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Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is kicking off a brand new series of mystery movies tonight, Sunday, January 27, at 9 p.m. Eastern with Mystery 101. The movie will then air reruns on February 2 at 9 p.m. Eastern, February 14 at 9 p.m., and February 24 at 7 p.m. Eastern. Read on to learn more about this new series. If you’d like to join a discussion after you watch the movie and share what you thought, join us on the Reddit discussion thread here in the Hallmark Fans group, or send a tweet to the author of this story.
The new series stars Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha. The synopsis reads: “When a college student is found dead, English professor Amy uses her crime fiction expertise to unravel the case faster than detective Travis, who ends up working with Amy to catch the killer.” The movie was filmed in Canada, including the University of the Fraser Valley. Read more about where the movie was filmed and the cast below.
The Movie Was Filmed in Canada
Just like the movie that premiered last night on the Hallmark Channel (SnowComing), parts of tonight’s movie were also filmed in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada, as you can see from tags on behind-the-scenes Instagram photos shared by Jill Wagner.
Squamish is north of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It’s a small town surrounded by mountains and a granite monolith. It has a population of 19,512 as of 2016. Some residents like to call Squamish the “Hollywood of Canada.”
Parts of the movie were also filmed in Vancouver.
Here are more behind-the-scenes pictures in Vancouver.
Some college scenes were filmed at the University of the Fraser Valley‘s biology lab (the movie was originally called Mystery U.) UFV is located east of Vancouver and enrolls about 15,000 students a year.
It was pretty amazing seeing our Biology lab transformed for the upcoming #Hallmark movie #MysteryU @goufv @UFVConfServe
#Hallmark movie #MysteryU filming at @goUFV today. #Abbotsford #arts #film @creativebcs
Other college scenes were filmed at Quest University in Canada. Quest is located in Squamish, British Columbia.
Quest feels like Hollywood North today as Hallmark films the movie “Mystery U” on campus. #QuestUniversityCanada #QuestUniversity #YourQuest #CuriosityRequired #Squamish #Hallmark #MysteryU
From this Instagram post, it also appears that some scenes were filmed in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
‘Mystery 101’ Cast Details
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Jill Wagner stars as Amy. In April she starred in Hallmark’s Pearl in Paradise. She was also in the 2017 Hallmark Christmas movie, Maggie’s Christmas Miracle. This year she starred in Christmas in Evergreen 2. Wagner has a long list of credits to her name, including Handcrafted America, Wipeout, A Harvest Wedding, Teen Wolf, Wolf Watch, Christmas Cookies, Autumn Dreams, Punk’d, Splinter, and more. She honors her father, a veteran, by traveling overseas to support the troops. She’s also involved in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and her own Jill’s Closet for a Cure, which has raised thousands.
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Kristoffer Polaha stars as Travis. He recently starred in Small Town Christmas on Hallmark in December. He also starred in Hallmark’s Pearl in Paradise in April. In 2016, he starred in Hallmark’s delightful Dater’s Handbook. His many other credits include Ballers (Jerry), Condor (Sam), Bachelor Lions, Rocky Mountain Christmas, Designated Survivor, Get Shorty (Jeffrey), Vineland, Hearts of Christmas, Castle (Caleb Brown), Stalker, Backstrom (Peter, 13 episodes), Dating in LA and Other Myths (Alex), Made in Jersey (Nolan, 7 episodes), Ringer (Nate, 26 episodes), Mad Men (Carlton), Dollhouse (Nate), The Ex List, Valentine (Danny, 8 episodes), Without a Trace, Miss Guided (Tim, 7 episodes), CSI Miami, North Shore (Jason, 21 episodes), Tru Calling (Mark), That’s Life, and more.
Crown MediaRobin Thomas, Jill Wagner, Kristoffer Polaha
Robin Thomas, pictured above, stars as Graham in the movie. His many credits include Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Marco for six episodes), Lethal Weapon TV series, Blue Bloods, Delirium, The Assassin’s Code, Con Man, Law & Order True Crime, Transparent, Zoo (Max Morgan, six episodes), Fuller House, Cleaners (Barry, six episodes), 90210, Switched at Birth (Dale), NCIS LA, Life Unexpected (Jack, eight episodes), Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, 24, Eleventh Hour, Bones, Damages (Martin), The Division (Louis, 11 episodes), Queer as Folk (Sam), The Practice, The Court, Murphy Brown (Jake Lowenstein), Party of Five, The Mommies (Paul, 24 episodes), Mr. President, Matlock (Burton, six episodes), Who’s the Boss? (Geoffrey, six episodes), Another World (Mark), and much more.
On Instagram, Polaha shared that Robin also played his father on the show Life Unexpected, so it was great to work with him while he played Jill Wagner’s father in this movie.
Crown MediaPreston Vanderslice, Sarah Dugdale, Kristoffer Polaha, Jill Wagner, Kareem Malcolm
Kareem Malcolm (pictured above) stars as Russ. His many credits include Poinsettias for Christmas, The Good Doctor, Supergirl, The Followers, and he’ll be appearing in the 2019 movie, Morning Show Mystery: Murder Most Fair.
Preston Vanderslice (pictured above) stars as Bud. His many credits include Small Town Christmas, Mingle All the Way, Cloak & Dagger, Cooking with Love, Past Malice, Garage Sale Mystery, Site Unseen, Destination Wedding, When We Rise, Little Pink House, Travelers, Young & Reckless (Mr. Hart), Operation Christmas, and much more.
Sarah Dugdale (pictured above) stars as Claire. Her many credits include The Bad Seed, The Age of Adulting, Ice, Supernatural, Aftermath (Sarah), Rush, The Secret Circle, R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, and more.
Matthew Harrison (pictured above) stars as Professor Stephen McDonough in tonight’s movie. Interestingly, he is also starring as the CEO of AOL on National Geographic’s Valley of the Boom tonight too.
Also starring in the movie are:
- Andy Thompson (Eldon)
- Iain Belcher (Josh)
- Louriza Tronco (Lacey)
- Ben Sullivan (Rex)
- Tosca Baggoo (Professor Morales)
- Aliyah O’Brien (Holly)
- Jan Bos (Dean Hawkins)
- Larissa Albuquerque (Britney)
- Matthew Harrison (Stephen McDonough)
- Derek Green (Chief Tate)
- Alvin Sanders (Professor Miller)
- Lossen Chambers (Tabitha)
- Daniel Chai (Mark Cudforth)
- Natalie Gibson (Ivy Minter)
- David Stuart (Jamison Mook)
- Favour Onwuka (Student #1)
- Kiera Klassen (Sister)
- Adil Zaidi (Tech #1)
- Isa Sanchez (Tech #2)
Questions or comments about the movie? Chat with the author of this article and other viewers on Twitter or on the Reddit discussion thread here, or join her email list to learn about the next Hallmark movies. Leave comments on the Reddit thread if you’d like to share your thoughts about the movie. Are you looking forward to seeing more movies in this series?