Days of our Lives Alum Alison Sweeney Brings Relatability Factor To 30th Hallmark Movie

Days of our Lives alum Alison Sweeney has a big role at Hallmark Media. She’s a producer and content supplier for the network. Sweeney also commemorated a major milestone by starring in her 30th movie. 

The holiday film This Time Each Year differs from anything she’s done with Hallmark. For one, the storytelling is different from your typical Hallmark Christmas films. It also has a relatability factor that will captivate the viewers.

30 Films With Hallmark

In an exclusive interview with People Magazine, Sweeney shared her reaction to making her 30th movie with Hallmark. She admitted that she was so “shocked” that she didn’t believe it at first. Sweeney is proud of the work she’s created along the way.

“I’m so proud of, especially that it’s This Time Each Year, because it shows the evolution of my experience and my relationship at Hallmark and the growth that Hallmark has shown through the last decade,” Sweeney said. 

In the new film This Time Each Year, Sweeney plays a mom named Lauren McCall, who tries to co-parent her son Kevin with her ex-husband Kevin (Niall Matter). He was adamant about reuniting his family. What makes this holiday film different is its realness about separation and sobriety. 

“To have Kevin coming up on celebrating his one-year sobriety anniversary was a really important way for us to tell that story because it does create tension and obstacles at the holidays,” Sweeney said.

It was the first time Hallmark tackled the subject of sobriety. Sweeney hopes to bring more of that relatability factor to her future films. She wants to “sort of really push the story, push the characters deeper, and create more elements to it that are going to be relatable.” Sweeney wants to continue doing that in her future projects.

READ THIS: Alison Sweeney Returns to DAYS as Sami

Sweeney’s Christmas Wish

In the latter part of the interview, Sweeney shared her holiday plans. She said that things would look different for her because her son Ben is going off to college. He will be home for Thanksgiving. She’s still figuring out how to get her family together for Christmas.

Despite not having him at home, Sweeney is excited about this new journey in her son’s life. She also recalled a sweet Christmas she had with her son when he was five years old. Sweeney teased that Santa Claus surprised him with a Star Wars-themed bedroom. 

The DOOL alum is “so grateful” for those memories and will cherish them forever. She’s also “blessed and lucky” about her 30th film, This Time Each Year, which premieres October 24 at 8 p.m. ET on Hallmark Mystery.