‘Good Witch’ Actor Is ‘Honored’ to Be Part of Show’s First LGBTQ Couple

Hallmark’s beloved series “The Good Witch” is currently in its seventh season. The latest season introduced a new character, Zoey Taylor, played by Kyana Teresa.

Teresa is part of the show’s first LGBTQ storyline. Her character Zoey recently started dating Joy Harper, played by Kat Barrell. In a recent episode, Joy and Zoey go on a date and walk hand-in-hand down the street.

In an episode of the Hallmarkies podcast, Teresa shared her thoughts on being part of this historic moment. “I’m extremely honored,” she said. “I can’t even describe how proud I am of this character.” Teresa added that portraying Joy and Taylor’s relationship properly was “a team effort.”

“We approached it with much care, much caution, much thought behind it,” she said on the podcast. Teresa also revealed that the character of Zoey was written with her in mind after the “Good Witch” team loved her audition for another character.

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Teresa Was Also in Hallmark’s First Hanukkah Movie

This isn’t Teresa’s first time making Hallmark history. She also appeared in the network’s first ever Hanukkah movie, “Double Holiday.” The film was written by Nina Weinman who celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.

In an interview with Variety, Weinman said, “We wanted to tell the story of this family celebrating Hanukkah against the backdrop of Christmas, as opposed to the Jewish person who has to assimilate to Christmas.”

She also responded to criticism that the movie should’ve focused solely on Hanukkah, without Christmas elements as well.

“For me, as a Jewish person who’s always wanted this, I’m so happy we get to do it. It never occurred to me that people would say, “Well, it’s not enough” — especially without having seen it. We get to do it, and for me, that’s what I was very thankful for,” Weinman said.

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Teresa Has a New Hallmark Christmas Movie Coming This Year

While a guest on the Hallmarkies podcast, Teresa revealed that she recently filmed a Hallmark Christmas movie called “A Sisterly Christmas” which will be coming out later this year. She joked about the challenges of filming a holiday movie during the summer.

“I was sweating, like, makeup had to be powdering me the entire time,” she said. “It’s long days, it’s multiple takes, and you’re just bundled up. It’s pretty brutal,” Teresa said, laughing.

She also shared a trick that movie-watchers can use to decipher whether their favorite Christmas movies were actually shot during the winter. “Watch to see if you can see their breath when they talk. If it was actually winter, there would be breath,” Teresa said.

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Hallmark Has Had LGBTQ Storylines in the Past

This may be the first time “The Good Witch” has featured an LGBTQ couple, but it’s not new for Hallmark! The movie “The Christmas House” features a gay couple waiting for a call about adopting their first child together. Jonathan Bennett of “Christmas Made to Order” and Brad Harder of the “Aurora Teagarden” series portrayed the roles of Brandon and Jake.

Bennett told NBC News, “I’m proud of everyone at Hallmark Channel for making the holiday table bigger and more welcoming and warmer this year. It’s an honor to be part of the network’s progress.”

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