Hallmark Channel Presents "Pete's Christmas"
It's A Christmas Day That Just Keeps on Giving in The Holiday Movie "Pete's Christmas!"
By: Susan J. Yeager
Poor Pete! He's having the worst Christmas ever! There are no presents for him under the tree, he's getting blamed for his brother's wrong-doings, his estranged grand-father shows up unannounced, his Mom has to work on Christmas day and his Dad in still unemployed. If all that isn't horrible enough, Pete is forced to relive the day over and over again. The only bright spot for the teenager is meeting his new beautiful and sweet neighbor Katie, who quickly becomes a good friend.
In true Hallmark Channel style, "Pete's Christmas," is an inspiring holiday TV Movie event that the whole family will enjoy watching together. Pete is sincerely played by "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" star, Zachary Gordon who is growing up and transitioning into teenage roles seemingly with ease. The same could be said of his co-star Bailee Madison (Katie) whose resume boasts stints on "Wizards of Waverly Place," and movie roles along-side the likes of Jennifer Anniston, Bette Midler, Natalie Portman and Katie Holmes. The cast is rounded out with notable performances by young Peter DaCunha (Kenny), Wesley Morgan (Jake) and veteran actor Bruce Dern (Grandpa).
Check out a preview of the show here:
Set your DVRs to record "Pete's Christmas," Friday, November 8 at 8:00PM on the Hallmark Channel. You will be glad to spend part of your day with this sweet holiday TV movie event.
Bailee Madison Fills us in on Playing "Katie"
Bailee Madison is one of the most hard-working young actresses in film and television today. Chances are you have seen her before as her credits include "Parental Guidance," "Bridge to Terabithia," (she played Josh Hutcherson's little sister) and the young Snow White in "Once Upon A Time." She also wowed in a hilarious stint on "Wizards of Waverly Place," playing "Max" when a spell-gone-wrong turned Jake T. Austin's character in to a girl! The teenager who turned 14 in October can currently be seen on the ABC series "Trophy Wife," on Tuesday nights.
During this holiday season, the Florida native lends her talent to the Hallmark Holiday movie, "Pete's Christmas." Playing "Katie," the girl next door who befriends Pete during a very difficult time, Bailee reunites with the channel on which she co-starred in "A Taste of Romance," a couple of years ago.
Despite her crazy busy schedule, the sweet and talented actress was more than happy to give us a call to fill our readers in on this heart-warming, holiday event.
"Pete's Christmas is basically about a boy who's a middle child," Bailee begins. "He's kind of overshadowed. When he wakes up on Christmas morning, it's basically the worst Christmas that he could ask for. He then finds himself waking up the next morning to the same Christmas and so on and so on. Along the way, he meets my character 'Kate.' She basically puts him back into shape and is kind of the best friend that he never had and realizes that he could use this gift for good. It's just a really sweet, beautiful Christmas movie with a really positive message that the whole family can watch together. [That] is something that I really love about Hallmark because that's what all of their movies are based on."
Despite both of them having extensive resumes, professionally Bailee and Zachary Gordon (Pete) had never worked on the same projects. "I had never worked with Zach before. We always joke, we're like best friends now. We joked on the first day we met each other. We both, I feel like had our ideas of how we were going to be. Then we got in a room together when we got to Toronto to look over the script with the director. [We] just instantly became buddies. He's so crazy and wild and I'm kind of like his Mom, even though I'm younger than him, always keeping him in shape. We had so much fun together. He's so talented and I think it will be really exciting for everyone to get to see him outside of his 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' movies because he really did step it up and shine really, really hard. So I am excited for everyone to get to see him do it!
Of her character, "Katie," Bailee says, "I love her so much. She's just so wise. I feel like she looks at Pete and it's maybe a relationship, they're best friends but I feel like they wish they could be more than that. She's kind of protective over him and inspires him. She has a past of her own that she never really opens up to anyone. They become so close that she finally feels comfortable enough to do that. She's a strong girl who just wants others to be happy. I don't think she really thinks about herself. She wants the best for Pete and I think that's the sweetest thing about the relationship."
Landing the role happened very quickly for Bailee and the deal was sealed with a very special treat. "With her, it happened so quickly because I got an email with the script from Jason Nether, one of our producers, not knowing that it was him, that he was attached to the script. I got in from my agent, read it and loved it. That same day, I had a lunch meeting with Jason Nether about other projects and we sat down. He was like, 'By the way, we just sent you over 'Pete's Christmas.'' I was like 'Oh my gosh! I just read the script! I love it! I said yes to him over a root beer float. Then found myself getting ready to go off to Toronto."
"She was so greatly written," she continues. "I felt like when we all sat together in Toronto, we all built the relationship off-screen, we kind-of got to take her in a different area then it was written and kind-of take Pete and Kate's relationship a little bit more than how it was originally written. So I think we kind of learned more about her and who she is and how she is. It was a journey along the way to figure out Katie."
Was it hard to film a movie where the same day was re-lived over and over again? "It was so much fun! It was really interesting there were a couple of times where Zach and I would turn to our director and be like 'Wait, so is this the second day Christmas is over? Is this the fourth day Christmas would happen? We were like trying to figure out when it was. The tricky part was showing even though every day was the same, the tricky part was showing how their relationship progressed every day, even though it's technically the same day. It sounds really complicated but that was the challenge."
We would think another challenge would be getting into the Christmas spirit in April when the movie was filmed, but Bailee says it was no problem at all. "We were three hours north of Toronto, in the middle of nowhere with just so much snow and blizzards every morning when you would wake up. So you were automatically in the Christmas spirit. You go on set and there's Christmas lights all over the place and we're all singing Christmas music in the middle of April, so it's almost like it was Christmas, which was fine. When it came to that month and a 1/2 being over, you really didn't want Christmas to end because you had been living that with so many people that you love and became close with. Christmas is my favorite holiday so I was totally fine with getting to do it really close together."
Does she have a favorite scene from the movie? "I love the montage scene, even though nobody's talking or anything, it's just him and me showing their relationship. I think that's really, really sweet. There's no words involved but I feel like the scene speaks for it enough. I love the scene where she opens up about her Dad to him. It gets really, really sweet. I feel like that's the part that kind of kicks him in to shape to where you now see him transform into a better person. So obviously that scene for importance level is really great."
And what if Bailee was stuck in some weird time warp? What day would she want to re-live over and over again? "That's so hard! It was probably the day my sister was going into labor, when she had her baby. I had kind of been able to be a part of that whole journey with her; you know calling her every day and being like 'Your baby is this big...!' I was really into the whole process. But that moment of realizing that 'Oh my gosh, my older sister is about to be a Mom and I'm about to be the Aunt,' was a really special moment and really, really sweet. I would definitely re-live that."
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Bailee is counting her blessings and she ranks Hallmark close to the top of her list. "Hallmark, they've been such a huge family to me. I was welcomed into their family. I was going through kind-of a tough time in my life and was like 'Oh my gosh, what should I do? Should I keep acting' or whatever? They welcomed me with open arms and gave me so much love and has continued to give me so much love throughout the years. I love the fact that everything they do stays true to my morals and what I believe in and what my team and I believe in. It's a huge honor to be considered a part of their family and I am so forever grateful to know them and to get to be a part of their films and to get to experience their amazing sets and amazing people. It really is just wonderful memories. I love everyone in the Hallmark team. They're family to me!"
Be sure to catch Bailee sometime this holiday season in "Pete's Christmas." You'll be thankful that you shared this sweet, holiday TV event with your whole family.
Visit the show's official site for show times www.hallmarkchannel.com/peteschristmas
Follow Bailee on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/BaileeMadison