In 12 Dates of Christmas, Amy Smart plays a very focused woman who unfortunately may have such blinders on she can’t see what she wants isn’t what’s best for her. But this is a holiday movie, so of course fate-- and a little bit of magic-- intervenes in order to force her eyes open. She re-lives Christmas Eve over and over (twelve times total) so she can get it right and open herself up to new people and new opportunities. Here Smart talks about what endeared her to the character and which of the Christmas Eves was most fun to film!
You can read LA TV Insider Examiner’s advance review of 12 Dates of Christmas here.
“I really liked Kate because first of all, she has such a three-dimensional character. She’s still hopelessly in love with her ex-boyfriend and wants him back so badly. She’s stubborn. She’s work-driven and stubborn. She just wants what she wants. She kind of has that tunnel vision and doesn’t see past that,” Smart previewed on a conference call just last week.
“What I liked about this project is that I liked that Kate has to go through this transformational journey where she is pushed to her limits and has to keep reliving Christmas Eve over and over and over again until she can start to expand her horizons and see that maybe what she thinks she needs is not really what she’s going after. She’s given this chance to explore other possibilities that are better for her and her life that open her up and humble her.”
Through that journey, Kate and Smart end up having to come to terms with the fact that the ex she is at first so desperate to win back is actually getting very serious with another woman, and as much as she doesn’t want to be alone, she must find new ways-- and new people with whom-- to connect. Enter Mark-Paul Gosselaar as a man her stepmother sets her up with (on Christmas Eve!?), who she initially dismisses, but over twelve nights gets to know extremely well.
Because of that, Smart shared her favorite moments to re-live on-screen were the ones in which Kate and Miles were meeting, and ultimately, falling for each other. Each date was different because Kate really wants “to be able to find things in [her] life that aren’t working and work through them to a new place of change.” So while they initially meet at a bar for dinner and drinks, things get much more festive almost immediately.
“I had such a great time working with Mark-Paul,” Smart sounded like she was grinning. “He’s a wonderful actor and we had fun ice skating and being freezing at night walking down the street, and decorating Christmas trees, and picking them out…I was so happy that Mark-Paul signed on to do it afterwards because I think he’s so talented. Everyone’s a huge Zack Morris fan!”
The movie may be a holiday project, but Smart feels the overall theme is something that can, and should, be applied to life year-round. “The best gift we can have is living in the present moment and really enjoying it for what it is; and, not being in our heads and getting sidetracked,” she pointed out, admitting that is how she tries to live her own, personal life.
12 Dates of Christmas airs on ABC Family on December 11th at 8pm.
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