Sarah Drew stars as Emily Lane in the new Hallmark+ series Mistletoe Murders.
Lane comes across as this happy-go-lucky Christmas shop owner, but, deep down, she has a past full of scheming and sleuthing that is coming back to haunt her when a Christmas cookie takes a turn for the worst.
Courtesy of Hallmark+
The Knockturnal sat down with Drew to discuss her dynamic character, exciting cast, and a concept for her own murder mystery.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Courtesy of Hallmark+
The Knockturnal: Sarah, thank you so much for sitting down with The Knockturnal. How’re you?
Sarah: I’m doing great; how’re you?
The Knockturnal: I’m doing great, thank you. I’m so excited to talk Mistletoe Murders because, I mean, it’s a juxtaposition in itself. You have the Holly Jolly holidays and then you have, well, murder. Hw much fun did you have getting to blend this holiday twist with mystery?
Sarah: You know what’s so fun is that the character of Emily Lane is also a juxtaposition. She is happy, sunshine, “I run a Christmas shop,” really trying to blend into this small, beautiful, sweet town. But underneath what we hear in her voiceover, we start to see that she’s got some special skills that come from her past that we don’t really understand, that she should not possess. A retail Christmas shop owner should not possess the skills that Emily Lane does. It’s fun because it’s a juxtaposition in the character. I get to play this person with so many different layers to her while also in a genre combining mystery and Christmas.
The Knockturnal: It’s funny because I was watching the pilot and there was a moment where Emily pulled out the suitcase and I’m like, “Wait, what is going on?” At the end of the first episode, I was on a cliffhanger, like, ‘What just happened?’ I’m like on my toes waiting for the next few episodes. With that, how have these skills in her past shaped the character that she is now?
Sarah: There’s so much that I can’t tell you because I know her whole backstory. Even by the end of season one, you won’t know what I know. You won’t even know a fraction of what I know about who Emily Lane is. I can’t give away too much. The hope is to keep going and do many more seasons so that we get to color in all of this backstory. What I can say is that she came to this town not expecting to be faced with murder; that was not the reason she came to this town. She finds herself going, “Well I have to. I’m capable of XYZ. So, I must.” We get to see her tap back into a life she’s trying to get away from. It’s really fun.
The Knockturnal: It is. I mean, even when you just watch the first few seconds and you see that voice-over and that nightmare pop up, it already has the viewers hooked. This is Christmas; this is the holiday; we’re not expecting that. You’ve been in quite a few holiday productions, having written and produced some yourself so what makes this different and what are you taking away after stepping into the role of Emily?
Sarah: I mean it’s different I think for most holiday films you expect a story where you walk into a meet-cute and there’s going to be romance and they’re going to get together and then they will get together. It’s a formula we love and we long for and we watch a hundred million of them because we love them. This show is kind of like a jolt of caffeine. It’s like, “Wait, wait, what?”
You are surprised at every corner, at every turn, which is not what you expect from a Christmas show or Christmas movie. You’re not expecting to be surprised, shocked, and confused. Like, it’s fun because you do have all of the cozy stuff that you love about Christmas, but all of the surprise, the questions and the intrigue and action—there’s action in this TV series, which is very very fun. It’s not just sleuthing; it’s like action, adventure, comedy, romance Christmas did I leave anything out? I don’t know; it’s everything.
The Knockturnal: It takes a very skilled cast to be able to convey that message and convey this story in an authentic way, so let’s talk about the cast. How much fun did you guys have behind the scenes? I just know there were so many layers on screen, I can only imagine what happened off-screen
Sarah: I love my cast, my crew, my producers, and my executives. This job has been the best job of my career, hands down in terms of an incredible work environment, incredible quality talent, and good kind, beautiful, collaborative people. It’s like the whole package; it’s Merry Christmas to me forever.
This show, I love it so much. Peter Mooney could not have dreamed up a better co-star. He’s so talented watching him shift gears as an actor from Dad mode to cop mode to “Oh, who’s this lady?” mode. It is so fun; he keeps things close to his chest and then he breaks it open a little bit and then takes it back. We have so much fun. Also, off camera, he’s the funniest person you’ll ever meet in your life. My abs—I got a six-pack just being in his presence for 10 weeks because I don’t stop laughing.
The Knockturnal: It was very funny when Emily pops up like “I can help you” and he’s like, “Who are you, like, who’s this?” I love that. But, tell me, a cookie is the catalyst of this whole murder. If you had to plan your own murder mystery, what would the concept be?
Sarah: I’d want to put it somewhere. I want to put it in a different era. Only because I want to dress like it, I’d want it in the 20s like The Great Gatsby. There would be a dance. For my son, I did his birthday last year he wanted to do a murder mystery party. We did a pirate murder mystery party with best friends and all of their family members. All the grown-ups came dressed up in pirate outfits and played their part to perfection. It was the best day ever—full costumes.
The Knockturnal: So, murder mysteries are your thing now, huh?
Sarah: I will say, I don’t like solving. Sarah Drew does not like solving; I want to take the ride but do not ask me to solve this. I don’t actually like puzzles; that’s my son and my husband; they’re so into puzzles. Not me; I like to pretend. I’m just going to have some fun on the side, yeah but one really fun thing about Emily that you’ll see as the series progresses is that on top of just needing to figure out who killed the person justice needs to be served, she turns into a little kid when she’s solving a puzzle. It’s so invigorating and joyful.
The Knockturnal: We cannot wait to watch the rest of the series. Sarah, thank you so much for sitting down with The Knockturnal.
Mistletoe Murders episode 1 “Poison in a Pear Tree” is available for streaming now on Hallmark+.
