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The Hallmark Channel’s newest movie, “A Royal Corgi Christmas,” premieres on Friday, November 25, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. The movie stars Hunter King and Jordan Renzo. Read on to learn all about the cast (including who is cast as the sweet dog!) and where the movie was filmed.
The Corgi Star is Named Bonbon in Real Life
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Hallmark
The newest Countdown to Christmas movie is sure to melt your heart, since the star is a cute fur baby pup! Named Mistletoe in the movie, this Corgi’s real name is Bonbon (or “Candy” in French), according to Entertainment Weekly. The pup was trained for the movie by Sandra Strong, a veterinary nurse, dog trainer, and animal behaviorist, according to Entertainment Weekly.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Strong talked about how difficult it was to find the corgi stars because of a theft incident that happened earlier in Ireland, where they were filming.
“When we went to Ireland to try and get some corgis over there, no one would speak to us,” she said. “…It wasn’t until they realized that she [her colleague] was a Crufts judge that they would speak to us. Because about three weeks before we came over, a couple of litters of corgis had been stolen [in Ireland.] They thought we were trying to steal corgis for the film. So we got corgis literally at the last moment.”
Strong said Bonbon was trained from about 10 weeks of age and took to training really fast. But the other dogs in the movie were all show dogs, so training them was a bit tougher. However, she said Bonbon did have a few moments when he shied away from doing what he was supposed to because something on the set (like violin bows) scared him. Just training for a certain buffet scene took three to four weeks alone, she revealed.
‘A Royal Corgi Christmas’ Was Filmed in and around Dublin, Ireland
Hunter shared some pictures from Ireland while filming there.
“Dabbling in a bit of Dublin🍀💚” she wrote in one post.
Here’s another post she shared:
The castle seen in the trailer is the Ardgillan Castle, Distractify reported. This is actually a “country-styled house” built in the 18th century.
According to IMDB Pro, the movie took from June to August to finish, with filming kicking off on September 9.
FTIA revealed that although the movie was shot in Ireland, some pre-production took place in Vancouver, Canada.
Meet the Cast
Hallmark’s reads:
Crown Prince Edmond (Renzo) is a reluctant royal who returns home just before Christmas in anticipation of being named successor to the throne. To ingratiate himself to his mother the Queen (Susannah De Wrixon, “Innocent”), he gifts her with Mistletoe, a rambunctious Corgi pup in need of some serious training. After several doggy disasters, Edmond turns to Cecily (King),a canine behavior expert from America for help. To his great surprise, Cecily insists that he take an active part in the daily dog training sessions. As Prince Edmond and Cecily work together to get Mistletoe ready to present at the annual Christmas Ball, sparks begin to fly between them. Just as the precious pup captures their hearts, they discover that love can grow in the most unexpected places, leading each of them to question what they really want in life.
Hunter King stars as Cecily. According to her bio, she’s well-known for her role on “Life in Pieces,” and for her portrayal as Summer Newman on “Young and the Restless,” a part for which she was awarded two Daytime Emmys. King also starred in the film “A Girl Like Her.”
The most recent project that King has finished filming is the lead role in the independent film “Give Me Your Eyes.” She also played the lead role in the Hallmark movie “Hidden Gems,” along with the lead in “Nikki & Nora: Sister Sleuths” that aired on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Hunter recently signed a multi-picture deal with Hallmark and shared her excitement on Instagram.
“Thrilled to continue working with my Hallmark family! So many exciting things to come✨” she wrote.
About the Corgi movie, she shared: “I promise this one will get you in the holiday spirit, andddd may also leave you wanting about 10 puppies.”
Jordan Renzo, who plays Prince Edmond, starred as Charlie Brandon in “The Spanish Princess,” which airs on STARZ, his bio shared. Other recent credits include the film “Boys from County Hell,” the anthology series “Little America” on Apple TV+, and a featured role opposite Henry Cavill in “The Witcher,” which was a breakout hit for Netflix. Before this, Renzo was Matteusz in the British TV series “Class,” which was a spin-off of “Dr. Who.”
Also starring in the movie are:
- Frank Smith (Hobbs)
- Julie Lamberton (Princess Victoria)
- Susannah De Wrixon (Queen Portia)
- Shane Mark Lennon (Carrington)
- Sam McGovern (Jacob)
- Sharon Coade (Lady Edgebury)
- Ern McGathy (Gwen)
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