There’s something special about working on a Hallmark holiday film according to Eloise Mumford.
The actress, who already has one Christmas movie with the network under her belt, says the experience of working on a project like her latest film, Just In Time For Christmas, is one she’s always thankful for.
“It’s so much fun to go to work every day and get to make a movie about something lighthearted and so full of love,” Mumford tells Guideposts.org.
The newest installment in Hallmark’s annual Countdown to Christmas features Mumford playing a young woman who finds herself torn between the love of her life and her dream career. A mysterious stranger offers her the chance to travel three years into the future in order to see where her life would end up based on the decision she makes. In many ways, it’s a modern-day retelling of It’s a Wonderful Life, but it was Mumford’s character not the iconic Christmas tale that drew her to the script.
“It’s the story of a young woman who’s really trying to decide what the best thing for her is,” Mumford explains. “I’m at that age, a lot of my friends are too, where we’re not kids anymore and we’re trying to make these decisions that are going to affect the rest of our lives; where we live, who we love, what jobs we do. As I read it, I was just really touched by the fact that my character wants so badly to be able to see her future to make the right decision. It’s hard to follow your heart when your heart’s pulling you in different directions.”
Making the right decision when it comes to film and TV projects has become easier for the budding star. Mumford shares that the jobs she takes on, including her latest Hallmark gig, must always have one thing: strong, multi-faceted female roles.
“It’s really important to me to present real women, in whatever capacity that is,” the star says.
It’s why she continues to choose roles that challenge and interest her and why she wants to work with talented, driven people in the industry.
“When you surround yourself with people that inspire you, ultimately you’ll create something that inspires others,” Mumford says.
The actress is doing some inspiring work off screen as well. She recently completed the annual Hood to Coast run, a 198-mile relay stretching from Mount Hood to Seaside, Oregon. It’s easily earned a place on the Mumford’s Top 5 list of life experiences and, as the actress explains, gives her a much-needed outlet from the entertainment industry.
“It goes back to this idea of presenting real women,” Mumford says. “There’s so much talk in Hollywood about weight and appearance so having something that’s actually just about how strong and how fit you are is much more important to me.”
Family is something else that’s important to the star. She’s recently relocated to New York in the hopes of rediscovering her theater roots and is looking forward to Christmas, a time that holds special meaning for her.
“I’m grinning talking about it,” Mumford says as she outlines all of the baking, cooking, crafting and caroling her family does during the holidays. “Just having the simplicity of the joy of being together is a lovely thing and something we’ve always tried to do as a family.”
She hopes her latest holiday film brings some of that joy to others too.
“Life changes really fast, time keeps going and these moments when we’re together with the people that we love, they’re really precious,” Mumford says. “The world is getting more and more confusing and sad in a lot of ways. Just trying to find the love for each other in every moment I think is the takeaway of a lot of Christmas movies but this one in particular.”
