Hallmark Hallmark actress Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert, who’s starred in 35 films for the Hallmark Channel over the last 12 years, is ready to spread her wings by trying new things on the network. In an in-depth interview with Forbes, the actress revealed new Hallmark projects in the works for 2023, including a reality show and plotting a return to a TV series for the first time in two decades. Here’s what you need to know:
Lacey Chabert Excited About New Projects for Hallmark
HallmarkLacey Chabert and Kevin McGarry in “The Wedding Veil: Expectations”
After another successful holiday season that saw her Christmas comedy, “Haul Out the Holly,” score huge ratings for Hallmark, and with three new “Wedding Veil” movies premiering this month, co-starring Autumn Reeser and Alison Sweeney, Chabert said she’s ready to expand beyond the movies Hallmark fans love her for and take some new risks. As part of her exclusive deal with the media company, which she signed in February 2022, Chabert is not only acting in but also developing and producing projects for the channel; in fact, she’s the executive producer of the “Wedding Veil” movies.
“As I’ve gone on and done more and more, I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity Hallmark has given me,” Chabert told Forbes in an interview published on January 5, 2023. “It’s a very unique place in our business where it’s female-driven stories and we have the opportunity as actors to put on different hats and be a producer.”
Chabert told Forbes she’s grateful that Hallmark has allowed her to “have a larger voice in the creative process,” and revealed that this year that will include expanding Hallmark’s offerings.
“There’s a lot of other stuff at Hallmark that we’re looking to do,” she said. “I have an idea for a reality show that I hope we will see come to fruition very soon.”
She continued, “Having been in this business almost my whole life, it’s been a goal that has been realized to be on the other side of the storytelling. I’ve learned so much and I’ve been able to apply my 30+ years in this business to these movies.”
Chabert said she’ll both star in and produce the reality series but didn’t provide additional details. She added that she’d like to be part of a TV series again, given that it’s been over 20 years since she was on the hit show “Party of Five,” which ran from 1994 to 2000.
“I haven’t been on a weekly television show since ‘Party of Five,’ which was a very long time ago,” she said. “I love the experience of living with a character for an entire season and really getting to explore their arc. That’s something I really hope to do with Hallmark soon.”
Chabert’s Rise From Child Soap Star to ‘Queen of Hallmark’
Chabert began her television career in 1992 when she was cast as Bianca Montgomery in the long-running ABC soap “All My Children”. A year later, she starred as Young Cosette in the first run of the hit Broadway show “Les Misérables”.
“I was just kind of born to do this,” she said in a January 2022 interview on “LIVE with Kelly and Ryan”. “From theater to TV to films … I’ve really enjoyed all of it.”
Chabert’s breakout role came at age 12, when she was cast as young prodigy violinist Claudia Salinger in “Party of Five”. In a 1994 headline, the Los Angeles Times called Chabert “the sparkle that holds Fox’s ‘Party of Five’ together.”
The actor has spoken positively of her time on the series, telling Access Hollywood that the “Party of Five” cast “had so much fun together. I thought of my coworkers as family, truly, and we’re still very close.”
Chabert’s prolific Hallmark era began in 2010 when she starred as Liberty Taylor in the movie, “Elevator Girl”. In an interview for the Hallmark Channel, Chabert compared her first day working on a Hallmark set to “the first day of school.”
“The first day I came to the set I hadn’t met a soul,” she said. “So, it’s like the first day of school, you’re nervous, you’re trying to feel everyone out, and get into the character.”
But after starring in dozens of titles for the family-programming themed channel, fans and journalists dubbed Chabert the new “queen” of Hallmark Christmas movies. In a November 2022 interview with Good Morning America, Chabert said her enthusiasm for the holiday comes naturally, describing herself as “crazy about Christmas”.
“I just love it,” she said. “It’s my favorite time of year. And it really makes sense that I have found my way into making all of these movies because it is something in real life I just love so much.”
Lacey Chabert Assures Fans She Wants to Keep Making Movies, Too
Although she’s excited to bring new projects to life, Chabert said continuing to make movies with Hallmark is also part of the plan, especially since she now gets to help create and produce the stories that are told.
“My biggest motivation or desire in this coming year is to tell deeper stories,” she told Forbes. “I take it seriously the responsibility that I try to make each movie better than the last. I put my whole heart into it. I mean, it keeps me up at night if I don’t feel like we’ve made the best possible movie we could have and I think the audience deserves that.”
Chabert also hinted that she might bring back some of her favorite characters from past movies.
“I can’t tell you everything just yet, which I know is frustrating,” she laughed. “But we are going to possibly re-visit some characters that I’ve enjoyed playing in the past and possibly see some stories continue.”
When asked if she has a specific message for her fans heading into 2023, Chabert said it’s all about gratitude.
“I just want to say thank you. Like really, thank you for tuning in,” she said. “Because you guys tuned in and showed up in such a big way for the original ‘Wedding Veils,’ that’s the reason Hallmark is allowing us to continue this story. And because you continue to support me. I can’t explain how grateful I am for it and I just feel very appreciative and I feel the love & support.”