November 1, 2025 • 33 mins
Pam and Dawn welcome the talented Brianna Cohen to Christmas MuVies Spotlight for a fun and festive holiday conversation you won’t want to miss! 🎬 Brianna shares all about her two new UPtv holiday movies — A Royal Christmas Manor and Saving the Christmas Ranch — including what drew her to each story, her favorite on-set memories, and what she loves most about bringing heartwarming Christmas tales to life. She also opens up about her journey as an actress, the joy of connecting with fans, and how these feel-good films celebrate the true spirit of the season. ✨ Tune in for this charming, laughter-filled, and inspiring conversation with Brianna Cohen — only on Christmas MuVies Spotlight with Pam & Dawn!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Hello, and welcome to the special edition of Christmas movie Spotlight.
I'm your host, Don Mac. I'm here with my friend,
colleague and co host, maybe in that order. I don't know. Hey, Pam,
how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's doing well? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
And I'll say how are you? But I just want
to add to that that anytime I'm here with you
is a good day.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
How's that all?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Even I get on your ever laugh nervously. The people
don't know how bad I get on your nerves off
the screen, off air, but no joking. Very sweet of
you to say thank you very much. So, and I
guess the way I said that my friend, co host,
I mean colleague and co host. It really is kind
of in that order because you're my bestie. Perse there
we go.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, so we are with you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Right, I mean I said it, Take it, don't question it,
and keep rolling right right. Well, I don't know about you.
Are you in the holiday spirit yet? I've just got
to ask because you haven't said by humbook lately, so
I'm just checking it.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, you know, I have to buy her. So we're
a little bit along. It's getting well.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I guess you are you kind of yeah, well, you know,
it's kind of hard to be in a grenchy kind
of mood because the holiday movies have started. They're off
and running now and and I'm I'm enjoying every one
of them so far. Uh, It's it's all been good.
And I have to tell you that our guests it
(01:56):
today's show.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
She's got two holiday move who.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I absolutely cannot wait to see. But I want to
talk a little bit about miss Brianna Cohen, who was
recently our guest, and when she came on the line,
She's one of these people that you immediately just have
a connection with. You feel like you've known her your
whole life. And when you have the back and forth
(02:24):
and you know, just the chit chat combo, it was
so familiar. It was like she was not a stranger
at all, like we had talked to her numerous times
or something. It was great and and I'm really I
was just so excited to hear about all about her
career and just these two movies that she's got coming out.
(02:44):
It's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Absolutely, I could see a chit chat and girl talk
on the phone maybe five hours like we do, but.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
But see and definitely somebody that you could invite to
go to dinner or drinks and just hang out and
have a fun evening full of laughs and great conversation,
and and you you'd leave better than you came. You know,
she just gives you that feeling, right exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
So we need to hang right in the meantime before
we can hang if we ever do. I mean, that's
always a dream of John and mine.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
La.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
We have some of the guests that we really want.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
I think we probably want to hang out with all
of them at least that's true.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That's true. Maybe we can somehow create a retreat and
have them all come right.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That would be everybody that interviewed.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, oh my god, there for six seasons. That would
be amazing. That would be amazing. It could be a
floating thing. They could float in, float out like a shower, right,
like a wed or a baby shower, and just you know,
come as you are and stay as long as you
If you can only stay five, that's great. We're we
we're glad to have you.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Come on.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Boy talking about a pipe dream.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, let's let's manifesting that one exactly. But in the meantime,
you can watch Brianna Cohen in two of up TV
holiday movies, as John said, and one is called Royal
Christmas Manner and that's on November ninth, and the other
one is Saving the Christmas Branch, which is on November sixteenth,
(04:20):
with one of our favorites, Jonathan Stadter.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Mm hmm. Absolutely. And we are so excited and honored
to bring you our interview with Brianna Cohen.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Enjoy the show.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Hi, this is Brianna and you're listening to Pam and Don.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Brianna, thank you so much for joining us today. We
truly truly appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Thank you so much. Now I'm honored to be here
with both of you.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Thank you. That's so sweet.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
You know, just before we went live and talking about things,
you were talking about your long ago liner that you
did for radio stations. So it kind of brings me
to my first question in what first inspired you to
pursue acting as a career. Was it something that you
discovered as a child or as an adult?
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Oh, yeah, it was definitely. I mean, and a lot
of a lot of actors will say this, but it's
it's it's true, you know, since I remember Jacob Alordi
said this one time he's like this, I've wanted to
be an actor since I remember remembering things. And there
was I think they were doing Tom Sawyer at my
local rec center and I just begged my mom to
(05:33):
let me try out. And I did like one or
two lines and Tom Sawyer and then we did like
a shortened version of Little Women and that was just it.
She was just oh, no, here we go.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
And then I did a musical Twitter and you know,
some voice over, and then I went to you know,
went into film.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
You know, it sounds like it didn't take any time
for you to get the acting bug and from there,
as they say, the rest is history. And that's a
great thing. So was the one thing going into acting
that you learned that really surprised you.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Going into acting in general or like film acting.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Well, either or or both that you were most surprised
by as you got into acting and and just started
pursuing projects and things of that nature.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah, I think one of one of the coolest things.
I mean, you know, it's it's not an easy business.
There's lots of ups and downs, there's lots of high
periods and low periods, but the community, leaning on the
community of actors and teachers and directors and kind of
(06:51):
the group of friends that I've picked up along the way,
especially within like the last ten years or five years
that I've been doing these TV movies has really been incredible.
And to see people, you know, rise, and see people
in their drought periods and just like be able to
celebrate with them and realize that, like it is kind
of a team sport. As alone as you can feel
sometimes you know, it's only you always, you know, mostly
(07:15):
going into the audition room, but it becomes really like
a team sport where you have these people that you
can really bounce stuff off of and work with and
celebrate wins and losses. And you know, I didn't I
guess know that because I didn't go to acting school,
like a classic you know, acting school. That I was
just like, wow, Like I can really form these amazing
(07:37):
friendships and like have these great relationships with people, you know,
like like teammates.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Right, especially when you do things like a soap opera
or a TV series or something like that, they actually
become like family to you.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Oh my goodness, they do because you're with them ten
fifteen hours a day, right, Right, things get a little
magnified because you know, you're like crying, you're kissing, you know,
you're all night, so you'd be it's like adult summer camp.
I always say, I'm well yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And you you know, m no, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Well another I mean cool thing that that I found.
I mean, on one of the Christmas movies that we did,
Saving the Christmas Ranch. I got to work with this
actor Don Stoddard, which I'm sure you're aware. We love
John and this was maybe our like fourth or fifth
movie together at the time, and the producer called both
of us up because you know, we were friends at
(08:41):
this point. He's like, look, we want to do this
crazy thing. We want to do this movie in eight days.
We have a really limited crew and cast, like will
you two just come and do it and we're just
going to plow through it and it's going to be
an experiment. It's going to be amazing. And we were
both like, you know, scared, but like, okay, let's do it.
And you know, John, we were like, oh, I'm so
glad it's you. You know, you and I are working
(09:02):
together because we we we already had a rapport, we
already had like a working group, trusted each other, you know,
and you know sometimes like and it took a minute
because we're always learning. But one time the director yelled
cut and he was like, that was just like a
real conversation. That was amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Well you're you're both pro so I could see that happening.
But eight days.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Wow, that's a short amount of time for a movie.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Mm hmmm. Yeah. I think soaps are even quicker sometimes
the way they work. But yeah, and it's just uh,
it's incredible experience and practice, and yeah, you do make
incredible bonds, you know, working under fire with these wonderful
people who are here doing what they love, just like you.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
So yeah, that's just true. Well, how do you keep
yourself creatively inspired when you're between Oh.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
That's a good question. Yeah. So I'm one of those,
like I don't want to say endlessly inspired, but I
mean I love my rest and I definitely rest a
lot when I'm when I'm not working, because you know,
once somebody says go, it can be a few days
and you're on you know, you're on set and it's
(10:22):
go time. But I'm also a writer and I am
actually starting to take my crack at some of these
TV movies myself and some Christmas movies. So yeah, I
love to spend time with my friends. And you know,
now a lot of my friends have these growing families
and babies, and you know, we we hang out and
(10:42):
I see my family and people watch and watch a
lot of film and TV, and I, you know, try
to go to the museums. You know, I'm right next
to Manhattan, and we try to just keep the juices flowing.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
You know, that sounds really exciting, and I mean it,
she acted, but yet you're doing it kind of at
your own pace where you know you're not on a
schedule per se, and and that's a good way to recharge,
you know, it's a good way indeed. So yeah, for sure.
(11:16):
And so you know, when you're in front of the camera,
do you have a ritual that you that you go
through before you step on set or in front of
the camera to just start filming?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
You know, when I did theater, I don't think I've
ever told this to anybody, but I think because the
song's kind of changing. But my mom is a huge
Bonnie Raate fan, and so am I, and we grew
up listening to her, and so I used to sing
this one Bonnie Raate song kind of in my head
and I wanted to always get through the whole thing
a sort of like this grounding meditation, and it kind
of connected me to like my roots and I love
(11:50):
her and I kind of was able to vocalize. You know,
I'm not singing out loud in front of people, but
in my head.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Right, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
But I'm like, you know, just this was my little
meditation moment, you know before. But but I'd like to
kind of do something like that or like you know,
block eyes with your your your partner, see partner and
be like, Okay, what are we what are we trying
to get here? What are we trying to do? And
we go.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I think pretty much most of the people have some
kind of ritual, even if it's just to pray right
before they go on. And I think that's awesome. No
matter what you do, whatever gets you into the headspace
that you need to be in, do it.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
In your head.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Totally.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Two of my favorites, Julianne Moore, I think, does this
thing where she just talks and she says she likes
to just be speaking to whoever's next to her so
that when they start rolling she's as comfortable in the
middle of a conversation and then she starts doing her lines,
which I think is really interesting. Oh wow, And I
think I've seen Scarlett Johanson do that as well, because
(13:00):
I'm I'm I'm five to two, and so is she.
So I've been her like stand in a bunch of
times incredibly and we have like the same like coloring
and stuff. But I've seen her do that, and yeah,
it is. It is pretty cool that like everybody kind
of has their own way to work or somebody else
I heard when she goes on theater particularly, she'll be
(13:22):
like and it goes something like this, you know, not
like trying to so that you don't get locked into
one way, all right, And it goes something like this,
and then she goes.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
That's pretty cool. I like that.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Well, I've watched you in a ton of movies on
a different channel in the park all the time. What's
your favorite thing about doing these psychological thriller movies. I mean,
I love watching them because I love being on the
edge of my seat, But what's your favorite part of it?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Yeah, you know, it's so it is fun to play
with high stakes. It can get exhausting, but it is
really fun and I do love kind of getting into
I always say, if I wasn't an actor, I'd definitely
be like a psychologist or a therapist at some point
because part of for me, I mean, I love doing
the prep work and why do you think you know
(14:17):
this is what's going on or what would lead my
character to make these decisions. That's always like really fun
back end work to do. But yeah, I like that.
I like playing with the high stakes and you know,
kind of just disappearing into that world. And yeah, it's fun.
It gets people's blood pumping, I guess right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yes it does. And one thing I've always been curious
about when an actor is in and the high stakes environment,
you know, playing a role such as that in a
psychological thriller, how do you when you when the director
says cut and you've been a character in that intense,
high energy, you know, just high angst, how do you shift?
(14:59):
And Brianna again, No.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
That's a great question because it's something that a lot
of people have. There's no there's You're supposed a lot
of people have problems with it. And it's something as
well that we're kind of taught as actors, well, you
should really be able to keep it separate. But I
mean we're humans, right, and if I'm putting my body
in a situation where I'm breathing or I'm crying or
(15:25):
i'm you know, we're running, I mean part of you,
I think part of your brain thinks that that's true.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Right. So, I mean you.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Definitely have like an adrenaline thing that that kicks in.
And sometimes even you know, the few weeks after you
kind of like especially these movies that happen so fast
and then they're over, and so sometimes it does take
like there's like an integration period kind of after when
you get home you're like, oh, wow, did that just happen? Oh,
I'm not you know so and so and you know,
(15:52):
note like in a concerning way. But you know, there's definitely,
like they call it like a show, a show come down.
You know, it's like getting off a roller coaster and
kind of getting your your sea legs back under you.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, I imagine it would you know, the fight or
flight would take a little bit to get out of
your system because you've been in character mode and and
then your you know, your brain realizing okay, I'm really
not in danger, I can relax. But you know, it's
it's kind of a psyche thing I would think that
I would have to overcome.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well, sometimes I'll have like a phantom I have like
a phantom microphone problems. You know, they keep us miked up,
and sometimes you know, you want to make you know,
your bosses are listening on the other end, so you
want to make sure always you're not.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Getting it to get trouble.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
So sometimes I'll just like I'll be in the back
of a car, or I'll be walking and I'll like
say something, or I'll i'll like feel for my mic
and I'm like, oh, I'm not working right now. I
don't have I'm not miked up.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
So it has many So what you're saying is that
it has many layers, from the character, to the to
the behind the scenes, you know, the whole nine. But well,
aside from your psychological thrillers, which you know, Pam loves,
I've seen and they're just great. We also, because this
is the whole premise of our show, we love Christmas movies,
(17:13):
and you are going to be in two different Christmas
movies this holiday season, which we are so excited about.
And one is a royal Christmas manner, and the other
is Saving the Christmas Ranch. And can you share a
little bit about your movies without giving too much away?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Absolutely? Absolutely, So I got lucky. I have to say,
Saving the Christmas Branch was actually made a year ago
and it got pushed for some reason. And it's a fabulous,
fabulous movie. I'm so excited for it. So we just
it just turned out that I have these two kind
of back to back, which is such a blessing and
so exciting. But Saving the Christmas Branch is with stars
(17:58):
me and John's daughter, the incredible And I have a family,
a family ranch that that is going in risk of
being foreclosed on or going to foreclosure. And and I
didn't know that we were in in this this mess.
So it's just me and my grandparents and we're running
(18:19):
this ranch. And John's this developer and he comes in
and he, you know, is trying to get me to sell.
And of course, you know, there's this whole push and
pull of me trying to make it work and and John,
you know, trying to make the business side real clear.
And you know, we obviously it's an opposite attract sort
of uh situation. And I think we still have each
(18:40):
other saved in our phones as he's annoying developer guy
and I'm stubborn Christmas lady.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah, but yeah, but.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
That was a really fun one. It was so cold,
it was that was the one we filmed, you know,
in eight days, and we were out in Ohio and
it was just it was this really kind of intimate
kind of drill of a of a movie. We're supposed
to get reindeer, but the reindeer were molting, So I
hope there's a cgi reindeer in it now. And yeah,
(19:10):
and and there's a really nice relationship between me and
my grandmother. And you know, my grandmother on my mom's
side was like my she just did Christmas to the
nines every every year. So it was kind of special
to think about her and you know, and do this,
do this ranch movie. And then we have Royal Christmas Manor,
(19:32):
which actually we filmed in Bulgaria, which was so cool.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Yeah, so that was a whole you know, that was
that was like a bucket list thing to be able
to go out there and film there. It was so
so cool and everybody was so kind. But so this
is a family owned inn called the Fredonia Inn, and
her whole life her family's ran this inn, and her
(19:58):
parents leave for the Christmas holiday for the fever on
her own for the first time, and this very cute
European couple. She thinks that these two lovely gentlemen show
up and they all get stuck together in this snowstorm,
but she doesn't realize that they're just they're just friends,
(20:19):
and a beautiful little love story develops from that kind
of miscommunication and they're snowed in together and it's really
romantic and the food and the clothes look scrumptious, all
of it. Yeah, we had a snow giant snow machine
we got to, you know, put out in the fields
(20:41):
in Bulgaria and it was just like one of those
pinch me moments. That was just really special.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, John and I love on location movies like that,
I mean, because it's something that, of course we would
like to see in person someday, but who knows if
we'll ever get there, so at least we can live
for you guys, maybe would you do that?
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Yeah? Our writer Amy Irons, she was there with her husband.
She came and visited and she was in She was
an extra in a few scenes in the background, she
was a hotel guest much. Yeah, so they got to
they got to be a part of it in more
ways than one.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Well, we're looking forward to both of them so much.
I can't even begin to tell you. Is it December yet?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Oh? This is a start, So that's a good thing.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Yeah, we don't have to wait till December. I think
it's November.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Yeah, now that you've gotten your feet wet, actually, I
think even more than that. You're up to your knees
now in acting.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
How is your hands? Your journey in the industry shaped
you personally? Oh?
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Wow, you're not throwing the easy questions at me today,
are you? You know?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
I think.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
I you know, I always think that the greatest success
usually comes we're taught that, you know, you have to
work hard. Obviously, things take hard t take hard work, right,
But it's like when you're kind of when you have
something that you love and something maybe that you're naturally
inclined to do, and you work hard at it. You know,
(22:21):
it's like I've seen all of these you know, myself
and all of these other friends and colleagues I have.
It's like, you there's a place for you in the industry,
you know what I mean, at any level if you
if you really love it and you really work on
work on it. And I think that it's given me
a lot of a lot of trust in trusting myself
(22:47):
and my and my instincts. And because you know, you
grow up and my parents aren't in the arts, and
you know, I didn't really start acting until my mid
twenties or later. And you know, it's like everybody says, oh,
you know, it's so hard, so this, and it is,
it very much is. But I believe that you find
your people, you know, and you find the things that
(23:08):
that you resonate with and that other people you know,
find you resonate with. And so I just guess it
just let me trust myself more and say, oh, I
can have a life that's fun and it's okay.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Absolutely and yeah, and you know, I think that is
really with anything that you do, you have to trust
yourself and your instincts. And that is so key because
it helps guide you really where you're meant to be
and where you're supposed to go. And and you know,
as they say, anything worth having, you've got to work
hard for it. But the rewards are just immense. They're great,
(23:46):
you know, and so it's something to always think about
it kind of. I think for me personally, it keeps
me grounded, I know, with Pam and I with all
the behind the scenes stuff that we do. It's it,
you know, it does kind of it's a reality check,
but it's a good one, you know, kind of reminds
you why you love doing what you do. And that's
a good thing.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Right right, because you do have to do those late
night calls. I'm sure you guys do scheduling and question
you know, writing your questions right and all that stuff. Yeah,
it takes dedication and you know, I think you you
got to push yourself. But if you love it, it doesn't
feel like work, right sometimes?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
So true?
Speaker 1 (24:27):
That is so true. Well, what's one moment on the
set where things didn't go according to plan but it
turned into something memorable or even better than was scripted?
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Oh okay, Well, we had one one kind of debacle
that happened during Saving the Christmas Ranch. We're supposed to
get this snowstorm and or sorry or we were supposed
to have good weather, but we got a snowstorm and
we had one day scheduled and again we're on a
(25:00):
you know, an eight day schedule, so there's really no room.
And they said, okay, we're switching the days. We're going
to do tomorrow today and you know today tomorrow. And
we said, and it's like eight degrees out, you know
what I mean, And we're all in this little yort
with one heater, like all huddled up, and they're like,
here's fifteen pages for today that was supposed to be tomorrow.
I had like a three page monologue and John had
(25:21):
like no lines and he's sitting there giggling, I'll get you.
But it ended up we had all these extras, local
extras come in, like a lot of them actually showed up,
like twenty five, and we filled this room and we
had like the big emotional scene at the end where
you know, she's doing this kind of last ditch effort
(25:42):
to save the ranch. There's this big auction and then
they have the nice romantic scene, you know, where she
and John come together, and it was just it ended
up being I mean, and I'm sure you've heard this
a lot of times, but like filmmaking is magical and
that's another reason why I love it. And you have
to trust in that there's so many times where I'm like, oh,
(26:03):
this outfit's not working, or you know, maybe that line
da da da, and you do it and then you
see it back and you're like, WHOA, I really can
trust the people around me, and I can really trust that,
like if I just show up and do my job,
that like magic's going to happen if I'm in the
moment and I'm trusting the people around me, And it
always does, and I'm always delighted by it. It's like
(26:26):
it's one of those never fail sort of things. Anna,
I know, I'm going to go to sleep tonight and
think of five more examples.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Yeah, basically you got to go. It's a flow and
expect the unexpected, right and yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
And that's okay, like and that and like I know
some people, you know, everybody works differently, and you know,
sometimes you can get in your head like, oh but
this isn't how I thought it was going to go.
But it's like that again. It's like you get in
the toboggan and you just.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Go exactly great.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Yeah, what's one fun fact about you that your fans
might not know.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
I was an art history major and my father had
it was an art deal, like an art had an
art gallery, and we just love going to the museums together.
And I saw Kristen Dunce recently talk about how that
she loves painting and how that kind of over flows
into her work and and I can see that, So
I don't know, maybe that I can't do any tricks unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yeah me, well for what it's worth, and either can Pamana,
So we're.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Those fun party tricks or like can put their tongue.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, yeah, the same same.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
But about my girlfriends, were you guys girlfriends before and
like we're like, we both love these movies. Let's do
this podcast or how did you start?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
You know, it's really funny. Pam lives in Chicago and
I live in North Carolina and we met on social
media at like almost fifteen years ago. She was doing
a podcast. I was doing podcasting and radio just you know, Internet,
and I stumbled upon the podcast she was on, and
you know, really started listening, kind of became a fan
(28:24):
of the podcast, and then one thing led to another.
We just started kind of talking off air and we've
been best friends ever since. But the one thing our
fans don't know for the most part, is that we've
never met in person in all the years we've known
each other.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I love it social media online friends. They're just as
good as and better.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I would attest that it's better. But it's so weird,
you know. You would think we talk every single day,
sometimes for hours, and especially when we're punning our show.
It could be quite long conversations because we're planning and stuff.
But we never get tired of each other. We never
get aggravated. Like it's really just a great thing, Pam.
(29:05):
I will send you the check later for all the
things I.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Just said about.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, before we wrap up, we always like to play
a fun little lightning round. It's five questions, there are
no wrong answers, and it's really quick. So the first
question is do you prefer a fake tree or a
real tree?
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Real tree?
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Okay? Do you prefer matching ornaments or mix and match?
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Mix and match?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
All right? So do you prefer snow for Christmas? Or
do you prefer beach weather which's sunny and warm?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
You know, I've never experienced a beach Christmas. I'm gonna
say snow, but I could get back to you next year.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
We threw that. We threw that question in there. Because
of North Carolina. We can have seventy five on Christmas
Day some years, and then it could be a below
another the next year. It's just there's no reason to
rhyme for our weather. It's just we get four seasons
in the same week most of the time, so we
thought that would be fun. Okay, So do you defer once.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
In my life?
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Right?
Speaker 2 (30:10):
We have to?
Speaker 1 (30:11):
That is that's true. Just come to North Carolina and
you'll get it. I love it probably more often than not, honestly.
So do you prefer Christmas in July through December or
only in December? Like only during the real holiday.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Season July through December. There's no right time for Christmas.
It's always fun, that's me.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Pam is more of a December one to December twenty
six is fine, and I'm good, right right.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
I understand that too, because then you kind of keep it,
you don't. It's like good things in small packages, you know,
you get right right, it doesn't get boring.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah. And the last question, one thing you have to
find in your stocking.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Chocolate?
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, that is that is definitely I must.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I think ninety nine point ninety percent of the world
would answer chocolate.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
So it's almost like it's not Christmas morning without chocolate
in your stocking.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I mean chocolates. Nobody wants to pull out a banana
or something, you know. You know what, maybe I'll.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Do that first this year and see what people say.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
That would be funny.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
You have to you know, or the or the Ferraro rochet?
Which ones do you guys like?
Speaker 1 (31:44):
In all? Let's just put it that way. They're all great,
can't go wrong.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Yeah, naturally at this time in my life, I have
to have sugar free.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
So okay, Okay, my dad too, I'm with it.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, yeah, happens. Anyways, Thank you so much for playing
our fun game. We hope you had fun. Anyhow.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
We enjoyed so much speaking with you today. You're a
hoot and we'd love to have you back one day
soon maybe next season, and uh all the best to
you and the rest of the year and the holiday
and so on.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Thank you so much, ladies, it was such a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Thank you alrighty bye bye bye bye.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Thank you so much for tuning in to our latest
episode of Christmas Movie Spotlight Don't Forget. You can find
our podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, iTunes, Sprinker, and more. Just
search Christmas Movie Spotlight Spilled m u v.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
I e Es For even more.
Speaker 5 (32:49):
Visit us online at Christmasmovie spotlight dot com. Follow us
on our social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Follow at
Christmas Movie Spotlight and on X five follow us at
Christmas Movies, which would be x M A S m
u v i e s. Until next time, stay merry
and we'll see you again real soon
Hello, and welcome to the special edition of Christmas movie Spotlight.
I'm your host, Don Mac. I'm here with my friend,
colleague and co host, maybe in that order. I don't know. Hey, Pam,
how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's doing well? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
And I'll say how are you? But I just want
to add to that that anytime I'm here with you
is a good day.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
How's that all?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Even I get on your ever laugh nervously. The people
don't know how bad I get on your nerves off
the screen, off air, but no joking. Very sweet of
you to say thank you very much. So, and I
guess the way I said that my friend, co host,
I mean colleague and co host. It really is kind
of in that order because you're my bestie. Perse there
we go.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, so we are with you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Right, I mean I said it, Take it, don't question it,
and keep rolling right right. Well, I don't know about you.
Are you in the holiday spirit yet? I've just got
to ask because you haven't said by humbook lately, so
I'm just checking it.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, you know, I have to buy her. So we're
a little bit along. It's getting well.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I guess you are you kind of yeah, well, you know,
it's kind of hard to be in a grenchy kind
of mood because the holiday movies have started. They're off
and running now and and I'm I'm enjoying every one
of them so far. Uh, It's it's all been good.
And I have to tell you that our guests it
(01:56):
today's show.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
She's got two holiday move who.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I absolutely cannot wait to see. But I want to
talk a little bit about miss Brianna Cohen, who was
recently our guest, and when she came on the line,
She's one of these people that you immediately just have
a connection with. You feel like you've known her your
whole life. And when you have the back and forth
(02:24):
and you know, just the chit chat combo, it was
so familiar. It was like she was not a stranger
at all, like we had talked to her numerous times
or something. It was great and and I'm really I
was just so excited to hear about all about her
career and just these two movies that she's got coming out.
(02:44):
It's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Absolutely, I could see a chit chat and girl talk
on the phone maybe five hours like we do, but.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
But see and definitely somebody that you could invite to
go to dinner or drinks and just hang out and
have a fun evening full of laughs and great conversation,
and and you you'd leave better than you came. You know,
she just gives you that feeling, right exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
So we need to hang right in the meantime before
we can hang if we ever do. I mean, that's
always a dream of John and mine.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
La.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
We have some of the guests that we really want.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
I think we probably want to hang out with all
of them at least that's true.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That's true. Maybe we can somehow create a retreat and
have them all come right.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That would be everybody that interviewed.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, oh my god, there for six seasons. That would
be amazing. That would be amazing. It could be a
floating thing. They could float in, float out like a shower, right,
like a wed or a baby shower, and just you know,
come as you are and stay as long as you
If you can only stay five, that's great. We're we
we're glad to have you.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Come on.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Boy talking about a pipe dream.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, let's let's manifesting that one exactly. But in the meantime,
you can watch Brianna Cohen in two of up TV
holiday movies, as John said, and one is called Royal
Christmas Manner and that's on November ninth, and the other
one is Saving the Christmas Branch, which is on November sixteenth,
(04:20):
with one of our favorites, Jonathan Stadter.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Mm hmm. Absolutely. And we are so excited and honored
to bring you our interview with Brianna Cohen.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Enjoy the show.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Hi, this is Brianna and you're listening to Pam and Don.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Brianna, thank you so much for joining us today. We
truly truly appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Thank you so much. Now I'm honored to be here
with both of you.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Thank you. That's so sweet.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
You know, just before we went live and talking about things,
you were talking about your long ago liner that you
did for radio stations. So it kind of brings me
to my first question in what first inspired you to
pursue acting as a career. Was it something that you
discovered as a child or as an adult?
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Oh, yeah, it was definitely. I mean, and a lot
of a lot of actors will say this, but it's
it's it's true, you know, since I remember Jacob Alordi
said this one time he's like this, I've wanted to
be an actor since I remember remembering things. And there
was I think they were doing Tom Sawyer at my
local rec center and I just begged my mom to
(05:33):
let me try out. And I did like one or
two lines and Tom Sawyer and then we did like
a shortened version of Little Women and that was just it.
She was just oh, no, here we go.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
And then I did a musical Twitter and you know,
some voice over, and then I went to you know,
went into film.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
You know, it sounds like it didn't take any time
for you to get the acting bug and from there,
as they say, the rest is history. And that's a
great thing. So was the one thing going into acting
that you learned that really surprised you.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Going into acting in general or like film acting.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Well, either or or both that you were most surprised
by as you got into acting and and just started
pursuing projects and things of that nature.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah, I think one of one of the coolest things.
I mean, you know, it's it's not an easy business.
There's lots of ups and downs, there's lots of high
periods and low periods, but the community, leaning on the
community of actors and teachers and directors and kind of
(06:51):
the group of friends that I've picked up along the way,
especially within like the last ten years or five years
that I've been doing these TV movies has really been incredible.
And to see people, you know, rise, and see people
in their drought periods and just like be able to
celebrate with them and realize that, like it is kind
of a team sport. As alone as you can feel
sometimes you know, it's only you always, you know, mostly
(07:15):
going into the audition room, but it becomes really like
a team sport where you have these people that you
can really bounce stuff off of and work with and
celebrate wins and losses. And you know, I didn't I
guess know that because I didn't go to acting school,
like a classic you know, acting school. That I was
just like, wow, Like I can really form these amazing
(07:37):
friendships and like have these great relationships with people, you know,
like like teammates.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Right, especially when you do things like a soap opera
or a TV series or something like that, they actually
become like family to you.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Oh my goodness, they do because you're with them ten
fifteen hours a day, right, Right, things get a little
magnified because you know, you're like crying, you're kissing, you know,
you're all night, so you'd be it's like adult summer camp.
I always say, I'm well yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And you you know, m no, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Well another I mean cool thing that that I found.
I mean, on one of the Christmas movies that we did,
Saving the Christmas Ranch. I got to work with this
actor Don Stoddard, which I'm sure you're aware. We love
John and this was maybe our like fourth or fifth
movie together at the time, and the producer called both
of us up because you know, we were friends at
(08:41):
this point. He's like, look, we want to do this
crazy thing. We want to do this movie in eight days.
We have a really limited crew and cast, like will
you two just come and do it and we're just
going to plow through it and it's going to be
an experiment. It's going to be amazing. And we were
both like, you know, scared, but like, okay, let's do it.
And you know, John, we were like, oh, I'm so
glad it's you. You know, you and I are working
(09:02):
together because we we we already had a rapport, we
already had like a working group, trusted each other, you know,
and you know sometimes like and it took a minute
because we're always learning. But one time the director yelled
cut and he was like, that was just like a
real conversation. That was amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Well you're you're both pro so I could see that happening.
But eight days.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Wow, that's a short amount of time for a movie.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Mm hmmm. Yeah. I think soaps are even quicker sometimes
the way they work. But yeah, and it's just uh,
it's incredible experience and practice, and yeah, you do make
incredible bonds, you know, working under fire with these wonderful
people who are here doing what they love, just like you.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
So yeah, that's just true. Well, how do you keep
yourself creatively inspired when you're between Oh.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
That's a good question. Yeah. So I'm one of those,
like I don't want to say endlessly inspired, but I
mean I love my rest and I definitely rest a
lot when I'm when I'm not working, because you know,
once somebody says go, it can be a few days
and you're on you know, you're on set and it's
(10:22):
go time. But I'm also a writer and I am
actually starting to take my crack at some of these
TV movies myself and some Christmas movies. So yeah, I
love to spend time with my friends. And you know,
now a lot of my friends have these growing families
and babies, and you know, we we hang out and
(10:42):
I see my family and people watch and watch a
lot of film and TV, and I, you know, try
to go to the museums. You know, I'm right next
to Manhattan, and we try to just keep the juices flowing.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
You know, that sounds really exciting, and I mean it,
she acted, but yet you're doing it kind of at
your own pace where you know you're not on a
schedule per se, and and that's a good way to recharge,
you know, it's a good way indeed. So yeah, for sure.
(11:16):
And so you know, when you're in front of the camera,
do you have a ritual that you that you go
through before you step on set or in front of
the camera to just start filming?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
You know, when I did theater, I don't think I've
ever told this to anybody, but I think because the
song's kind of changing. But my mom is a huge
Bonnie Raate fan, and so am I, and we grew
up listening to her, and so I used to sing
this one Bonnie Raate song kind of in my head
and I wanted to always get through the whole thing
a sort of like this grounding meditation, and it kind
of connected me to like my roots and I love
(11:50):
her and I kind of was able to vocalize. You know,
I'm not singing out loud in front of people, but
in my head.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Right, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
But I'm like, you know, just this was my little
meditation moment, you know before. But but I'd like to
kind of do something like that or like you know,
block eyes with your your your partner, see partner and
be like, Okay, what are we what are we trying
to get here? What are we trying to do? And
we go.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I think pretty much most of the people have some
kind of ritual, even if it's just to pray right
before they go on. And I think that's awesome. No
matter what you do, whatever gets you into the headspace
that you need to be in, do it.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
In your head.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Totally.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Two of my favorites, Julianne Moore, I think, does this
thing where she just talks and she says she likes
to just be speaking to whoever's next to her so
that when they start rolling she's as comfortable in the
middle of a conversation and then she starts doing her lines,
which I think is really interesting. Oh wow, And I
think I've seen Scarlett Johanson do that as well, because
(13:00):
I'm I'm I'm five to two, and so is she.
So I've been her like stand in a bunch of
times incredibly and we have like the same like coloring
and stuff. But I've seen her do that, and yeah,
it is. It is pretty cool that like everybody kind
of has their own way to work or somebody else
I heard when she goes on theater particularly, she'll be
(13:22):
like and it goes something like this, you know, not
like trying to so that you don't get locked into
one way, all right, And it goes something like this,
and then she goes.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
That's pretty cool. I like that.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Well, I've watched you in a ton of movies on
a different channel in the park all the time. What's
your favorite thing about doing these psychological thriller movies. I mean,
I love watching them because I love being on the
edge of my seat, But what's your favorite part of it?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Yeah, you know, it's so it is fun to play
with high stakes. It can get exhausting, but it is
really fun and I do love kind of getting into
I always say, if I wasn't an actor, I'd definitely
be like a psychologist or a therapist at some point
because part of for me, I mean, I love doing
the prep work and why do you think you know
(14:17):
this is what's going on or what would lead my
character to make these decisions. That's always like really fun
back end work to do. But yeah, I like that.
I like playing with the high stakes and you know,
kind of just disappearing into that world. And yeah, it's fun.
It gets people's blood pumping, I guess right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yes it does. And one thing I've always been curious
about when an actor is in and the high stakes environment,
you know, playing a role such as that in a
psychological thriller, how do you when you when the director
says cut and you've been a character in that intense,
high energy, you know, just high angst, how do you shift?
(14:59):
And Brianna again, No.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
That's a great question because it's something that a lot
of people have. There's no there's You're supposed a lot
of people have problems with it. And it's something as
well that we're kind of taught as actors, well, you
should really be able to keep it separate. But I
mean we're humans, right, and if I'm putting my body
in a situation where I'm breathing or I'm crying or
(15:25):
i'm you know, we're running, I mean part of you,
I think part of your brain thinks that that's true.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Right. So, I mean you.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Definitely have like an adrenaline thing that that kicks in.
And sometimes even you know, the few weeks after you
kind of like especially these movies that happen so fast
and then they're over, and so sometimes it does take
like there's like an integration period kind of after when
you get home you're like, oh, wow, did that just happen? Oh,
I'm not you know so and so and you know,
(15:52):
note like in a concerning way. But you know, there's definitely,
like they call it like a show, a show come down.
You know, it's like getting off a roller coaster and
kind of getting your your sea legs back under you.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, I imagine it would you know, the fight or
flight would take a little bit to get out of
your system because you've been in character mode and and
then your you know, your brain realizing okay, I'm really
not in danger, I can relax. But you know, it's
it's kind of a psyche thing I would think that
I would have to overcome.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well, sometimes I'll have like a phantom I have like
a phantom microphone problems. You know, they keep us miked up,
and sometimes you know, you want to make you know,
your bosses are listening on the other end, so you
want to make sure always you're not.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Getting it to get trouble.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
So sometimes I'll just like I'll be in the back
of a car, or I'll be walking and I'll like
say something, or I'll i'll like feel for my mic
and I'm like, oh, I'm not working right now. I
don't have I'm not miked up.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
So it has many So what you're saying is that
it has many layers, from the character, to the to
the behind the scenes, you know, the whole nine. But well,
aside from your psychological thrillers, which you know, Pam loves,
I've seen and they're just great. We also, because this
is the whole premise of our show, we love Christmas movies,
(17:13):
and you are going to be in two different Christmas
movies this holiday season, which we are so excited about.
And one is a royal Christmas manner, and the other
is Saving the Christmas Ranch. And can you share a
little bit about your movies without giving too much away?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Absolutely? Absolutely, So I got lucky. I have to say,
Saving the Christmas Branch was actually made a year ago
and it got pushed for some reason. And it's a fabulous,
fabulous movie. I'm so excited for it. So we just
it just turned out that I have these two kind
of back to back, which is such a blessing and
so exciting. But Saving the Christmas Branch is with stars
(17:58):
me and John's daughter, the incredible And I have a family,
a family ranch that that is going in risk of
being foreclosed on or going to foreclosure. And and I
didn't know that we were in in this this mess.
So it's just me and my grandparents and we're running
(18:19):
this ranch. And John's this developer and he comes in
and he, you know, is trying to get me to sell.
And of course, you know, there's this whole push and
pull of me trying to make it work and and John,
you know, trying to make the business side real clear.
And you know, we obviously it's an opposite attract sort
of uh situation. And I think we still have each
(18:40):
other saved in our phones as he's annoying developer guy
and I'm stubborn Christmas lady.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah, but yeah, but.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
That was a really fun one. It was so cold,
it was that was the one we filmed, you know,
in eight days, and we were out in Ohio and
it was just it was this really kind of intimate
kind of drill of a of a movie. We're supposed
to get reindeer, but the reindeer were molting, So I
hope there's a cgi reindeer in it now. And yeah,
(19:10):
and and there's a really nice relationship between me and
my grandmother. And you know, my grandmother on my mom's
side was like my she just did Christmas to the
nines every every year. So it was kind of special
to think about her and you know, and do this,
do this ranch movie. And then we have Royal Christmas Manor,
(19:32):
which actually we filmed in Bulgaria, which was so cool.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Yeah, so that was a whole you know, that was
that was like a bucket list thing to be able
to go out there and film there. It was so
so cool and everybody was so kind. But so this
is a family owned inn called the Fredonia Inn, and
her whole life her family's ran this inn, and her
(19:58):
parents leave for the Christmas holiday for the fever on
her own for the first time, and this very cute
European couple. She thinks that these two lovely gentlemen show
up and they all get stuck together in this snowstorm,
but she doesn't realize that they're just they're just friends,
(20:19):
and a beautiful little love story develops from that kind
of miscommunication and they're snowed in together and it's really
romantic and the food and the clothes look scrumptious, all
of it. Yeah, we had a snow giant snow machine
we got to, you know, put out in the fields
(20:41):
in Bulgaria and it was just like one of those
pinch me moments. That was just really special.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, John and I love on location movies like that,
I mean, because it's something that, of course we would
like to see in person someday, but who knows if
we'll ever get there, so at least we can live
for you guys, maybe would you do that?
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Yeah? Our writer Amy Irons, she was there with her husband.
She came and visited and she was in She was
an extra in a few scenes in the background, she
was a hotel guest much. Yeah, so they got to
they got to be a part of it in more
ways than one.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Well, we're looking forward to both of them so much.
I can't even begin to tell you. Is it December yet?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Oh? This is a start, So that's a good thing.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Yeah, we don't have to wait till December. I think
it's November.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Yeah, now that you've gotten your feet wet, actually, I
think even more than that. You're up to your knees
now in acting.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
How is your hands? Your journey in the industry shaped
you personally? Oh?
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Wow, you're not throwing the easy questions at me today,
are you? You know?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
I think.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
I you know, I always think that the greatest success
usually comes we're taught that, you know, you have to
work hard. Obviously, things take hard t take hard work, right,
But it's like when you're kind of when you have
something that you love and something maybe that you're naturally
inclined to do, and you work hard at it. You know,
(22:21):
it's like I've seen all of these you know, myself
and all of these other friends and colleagues I have.
It's like, you there's a place for you in the industry,
you know what I mean, at any level if you
if you really love it and you really work on
work on it. And I think that it's given me
a lot of a lot of trust in trusting myself
(22:47):
and my and my instincts. And because you know, you
grow up and my parents aren't in the arts, and
you know, I didn't really start acting until my mid
twenties or later. And you know, it's like everybody says, oh,
you know, it's so hard, so this, and it is,
it very much is. But I believe that you find
your people, you know, and you find the things that
(23:08):
that you resonate with and that other people you know,
find you resonate with. And so I just guess it
just let me trust myself more and say, oh, I
can have a life that's fun and it's okay.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Absolutely and yeah, and you know, I think that is
really with anything that you do, you have to trust
yourself and your instincts. And that is so key because
it helps guide you really where you're meant to be
and where you're supposed to go. And and you know,
as they say, anything worth having, you've got to work
hard for it. But the rewards are just immense. They're great,
(23:46):
you know, and so it's something to always think about
it kind of. I think for me personally, it keeps
me grounded, I know, with Pam and I with all
the behind the scenes stuff that we do. It's it,
you know, it does kind of it's a reality check,
but it's a good one, you know, kind of reminds
you why you love doing what you do. And that's
a good thing.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Right right, because you do have to do those late
night calls. I'm sure you guys do scheduling and question
you know, writing your questions right and all that stuff. Yeah,
it takes dedication and you know, I think you you
got to push yourself. But if you love it, it doesn't
feel like work, right sometimes?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
So true?
Speaker 1 (24:27):
That is so true. Well, what's one moment on the
set where things didn't go according to plan but it
turned into something memorable or even better than was scripted?
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Oh okay, Well, we had one one kind of debacle
that happened during Saving the Christmas Ranch. We're supposed to
get this snowstorm and or sorry or we were supposed
to have good weather, but we got a snowstorm and
we had one day scheduled and again we're on a
(25:00):
you know, an eight day schedule, so there's really no room.
And they said, okay, we're switching the days. We're going
to do tomorrow today and you know today tomorrow. And
we said, and it's like eight degrees out, you know
what I mean, And we're all in this little yort
with one heater, like all huddled up, and they're like,
here's fifteen pages for today that was supposed to be tomorrow.
I had like a three page monologue and John had
(25:21):
like no lines and he's sitting there giggling, I'll get you.
But it ended up we had all these extras, local
extras come in, like a lot of them actually showed up,
like twenty five, and we filled this room and we
had like the big emotional scene at the end where
you know, she's doing this kind of last ditch effort
(25:42):
to save the ranch. There's this big auction and then
they have the nice romantic scene, you know, where she
and John come together, and it was just it ended
up being I mean, and I'm sure you've heard this
a lot of times, but like filmmaking is magical and
that's another reason why I love it. And you have
to trust in that there's so many times where I'm like, oh,
(26:03):
this outfit's not working, or you know, maybe that line
da da da, and you do it and then you
see it back and you're like, WHOA, I really can
trust the people around me, and I can really trust that,
like if I just show up and do my job,
that like magic's going to happen if I'm in the
moment and I'm trusting the people around me, And it
always does, and I'm always delighted by it. It's like
(26:26):
it's one of those never fail sort of things. Anna,
I know, I'm going to go to sleep tonight and
think of five more examples.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Yeah, basically you got to go. It's a flow and
expect the unexpected, right and yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
And that's okay, like and that and like I know
some people, you know, everybody works differently, and you know,
sometimes you can get in your head like, oh but
this isn't how I thought it was going to go.
But it's like that again. It's like you get in
the toboggan and you just.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Go exactly great.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Yeah, what's one fun fact about you that your fans
might not know.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
I was an art history major and my father had
it was an art deal, like an art had an
art gallery, and we just love going to the museums together.
And I saw Kristen Dunce recently talk about how that
she loves painting and how that kind of over flows
into her work and and I can see that, So
I don't know, maybe that I can't do any tricks unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yeah me, well for what it's worth, and either can Pamana,
So we're.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Those fun party tricks or like can put their tongue.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, yeah, the same same.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
But about my girlfriends, were you guys girlfriends before and
like we're like, we both love these movies. Let's do
this podcast or how did you start?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
You know, it's really funny. Pam lives in Chicago and
I live in North Carolina and we met on social
media at like almost fifteen years ago. She was doing
a podcast. I was doing podcasting and radio just you know, Internet,
and I stumbled upon the podcast she was on, and
you know, really started listening, kind of became a fan
(28:24):
of the podcast, and then one thing led to another.
We just started kind of talking off air and we've
been best friends ever since. But the one thing our
fans don't know for the most part, is that we've
never met in person in all the years we've known
each other.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I love it social media online friends. They're just as
good as and better.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I would attest that it's better. But it's so weird,
you know. You would think we talk every single day,
sometimes for hours, and especially when we're punning our show.
It could be quite long conversations because we're planning and stuff.
But we never get tired of each other. We never
get aggravated. Like it's really just a great thing, Pam.
(29:05):
I will send you the check later for all the
things I.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Just said about.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, before we wrap up, we always like to play
a fun little lightning round. It's five questions, there are
no wrong answers, and it's really quick. So the first
question is do you prefer a fake tree or a
real tree?
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Real tree?
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Okay? Do you prefer matching ornaments or mix and match?
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Mix and match?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
All right? So do you prefer snow for Christmas? Or
do you prefer beach weather which's sunny and warm?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
You know, I've never experienced a beach Christmas. I'm gonna
say snow, but I could get back to you next year.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
We threw that. We threw that question in there. Because
of North Carolina. We can have seventy five on Christmas
Day some years, and then it could be a below
another the next year. It's just there's no reason to
rhyme for our weather. It's just we get four seasons
in the same week most of the time, so we
thought that would be fun. Okay, So do you defer once.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
In my life?
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Right?
Speaker 2 (30:10):
We have to?
Speaker 1 (30:11):
That is that's true. Just come to North Carolina and
you'll get it. I love it probably more often than not, honestly.
So do you prefer Christmas in July through December or
only in December? Like only during the real holiday.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Season July through December. There's no right time for Christmas.
It's always fun, that's me.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Pam is more of a December one to December twenty
six is fine, and I'm good, right right.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
I understand that too, because then you kind of keep it,
you don't. It's like good things in small packages, you know,
you get right right, it doesn't get boring.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah. And the last question, one thing you have to
find in your stocking.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Chocolate?
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, that is that is definitely I must.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I think ninety nine point ninety percent of the world
would answer chocolate.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
So it's almost like it's not Christmas morning without chocolate
in your stocking.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I mean chocolates. Nobody wants to pull out a banana
or something, you know. You know what, maybe I'll.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Do that first this year and see what people say.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
That would be funny.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
You have to you know, or the or the Ferraro rochet?
Which ones do you guys like?
Speaker 1 (31:44):
In all? Let's just put it that way. They're all great,
can't go wrong.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Yeah, naturally at this time in my life, I have
to have sugar free.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
So okay, Okay, my dad too, I'm with it.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, yeah, happens. Anyways, Thank you so much for playing
our fun game. We hope you had fun. Anyhow.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
We enjoyed so much speaking with you today. You're a
hoot and we'd love to have you back one day
soon maybe next season, and uh all the best to
you and the rest of the year and the holiday
and so on.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Thank you so much, ladies, it was such a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Thank you alrighty bye bye bye bye.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Thank you so much for tuning in to our latest
episode of Christmas Movie Spotlight Don't Forget. You can find
our podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, iTunes, Sprinker, and more. Just
search Christmas Movie Spotlight Spilled m u v.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
I e Es For even more.
Speaker 5 (32:49):
Visit us online at Christmasmovie spotlight dot com. Follow us
on our social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Follow at
Christmas Movie Spotlight and on X five follow us at
Christmas Movies, which would be x M A S m
u v i e s. Until next time, stay merry
and we'll see you again real soon
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