Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're on with Mario Lopez's.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Ebyon Mario Lopez and joining me right now on Zoom.
My longtime friend and former neighbor. Actually my girl, Jennifer,
love you and how are you good?
Speaker 3 (00:12):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm well, I'm very happy to be talking to you.
Speaker 4 (00:16):
I saw you fortunately just the other day, and my gosh,
it has been years, and now I get to see
you twice in one week.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I feel so blessed.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
We're back.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
We're back, We're back.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
And as soon as I get a handle of my schedule,
I have to go to New York and Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
That's a long story. And then and then I'll be back.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
In a very long flight. But I will hit you
up for some days to get together in person. Meanwhile,
you've got a new Christmas movie coming to Lifetime called
The Holiday Junkie, and this one you start with your
husband and I know some of your kids were in it, right,
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
If all of them were.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yes, it's a whole family.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Fair how family affair?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Now?
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Was this premise something you came up with or was
it presented to you?
Speaker 5 (00:58):
Nope, it was something that I came up with and
pitched to Lifetime to sort of it. It kind of
goes along loosely with my book that's out and it's
in honor of my mom.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
But also I really felt like it.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Was important to do a Christmas movie that had grief
in it because so many people feel pressure at the
holidays to be perfect and have everything be happy and
up and wonderful all the time, and it's not always
that way for people, and so we really wanted to
do a movie for people who are dealing with difficult
things at Christmas.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You're exactly right. It is very.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Sad for a lot of people because if they lost
a loved one, yeah, and stuff that's going on in
their life. So that's cool that you're addressing that. So
in the premise Holiday Junkie, you play a.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I am I'm assuming not a.
Speaker 6 (01:44):
Junkie, but holiday okay personing obsessed with the holidays, and
I am hired by families to create Christmas magic, whether
it be an itinerary or poor or whatever.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
And when I arrive, I find out that there is
a house manager that I did not know was going
to be there, played by my husband, who's also in
grief that Christmas because he was left at the altar,
and we sort of have to be forced together and
in that end up having a really beautiful, magical maybe
best Christmas ever.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
That is awesome, and I'm so glad we cleared it
up because it'd be hard to picture you as a
heroin addict that goes bonkers d the holidays.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So you know what, she shoots candy canes, candy canes.
That's the difference.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Fair enough.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
And I love that you wrote and sang a song
for the movie too. Tell me about that.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, it's called Christmas Magic.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
We have this like big dance scene and party scene
in the movie, and I was like, I want to
do something for this.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I want to write an original. So I did and
we recorded it and it's in the movie. And then
Nick and.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
I, who produced it and covered it with me, we
released it on Spotify and people have been using it
in their Instagram stories now and it's really cute.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
It's fun.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Well, when I post our throwback pick, I will be
using it as well.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
That is awesome.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
You have a beautiful voice, so that's very cool. You
mentioned your your book a moment ago, just in time
for Christmas. Of course, it'd be a great stalking stuff
for inheriting magic, and it a little more than just
a memoir. I know, you're paying homage to your mom,
who I absolutely loved.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
She loved you to do very much.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
She's a sweetheart.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Was that I got to imagine a therapeutic process as well.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
And it was it was I mean, I realized, like
eleven years into her passing that I hadn't really said
anything publicly about her. And I think it's because, unfortunately,
when she passed, I had a very long flight home
to not know at that point whether or not I
was going to.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
See her again or miss that goodbye.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
And when I arrived, the press had already known about
it because it had already hit everywhere before I landed,
which was like really hard for me, and so I
just for a long time didn't know what to say.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
And then one day I started writing about it, and
my husband was like.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
This is really beutiful stuff, and it feels like it's
not only good for you, but maybe now is the
time you say something, and this is the way that
you could say it, and it's like, just keep writing
and see what it turns into.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
And so it turned into this, you.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Know, sort of the beginning part of the book and
then I kind of go on from there. But yeah,
it was very therapeutic, and I feel much closer to
her and it's just been such a great time to
honor her this way.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
That's beautiful and I'm sure she's very proud looking at Love.
And of course you're still starting in the show nine
to one one on ABC as well. It's funny because
I think I've talked to just about everyone in the cast, but.
Speaker 6 (04:37):
You why was I left out?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I know something I said I was starting.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I was trying to take it personal.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Well me too.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Now, how long how long you've been doing that show Love?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Seven years?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Is that right?
Speaker 6 (04:53):
Yeah, it's been an eighth season, but I've been on
seven years.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
That's awesome. That's awesome. And for those who may not
be familiar, you play I.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
Play Maddie, who was a dispatcher on the show who
came into the show on the run from her abusive husband,
also played by my real life husband.
Speaker 7 (05:11):
Really, I love that terrible to me on that show
and she's now so she gets like this great love
story with one of the firefighters on the show, sort
of starts over and.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Yeah, she has a big storyline coming up when we
return in March.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Oh, that's awesome. Hey, I'm all about keeping it in
the family. That's that's right, that's great.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
And I know they're they're they're rebooting your your iconic film.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I know what you did last summer.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Have they possibly approached you about doing a cameo or
something or is it they have?
Speaker 7 (05:43):
They have?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
They have, they have.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
We've been talking about it for a very long time,
like a year, yes, basically, and we're super close, very
close to being able to make an announcement on whether
or not it's going to work out.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
So oh, I look forward to that too.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
I think I may have told you, but I think
that is like a perfect introductory film for teens in
the horror genre.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
My daughter is really into these.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Horror films and slasher films of that nature, and that's
those are the things we sort of those are our
movies we bond on.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
If I want to, she has to compass it.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Oh, absolutely, Oh, thank you so much. I'll take you
up how it goes, I will.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Take you home and that thank you. Speaking of kids,
I know you have three, just like me.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Girls boys are.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
My oldest is a girl, and then two boys.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Oh just like me. Yeah, girl and two boys right there.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Boys are wild, yeah they are, and girls are just
not as wild exactly.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well maybe they aren't their teenagers, but.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Oh yeah, oh no, no, well that's a different kind of
it's not so much wild just.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
And not so much with me. No, she's gonna be
like that with you.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Because I see my daughter and the moms, I'm sure
you can probably wait to let the get a whole.
It's the attitude and you go from mom to bruh
real quick.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Oh yeah. Anchist has tried.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
To call me bra and we're in a phase where
I'm explaining to him very firmly.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
That I am not brought Yeah, yeah, exactly. But my
boy in the UFC every night with my boys, what
are they?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
What are they into? Do you have him any sort
of activities?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
My daughter is like an amazing artist.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
She's also interested in acting and dancing and all that stuff.
Atticus is sports all the time, and the baby who's three,
is really amazing at sports. But he's also he also
loves to draw and do art, and he's an incredible dancer.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Nice.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
Yes, so I feel like maybe you should, you should
nurture that for him, and like, you know, push that
along because you're such a great dancer.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Thank you so much. Well, that and wrestling. I would
encourage your boys, yes, yeah, to do that.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I feel like Atticus would be amazing at wrestling.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yes, listen, I think it's it's it's wonderful for uh
for for young boys and teaches them discipline, confidence, all
the above, not to mention self defense, of course.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Uh well.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
I look forward to seeing you very much in person,
and meanwhile, be sure to catch Jennifer love Hewitt in
the Holiday Junkie on Lifetime.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yay, so great to see you again.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Good to see you have say, travels and call me
when you back.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Okay, we'll do it. Take care.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Bye with Mario Lopez