Aaron Tveit and Laura Osnes team up for Hallmark's "One Royal Holiday."
It is about a bubbly well-meaning nurse that unknowingly gives a ride to a royal prince and his mother back to her father's inn. The Hallmark Christmas movie follows Prince James and his mother, Queen Gabriella, who get stuck in New England thanks to a sudden snowstorm and have no one back to their country (a fictional Hallmark country) thanks to closed airports. A chance encounter to retrieve hot tea from a doughnut shop allows James to meet Anna, who offers to give them a ride and a place to stay at her father's inn.
"One Royal Holiday" is heartfelt, humorous, and cheerful, with the opening credits featuring the song "Winter Wonderland" sung by Osnes and Tveit's leading stars. The theater industry was hit hard thanks to coronavirus's curse, which has led to a shutdown of Broadway until next year. Theaters were also shut down across the country and are still struggling to keep going through the pandemic, causing a loss of millions in revenue [VIDEO]. The movie also features Broadway stars Krystal Joy Brown ("Hamilton"), Victoria Rose and Bradley Rose, and Tom McGowan.
'One Royal Holiday' recap and review
Anna (Laura Osnes) is a nurse working at a Boston hospital who decides to go on vacation for the holidays by heading home to her hometown and family in.
James (Aaron Tveit) is first seen giving a speech that mentions his father's loss and references his attempt to fill his father's shoes. "One Royal Holiday" weaves a love story that finds two people dealing with their grief from losing a parent and coming to terms with changes in their lives. James has a prim and proper personality, which is the opposite of his mother (Victoria Clark), who is more carefree and has a little twinkle in her step.
One ride later and the two royals are stranded at a New England inn and are soon making excuses just to prolong their stay. The Pajama Ball is what the movie revolves around, which Anna describes as being a way to unwind and have fun in sleepwear versus dressing up in fancy gowns and heels. The pajama part is revoked later in the Hallmark movie when the ball turns into a formal affair with a side party in pajamas for the children.
The ball gives the characters an excuse to dress up with Anna, given an assortment of her late mother's former dresses.
James is regal and used to having all the amenities of his prince status with room service, bellhops, and casual attire being formal suits. He slowly starts to unwind and soon finds himself through various moments spent with Anna that is quiet and sincere, with the two sharing many heart-to-hearts. "One Royal Holiday" explores the change that comes with opening your heart and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. The Hallmark movie focuses on the Christmas address that James has to give, which is the center of his arc as proving the monarchy's importance and proving to their people the monarchy are for them rests on his shoulders.
It's delightful to watch this Christmas movie twist the perspective of a normal person entering a palace by having the royals taken out of the palace and placed at a family inn. This provides them with a chance to part of this close-knit community, which has Christmas traditions with tree-trimming and a parade.
The queen is an amazing character as her independent nature provides several instances of humor and heart, from her refusing to be served food to insisting to her son that they tell Anna the truth of their royal status. Sweet moments that are classic to Hallmark are woven throughout the Christmas movie with Anna knocking on James' door to leave him a plate of food (and a candy cane), James opened the door with a tin of popcorn tucked under his arm, and waltzing in the ballroom.
The ending presents a happily ever after, which finds James and his mother returning to their country where he gives the Christmas address, only to show up in the nick of time to escort Anna to the ball and to tell her how he feels. The royals join Anna and her family for Christmas around the tree in their pajamas and giving gifts.
'One Royal Holiday' makes a Christmas prince
Aaron Tveit shared with POPSUGAR that Laura Osnes was no stranger to Hallmark Movies and was showing him the Hallmark ropes. Tveit continued about how he's always wanted to do a Christmas album, so it was a treat for him to get to perform "Winter Wonderland" with Osnes. The actor talks about how to open Hallmark was for them to sing a song, going onto say that it was him and Osnes that went to the network directly to ask if they could sing something.
Hallmark was immediately on board and made it happen. He went onto share about how they looked to Prince Harry and Prince William in terms of wardrobe for Prince James's character. Fans have fallen for the British accent that Tveit has specifically for the movie which the actor explains that certain aspects in the script were written in a way that would sound strange without the accent. To prepare, Tveit looked back on old notes from his time filming the "Les Miserables" movie, which had him undergoing six weeks of one-on-one dialect training.
Hallmark is well-known for its Christmas movies that inspire everyone to gather around together to watch feel-good stories, which happens to be why "One Royal Holiday" star Aaron Tveit reason for taking part.
The actor shares that he's always been a fan of Hallmark movies and especially their Christmas movies, but what drew him to "One Royal Holiday" was that it's a bright warm story. The actor went onto say that with everything happening right now in the world, it's nice to have the ability to just come together for a great story and his Hallmark movie allows that. The actor also shared that what always draws him to a script is characters that change.
Laura Osnes shared her experience when she got the part of Anna with Broadway Direct. The actor says that she started crying and has shared on Instagram that being quarantined with a serendipitously theatrical Broadway cast was a reunion that they all needed.
A statement that was included with a photo of Osnes and the "One Royal Holiday" cast. The actor shared how she's had little opportunities during the pandemic has been rough on Broadway and theater stars since their jobs revolve around large groups of people being together. TV Insider had similarly reported an interview that had Aaron Tveit sharing that it was a wonderful thing to do the movie. When things aren't so normal that once cameras were rolling, he got to do something very normal.
'One Royal Holiday' takes on Broadway stars
When Broadway and theaters are shutdowns due to COVID restrictions, Hallmark has lent their channel to several stars. "One Royal Holiday" also stars Kimberly Joy Brown of "Hamilton" fame in mayor and friend's role to Anna.
Her character Sarah has her own blooming romance in the movie when she meets the handsome Christopher who works security for James and his mother. The actor reveals to JaGurl TV that she is obsessed with the holiday season thanks to her birthday being on December 22 and that she's someone who gets into the Christmas spirit as soon as November comes she starts.
Kimberly Joy Brown continues by sharing about how when she first auditioned for "One Royal Holiday," she thought this was an on-the-nose type of character for her as Sarah is thrilled about Christmas, into social media, and wants to push this town into the holiday spirit. Brown also works to ensure diversity to broaden Hollywood. The actor reveals that when she first got the part, she sat down with the director and talked about inclusion and described the director as being open and available for the conversation.
Brown is part of the Hamilton Racial Justice Task Force, which invokes a change for the black community. Further reading on diversity in Hollywood can be found by checking into if lead roles need to be more diverse. Fans can catch "One Royal Holiday" again on the Hallmark Channel on December 25 at 6:30/5:30 AM central.
