&B a five-star review from a travel writer. When Jake (Webster) checks in, sparks start flying.
Tamera Mowry-Housley, Christmas Comes Twice
The Sister, Sister alum’s first Countdown to Christmas movie was Christmas Comes Twice in 2020, but she did star in A Christmas Miracle for Hallmark Mystery the year before. In Christmas Comes Twice, Mowry-Housley stepped into the role of Cheryl, an astrophysicist who goes home for Christmas and attends the annual Christmas Carnival. This ride somehow transports her to Christmas five years before.
Jodie Sweetin, Finding Santa
In the midst of reprising her role as Stephanie Tanner on Fuller House, Jodie Sweetin made her Countdown to Christmas debut in 2017’s Finding Santa alongside Eric Winter. She played Grace Long, a Green River resident who is the steward of her New England town’s signature Christmas Eve parade.
Brooke D'Orsay, Miss Christmas
The effervescent Brooke D’Orsay was radiant in her first Countdown to Christmas movie Miss Christmas, which premiered in 2017. She played Holly Khun, Chicago’s “Miss Christmas,” who needs to find a beautiful tree for the plaza. With the lighting ceremony around the corner, Holly turns to a handsome gentleman for help.
Autumn Reeser, Christmas Under the Stars
The delightful Autumn Reeser dazzled in her first Countdown to Christmas movie Christmas Under the Stars, which premiered in 2019. Her character had an adorable meet-cute with Jesse Metcalfe at the tree lot.
Hunter King, A Royal Corgi Christmas
Hunter King’s Countdown to Christmas journey began with A Royal Corgi Christmas in 2022. She played Cecily, an animal behavior expert tasked with helping out with a rambunctious Corgi pup for Prince Edmond (Jordan Renzo).
Julie Gonzalo, Jingle Bell Bride
Julie Gonzalo‘s first Hallmark movie was Pumpkin Pie Wars in 2016, but she didn’t make a Countdown to Christmas movie until Jingle Bell Bride in 2021. The film followed wedding planner Jessica Perez (Gonzalo), who travels to a remote town in Alaska to find a rare flower for a celebrity client and is charmed by the small town during Christmas, as well as the handsome local helping her.
Ashley Williams, Christmas in Evergreen
Ashley Williams‘ Countdown to Christmas journey began well before Jingle Bell Run. She starred in 2017’s Christmas in Evergreen, which followed her character as she embraced unexpected holiday season in Florida.
Erin Cahill, Sleigh Bells Ring
Erin Cahill started down her Countdown to Christmas road in the delightful Sleigh Bells Ring in 2016. The actress starred as Laurel Bishop, a single mom looking to be promoted to city manager, but she has to put together the Christmas parade in just two weeks!
Rachael Leigh Cook, A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas
She’s All That first blessed the Countdown to Christmas crowd in 2019’s A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas. The ’90s teen star played hotel manager Willow, who returns to her stunning Virginia hometown to help her sister plan a Christmas wedding at the inn her family once owned. She must work with current owner and single dad David (Benjamin Ayres), who wants to let go of the past.
Holly Robinson Peete, Angel of Christmas
Holly Robinson Peete made her Countdown to Christmas debut in Angel of Christmas, based on the popular novel by Jane Maas. She played Yvette Collins.
Rachel Skarsten, Marry Me at Christmas
Reign star Rachel Skarsten‘s first Countdown to Christmas movie was 2017’s Marry Me at Christmas. She played a wedding planner who meets her match in the dashing Johnny (Trevor Donovan), an action movie star who has hired her to plan his sister’s Christmas nuptials in the picturesque Sierra Nevada mountain town of Fool’s Gold.
Lyndsy Fonseca, Next Stop, Christmas
Lyndsy Fonseca has become a Hallmark staple. Her first Countdown to Christmas movie was 2021’s magical Next Stop, Christmas. When Angie (Fonseca) takes the train home for Christmas, she finds herself transported 10 years in the past.
Heather Hemmens, Christmas In My Heart
Heather Hemmens embraced a very musical role in her first Countdown to Christmas movie Christmas In My Heart. In the 2021 movie, a concert violinist (Hemmens) who tutors the daughter of a reclusive country music star (Macfarlane). Along the way, these two find connection and love through the power of music.
Jessy Schram, Road to Christmas
The Chicago Med star teamed up with Chad Michael Murray for her inaugural Countdown to Christmas movie Road to Christmas in 2018. The movie follows the love story between TV producer Maggie Baker (Jessy Schram) and Danny Wise, the former producer of his mother’s popular annual Christmas special Julia Wise Lifestyle.
