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Hallmark Channel’s newest movie in its 2020 Christmas lineup is One Royal Holiday, starring Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, Krystal Joy Brown, Victoria Clark, and Tom McGowan. Where was the movie filmed? Although the town of Kentsbury is fictional, the movie itself was actually filmed in Connecticut, where “Kentsbury” is located.
One Royal Holiday premiered at 8 p.m. Eastern on The Hallmark Channel on October 31. It will re-air multiple times throughout the holiday season.
‘One Royal Holiday’ Was Filmed in Connecticut
Although many Hallmark movies for 2020 were filmed in Canada, especially post-pandemic, One Royal Holiday was filmed in Connecticut, CTVisit reported. The main cities where filming took place were Woodstock, Putnam, and Hartford. Here are some of the major filming locations:
- The Inn at Woodstock Hill – This is an estate on 19 acres and a nationally registered Historic Place. It has 21 rooms.
- The Mansion at Bald Hill – This filming location was the original home of Roxanna Wentworth Bowen, heiress of the Pullman Train. It’s 90 acres with English gardens and stone walls.
- Woodstock Academy
- Downtown Putnam
- The Christmas Barn – This two-story barn is filled with farmhouse specialties and seasonal items.
Here’s a photo taken during filming:
Other locations include:
- The Bond Ballroom – This ballroom boasts views of Hartford’s skyline and 5,000-square-feet of event space.
- The Connecticut Convention Center
- A private Brownstone home in Hartford
- A privately-owned “Christmas Castle” in Hartford
- Baker’s Dozen doughnut shop in Putnam
Osnes shared the following filming behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram:
In many of the on-set photos that Osnes shared, including the ones below, you can see the cast wearing masks and being very cautious.
Here’s another behind-the-scenes video.
Looks like Tony winner Victoria Clark & QUANTICO alum Bradley Rose also a part of the cast of ROYAL HOLIDAY, which stars Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit and Krystal Joy Brown. With all those Broadway pipes on set, hope there’s singing in this Hallmark joint.
They Quarantined for a Week Before Filming
The movie was one of the first in the U.S. to film again after the pandemic lockdown, Courant reported. The movie was filmed in June and July. At the time of filming, there were fewer cases in the region than in other parts of the country. Still, the cast and crew had to quarantine for a week before filming, Broadway Direct reported.
Andrew Gernhard, producer, told Courant: “It was very safe to shoot up there. We were in our own little bubble. We stayed at the inns and shot in the inns. It was a tight location with a small crew.”
Still, the script needed a bit of a rewrite in order to need fewer extras on location. They only had about 20 total and digitally reproduced many of them, Gernhard said.
Every day, cast members had their temperatures taken and they had to take COVID tests multiple times each week.
About the Movie & Cast
Christmas with the Darlings was originally scheduled to premiere on October 31 and One Royal Holiday was going to air on November 1. The schedule was switched up a bit and Christmas with the Darlings is now airing on Sunday, November 8.
The synopsis for One Royal Holiday reads: “When Anna (Osnes) offers a stranded mother (Clark) and son (Tveit) shelter in a blizzard, she learns that they are the Royal Family of Galwick. Anna shows the Prince how they do Christmas in her hometown, encouraging him to open his heart and be true to himself.”
This movie features many Broadway-trained actors. Tveit is an actor and singer. Just before his Hallmark movie premiered, Tveit was nominated for a Tony award for his role as Christian in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. He was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for 2020. This was the first time only one person was nominated for an acting category award, USA Today reported. He doesn’t win by default just because he’s the only nominee, however, People reported. He still has to get an affirmative vote by 60% of the ballots cast, or the category just won’t have any winner.
Osnes is also a Broadway singer with her own Tony nominations. She competed in Grease: You’re the One That I Want! and won the role of Sandy, IMDb reported. Her credits also include Dynasty, A Killer Party: A Murder Mystery Musical, A Homecoming for the Holidays, In the Key of Love, City of Dreams, and more.
And Victoria Clark, who also stars in the movie, has won a Tony. She won a Tony Award in 2005 for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for The Light in the Piazza.