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Jaicy Elliot is taking a break from Seattle and heading to Louisiana in My Southern Family Christmas, which premieres November 24 on Hallmark. The actress spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife about this “family-centric” film, which also happens to be her first Hallmark Christmas movie.
“My Southern Family Christmas is a movie about family reconnecting during the holidays,” Jaicy said. “The story follows Campbell, the character that I play, who receives a phone call from her long-lost father’s new wife, and she’s trying to get them to reconnect in Louisiana, specifically in Sorrento. She is invited to come and spend some time with them and, through her job, she ends up going there to write an article.”
Campbell is a travel journalist and begins to cover the Cajun traditions in Sorrento. In exploring these traditions, Jaicy explained that Campbell “gets to meet her father and the question is raised as to whether or not she’s going to tell him because he doesn’t know she’s his daughter. You follow her on her journey to deciding whether or not she wants to be reconnected with her father, and in that journey meets a guy and falls in love.”
The Grey’s Anatomy actress loved My Southern Family Christmas because it’s “so family-centric. It’s unlike other Christmas Hallmarks that I have seen, and it talks about giving people a second chance and also letting yourself be open to finding love in different aspects and the different ways that you can we can have love in romantic relationships, but also in more of a defining love, a father’s love, and family. She has sisters so it’s a really heartwarming movie. You definitely want to have your tissues when your watch that movie because it’s very touching.”
Jaicy actually grew up in France and moved to the United States about 7 years ago. “I didn’t realize how much of a French heritage there was in Louisiana, and I didn’t realize how much Cajun culture is still very much independent to big American culture. They have all of their own traditions, they need their own language. It was really interesting to talk with the people there and get to know them and get to hear their stories,” Jaicy told HollywoodLife.
Jaicy’s co-stars include the great Bruce Campbell and One Tree Hill alum Moira Kelly. “They both have such an appreciation for the job that we get to do. Moira had been taking care of her children for a while, so it was fun to talk about her perspective on Hollywood. She hasn’t lived in California in a while, so I got to hear a lot of really fun stories about her life in Hollywood.”
She continued, “Bruce Campbell is just an icon. I grew up seeing his face everywhere. He’s been on all of the spectrum of what this world offers, which led to a lot of really in-depth, existential life conversations. I felt like we were family because we really gave each other the time to tell our stories, and it was a very bonding movie because I felt like we all had very distinct views and experiences. I felt very, very fortunate and very lucky to be in the room with them and to hear their thoughts and what they have to share.” My Southern Family Christmas will air at 8 p.m. on Hallmark.