EXCLUSIVE: Vanessa Marano Dishes On Her New Holiday Movie, One Delicious Christmas
Food Network and HGTV jumped into the Holiday movie game this season with the release of four Holiday themed movies, One Delicious Christmas, A Gingerbread Christmas, A Christmas Open House and Designing Christmas.
All released on November 11, we got the chance to speak with one of the stars of One Delicious Christmas, Vanessa Marano. New to the Holiday movie game, but not new to our screens, Marano spoke about making the movie, her character, Abby, her chemistry with costar Alex Mallari Jr., and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.
Let’s talk your new Holiday movie, One Delicious Christmas! I loved its connection to the Food Network. What I want to start with is how did you get connected to the movie?
“They actually reached out to me, which was very exciting because I’ve never done a Christmas movie before, and I was like, ‘I’m totally down.’ And I really, really love that it follows the traditional Christmas romance formula. But it had this other component with being on Discovery Plus and being connected to the Food Network where food really was organically a part of the story. Which whenever I think of the holidays, that’s a huge association for me. I really connected to that aspect of it, of that fun, even fantasy foodie escape into what fine dining is. But it all tied back to the nostalgic food of the holidays for your celebrations.”
Food is a huge staple of my holiday traditions, the baking, and the big Christmas dinner, so watching this, I thought it was a really creative way to bring not only bring Discovery Plus into the mix, but the Food Network, and then the addition of Bobby Flay! What was it like working with him?
“It was a lot of fun. He put himself in a very vulnerable space, you know what I mean? To be like, ‘Okay, I’m doing three days of intense dialogue on a Christmas movie,’ and he did such a great job. I’ve been saying, I’ve done celebrity guest hosting on Chopped Junior. I was a contestant on Cupcake Wars at one point, and that’s not my space. I’m an actor. I’ve always been so lucky to work on those programs where they’ve made me feel really safe and comfortable. And so, I hope we were able to do that for Bobby because we were so happy to work with him and have him part of this.”
Everyone seemed like they were having a blast filming this. You can just see it in your guys’ performances that you had so much fun.
“Oh, for sure. We had a good time. I was really lucky with my partner in crime, Alex Mallari Jr., who’s just a delight to work with. And every day was just a blast.”
Speaking of Mallari Jr., let’s talk about the chemistry between you to. How did that come to be? Did you two do a chemistry read to start off and the chemistry was instant or no?
“No, I mean, we met our first day of … Well, we met over Zoom first for the table read.”
You’re kidding!
“That’s always the first way to really meet someone and get comfortable is during a 20 person Zoom table read. And then we didn’t meet in person until the first rehearsal, but he’s just such an easy person to get along with, that it was pretty seamless. It’s always easy from an acting perspective when you’re working with someone who is talented and experienced. Automatically, you’re just two professionals who are doing the best that you can at the job. But then to have that added facet of, he’s a very funny person off screen and a really kind person off screen, I think that is what elevates the chemistry. It’s not just what you’re doing professionally, but you’re genuinely having a good time with each other. And we did. I mean, we were cracking up in between takes. It was fabulous.”
You would have no idea that the two of you had just physically met on your first day of shooting. It seemed like you guys had known each other for a very long time, which always works for romantic movies, especially around the holidays.
“For sure.”
For you as an actress, does that make you nervous when you don’t get to do a chemistry read with someone and it’s just, “We think the two of you are going to work together. Here it is. Hopefully it works”?
“That’s a really interesting question because even when you do a chemistry read with somebody, normally there’s multiple people that you’re doing a chemistry read with too. And sometimes they [the creative team] go with the people who you felt you had the best chemistry with. And sometimes they go with the people that you don’t necessarily think you have the best chemistry with. But they, obviously as the people hiring you, see that aspect, even if you don’t necessarily feel it yourself.”
That’s got to be a nerve-racking experience.
“I think it’s always nerve-racking the first few days because you don’t know people, and you don’t really know if you’re going to gel with them or not. Even if you don’t gel with somebody, guys can still create a terrific product, but it just may not be, not even a dis-pleasurable experience, but it might just not be the most fun. I was very happy that this was not the case on this project.”
That’s fantastic!
“It really as a genuine delight from Alex to Elana [Dunkelman] who played my best friend Jen, to Kathy [Maloney] who played Alexandra Grandfield. We all got along really, really well and were having a really good time. And so, what’s very exciting is that it showed, right?”
It definitely did!
“Because you can also have a good time and it not necessarily resonate on screen. But for those two things to measure up together was awesome.”
Now, when did you guys film the movie?
“Oh, we shot it in July. Really cool, Christmas-y July.”
When you film something like this in July and you wrap filming, are you burned out from all the holiday stuff?
“As far as the scenery, not burnt out at all. I love the look of Christmas. But as far as the clothing, you’ve been wearing sweaters and scarves in 100-degree weather. So yeah, you’re like, ‘I never want to see a beanie ever again in my entire life.’ I only associate heartache and pain and boiling over from heat with those items of clothing now. Even now as it’s getting colder in Los Angeles, which I say that with a grain of salt, but I’m still resisting putting on warmer clothes because I’m like, ‘I can’t handle a sweater right now.’”
I don’t blame you! I am holding off on my Winter clothes to, even though they are much needed where I’m located.
“You have to actually, even if you’re not ready for it, for survival, have to just get into it. Right? I can stay on the other side of the fence here on the West Coast. But yes, you’re like, ‘No, no, it doesn’t matter that I don’t want to do it. I will actually freeze to death if I’m not putting on sweater.’”
Was there anything you did in the movie that you are adding to your own Holiday traditions this year?
“What’s so funny is there’s a line in the movie about the Feast of the Seven Fishes, which is an Italian tradition, and that’s something that gets added to Abby’s restaurant. That’s what is actually my Christmas Eve tradition. My dad’s Italian. We do that every single year. So, I was like, ‘Oh, the things that are being added to Abby’s plate are the things that I’m doing already.’”
Your character Abby is an extremely empowering character. How does it feel to play her?
“It was great. She’s so fun. What I love about her is there’s oftentimes a theme in these movies of you’re on the brink of financial ruin. And that’s why you have to do the partnership. And for her, it’s actually about time management.
She’s like, “I know I will bring this place to financial ruin unless I really step outside of myself and ask for help,” which is not something she’s good at doing. So, getting to play that sort of uptight character, who has to relinquish control, I think is something that’s very relatable to any woman.
And for you to be your own business owner and someone who has to surrender to the idea of, ‘Well, this may not be the healthiest thing for me,’ I think it’s a very real thing for people. And it was really nice to infuse that into a Christmas movie and play a character like that and play also all the dorky facets of her too that are typical rom-com and sort of bumbling things and her office being just a complete disaster of a hoarding cluttered mess, or just those little quirks that really endeared me to Abby and are things that I related to.”
I loved that her office was a mess. It was the one space where you saw that her life wasn’t all bells and whistles.
“For sure. And I relate to that on a level of just my laptop. If anyone were to look at what is on my desktop, it looks like Grey Gardens in digital form. It’s psychotic, but it’s like, ‘Oh, okay.’ But my house is very organized, is very clean, but it’s like if you go into this one sacred space that no one else is supposed to see, it is actually a frightening mess.”
It’s controlled chaos!
“Exactly.”
After doing One Delicious Christmas, does this make you want to do more holiday movies?
“Absolutely. If the filming experience was anything like this one, I would do it over and over and over again because it really was a delight. I was very, very lucky to be surrounded by the people I was surrounded with, and I just loved the spin that the Discovery Plus and Food Network we’re able to put on a Christmas movie in the sense that there was this really organic infusion of food and what that really means for the holiday spirit.”
Well, for my final question for you today is, what are you hoping fans get from the movie?
“Delight. I hope it’s just enjoyable. I watched the premiere with some friends of mine, and we decided to pregame with Christmas activities. We all made a Christmas ornament. And my one friend came over in the scariest Santa mask you’ve ever seen in your entire life and pretty much wore it throughout the movie. It was just a fun experience, and we all kind of just felt joyful watching it. So that’s my biggest hope is anyone who gets to watch this just gets a sense of delight.”
Make sure to check out One Delicious Christmas, now out on Discovery+!
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity