Marla Sokoloff on Starring in One Lifetime Holiday Movie and Directing Another

amp8220And reading it I instantly knew it was different and special and something I had to doamp8221 she continued amp160amp8220We39ve all done Christmas movies in the past but on set there was a special feeling we were making something special amp160On top of that awesome script there was also a music component so I was instantly 100 on boardamp8221That musical component came in three ways courtesy of her character Lindsay her costar Rob Mayes pictured at top and below with Sokoloff who plays Wes and entertainment legend Marie Osmond who playsamp160country music legend Cassie amp160In the film Lindsay and her musical rival Wes Mayesamp160form a dynamic dueling piano team amp160Lindsay is in the process of organizing a trip to visit her expectant sister when the duo suddenly finds themselves without a gig on Christmas Eve and has no way to pay for the tickets home amp160With Wes also planning to head home to visit his ailing mother in a nearby town the two become unlikely traveling companions on a road trip amp160It39s through a series of misgivings that they encounter Cassie whom Lindsay idolizes and who helps save the daySokoloff is an accomplished musician in her own right amp160amp8220Iamp8217m not sure who knows the singing part of meamp8221 she revealed amp160amp8220I grew up doing musical theater amp160I released a record in 2006 and my composer husband calls me if he needs someone for a TV show so I do a decent amount of singingamp160 But I kind of keep it unintentionally undercoveramp160 When the call came in for this my manager said amp8216Before they offer this to you they want to know if you can singamp8217 amp160I was like amp8216Hello amp160Why donamp8217t you know that amp160Of course I canamp8217amp8220I guess I need to start telling more peopleamp8221 she laughedamp8220What was most interesting about the performances with Rob is that we actually recorded everything separately and before even meetingamp8221 Sokoloff explained amp160amp8220I went into the studio first to sing the Christmas medley we perform then a couple of days later he did his parts amp160When I got the recording all I could think was how good we sounded together amp160Rob playsamp160the pianoamp160 Sadly I donamp8217t so I had a double which kind of killed me because all I could think was amp8216Why did I give up those piano lessons when I was a childamp8217amp8220And Marie Osmondamp8221 she exclaimed amp160amp8220I think weamp8217re all fans of hers amp160Everyone on set was on their best behavior anytime Marie pictured aboveamp160was working because we knew we were in the presence of a legendamp160 She was so bubbly amp160I think she wants to start acting more and she shouldamp160 It was fun to watch her perform and be in her elementamp8221Sokoloff told me the biggest challenge the project posed was acting like she didnamp8217t like Hayes amp160amp8220Rob is adorable in thisamp8221 she said amp160amp8220Iamp8217d signed on and I remember emailing the producer asking where was my leading man amp160It wasn39t the easiest part to cast because not every actor can sing amp160Rob is incredibly talentedamp160 He has a record out at the moment amp160With any costar it39s either going to work on not amp160Within five minutes of meeting him I knew this was going to be good amp160We have similar personalities so the onscreen chemistry is completely authenticamp160 We had the best timeamp8221While the film is indeed a delight Sokoloff wants viewers to know tissues will be required amp160amp8220I think a lot of people expect a sweet Christmas movie but this isnamp8217t the same Christmas movie we are all used toamp8221 she saidamp160 amp8220I love those movies you can count on and know exactly what you39re going to get but this one amp8230 I doubt there39ll be one person watching with a dry eyeamp8221Sokoloff is currently still hard at work behind the camera making her network directing debut with Lifetimeamp8217s Christmas Hotel starring Tatiana Ali amp160MediaVillage will give you more on that closer to its December 21 premiere amp160In closing she wanted to share her admiration for the network sheamp8217s happy to call home amp160amp8220I think itamp8217s amazing Lifetime continues to release movies that females get to star inamp8221 she said amp160amp8220They39re also giving me the opportunity to make one of those movies as a director amp160Theyamp8217re doing so much for women in film and are so ahead of the timesamp160 Theyamp8217re killing it on that frontamp8221The Road Home for Christmas will be telecast Saturday October 26 at 8 pm on LifetimeClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Marla Sokoloff on Starring in One Lifetime Holiday Movie and Directing Another

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Steve Gidlow

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Marla Sokoloff on Starring in One Lifetime Holiday Movie and Directing Another

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Steve Gidlow

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

Cookies