A very "Mystic Christmas": On location for the latest Hallmark holiday movie

Oct. 25—MYSTIC — It was a beautiful early spring day in Mystic, sunny and pleasantly warm. Yet folks who were trundling out of the Mystic Seaport Museum's south entrance building were bundled in winter jackets and colorful scarves.

The pillars on each side were wrapped in ribbons of bright red fabric, resembling candy canes.

One young man, carrying heavy suitcases, stepped out of the Seaport building. A woman dressed in a fuchsia coat and leaning against a huge anchor wrapped in holiday lights called out to him.

"You need some help?" she asked.

He looked at her, and a grin spread across his face.

"Yes, please," he replied.

They walked toward each other and embraced in a lingering hug.

She picked up some of his luggage, and they walked off together.

And then they repeated it all. Again. And again.

Because these weren't random visitors. These were actors working on the latest Hallmark movie to film in southeastern Connecticut.

"Mystic Christmas" stars Jessy Schram and Chandler Massey, and it was shot all over Mystic. In fact, the story is set in Mystic, Connecticut; the town doesn't stand in for a fictional locale.

The movie premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

"Mystic Christmas" is produced by Rocky Hill-based Synthetic Cinema International, which has turned this region into a hotbed of Christmas-film production.

The plot has Juniper (played by Schram, whose credits include portraying Hannah Griffith in "Veronica Mars" and Dr. Hannah Asher on "Chicago Med") returning to Mystic during the holidays to work at the aquarium. She reconnects with the owner of a pizza shop (Massey, who won three Daytime Emmys for his portrayal of Will Horton on "Days of Our Lives").

The movie also features actors who have worked in the area before. William R. Moses starred in "Mystic Pizza," and Patti Murin has been in two previous Synthetic movies and in three Goodspeed Musicals stage productions.

Real names

"Mystic Christmas" not only uses the real name for the town, but it also keeps the real monikers for the businesses in the tale. Mango's Wood-Fired Pizza in Olde Mistick Village is called Mango's, for instance.

Andrew Gernhard, Synthetic owner and producer, said he pitched that idea to Hallmark about two years ago. They went through different potential plots; one was about a whale that gets caught in the harbor, and another was about a man who restores boats, he said.

"I'm a big Connecticut supporter. ... I knew I wanted to feature Connecticut businesses because they were perfect for the movie and a great way for Hallmark to have a real town, a real place, and then also (businesses) get some real added advertising," said Gernhard, who grew up in Norwich and lives in Gales Ferry.

He said, "I think people from Mystic and the Connecticut area will really love seeing everything highlighted ― to say, 'I was there,' because you were there."

Chris Regan, who is Olde Mistick Village's property manager, said, "It's going to be fun to see all the names of the businesses because we're going to know them all. It's exciting that Andrew was able to get this done. He has been a godsend for our area for film because he pushes this area, and he loves this area because he lives here."

One thing that is different in the movie: Mystic isn't laid out the same way it is in real life. For instance, characters turn a corner at Olde Mistick Village and are suddenly in downtown Mystic.

The characters

During a break on the filming at Mystic Seaport (all the performers spoke before the actors' strike, which started in July), Schram talked about the movie and her character, whom she described as "a world-traveling marine veterinarian ― vet. I always say vet, but then people think that sounds like a Navy SEAL."

With her character's job, Schram spent a lot of time at Mystic Aquarium.

"I wanted to shadow them to make it more legit for the shoot, but fell in love with them and what they do," she said. "They've been so generous with their time and the resources. I've gotten to help with seal releases and rehabilitation."

One of the things that Schram loved about the "Mystic Christmas" script was the relationship between her character and Massey's.

"It felt very relatable, and it had really quirky dialogue. You have two people who have major social anxiety and people-pleasing skills getting together, and I thought that was a really fun twist," she said.

Massey likewise liked the characters and thought "the dialogue was really good ― some witty stuff in that, the banter, the back-and-forth."

Experiencing Mystic

Even while not in character, Schram and Massey have sitcom-like banter down pat. When Chandler spoke about his character owning a pizza shop, Schram said, "I told him that he needed to go and learn how to flip some pizzas."

Schram said that being in Mystic has been "amazing ... I've done the walk through (Olde) Mistick Village. We spent a lot of time there filming. What's great about our set and filming is we're literally stopping by all these major points in Mystic. So we're getting to see them as we film. I feel the town is so romantic and it's so sweet, and everybody has been so lovely. It's been a treat being here."

And then came Massey's tongue-in-cheek response about his experience: "It's been the complete opposite. Could not disagree more." He laughs. "No, it's amazing. It's so cute. I just like walking around. It's beautiful. I feel like it's a place that, If I lived here, it would feel like a vacation."

Murin's character runs the Mystic Aquarium in the movie, and she's Schram's best friend and Massey's sister.

"So I'm sort of the connector between the two of them. I also don't want anything to do with (their relationship), because I know it's going to be a disaster," she said with a laugh.

Murin did some work with the animals at Mystic Seaport, though not as much as Schram.

"But I did get to high-five a sea lion a few times. I mean, I will treasure that memory forever," Murin said.

Murin said that Synthetic "is so good at gathering a group of people behind the scenes, the people that you don't see, who are at the top of their games and are truly just good people to be around. It adds to the experience of being on set. Making a movie in 15 days is no small task."

The draw of Hallmark movies

Asked about the popularity of Hallmark movies, Moses compared the positive tone of those films to the strife and polarization going on in the world. Things were different when his stepfather, Alphonzo E. Bell Jr., was a Republican congressman in the 1970s. Moses recalled Ted Kennedy walking across the room to shake hands with Bell and telling the family how much he liked him.

Moses said that, with Hallmark movies, "When you turn on the television and see something that's not contentious, that's optimistic and feels good, I think there's an audience and an appetite (for that) ― because that's not the world we live in anymore. It's escapism."

He added later that Hallmark movies are "like the perfect souffle ― light and airy but tasty on the inside."

Schram said a lot of fans have told her they know what's going to happen in a Hallmark movie, but they want to go along for the ride anyway.

"There's something nice about that, that no matter what, you can have some twists and turns, but you can be entertained as opposed to worried or have your heart rate go up in the wrong way," she said.

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'Mystic Pizza' to 'Mystic Christmas'

Thinking back to when he was filming 1988's "Mystic Pizza" in the region, "Mystic Christmas" star William R. Moses recalled how different the area was. For instance, he figured Mystic Aquarium was about one-third the size it is now.

Moses stayed at the Mystic Hilton then and, coincidentally, for "Mystic Christmas" as well. When he checked in this spring, he said, "Of course nobody recognized me, and they gave me a room number. I walked to the room, and it was the exact same room I stayed in when I stayed for the movie. Just completely randomly."

During his time off on "Mystic Christmas," he returned to Watch Hill. That's where he shot most of his scenes for "Mystic Pizza," in which he played an architect having an affair with the character played by Annabeth Gish.

"Mystic Pizza" was a sleeper hit, but Moses saw the potential as soon as he read the script, which he felt was very special. He remembered thinking he knew exactly how to play the character.

"When I got here, I'd been at this a good amount of time — I had already been an actor for 10 years when I got that movie. That's one of the valentine parts of my career. And being here is part of the gift that keeps on giving. Mystic and this whole area here is very special to me and remains so. It's every bit as special to be here now as it was then," he said.

Moses, who was a student for a year at Wesleyan University in Middletown, said, "I have a connection to this part of the world. I kind of know the New England mentality. I have a sense of that, the sense of community, the value systems, and this movie ('Mystic Christmas') embraces some of those things, in terms of being ecologically sound. It has some good, stalwart New England stock values in the movie."