All My Children fans looking for a dose of Pine Valley this holiday season won't have to look far: Sam Page, who played Trey Kenyon on the ABC soap opera, and Lacey Chabert, who played Bianca Montgomery, have paired up for the Hallmark holiday film Christmas in Rome.
The heartwarming tale follows Chabert in the role of an independent-minded American tour guide named Angela, who is fired from her job in Rome just before Christmas. While contemplating her future, she stumbles into Oliver Martin (Page), a high-powered New York business executive sent to Rome to help close a deal with one of Italy's top ceramics companies. Angela helps Oliver, who is lost and late for his meeting, get to his destination but soon finds herself playing a central role in the deal, as the company owner will only sell to someone who understands the ways of Italy.
Oliver smartly hires Angela to be his personal tour guide but gets far more than he bargains for, as a romance blooms between them amidst the backdrop of Rome at Christmastime, and he learns that life moves at a different pace in Italy. As the deadline approaches for Oliver to close the deal, he is forced to face a choice between following his heart and following the money.
Chabert reports that she was thrilled about the opportunity of filming on location for the holiday movie, which was made in Rome and Romania earlier this year.
"Whenever we do the movies that are in destinations, such as a magical place like Rome, I just want the audience to feel like they went there with us and that they got to take their own tour of Rome by watching the movie," she tells International Business Times. "And then, also, most importantly, that it puts them in the Christmas spirit."
Christmas in Rome made its premiere on November 30, but fans can look forward to several encores as follows: Tuesday, December 3, at 8PM ET; Saturday, December 7, at 10:30PM ET; Thursday, December 12, at 4PM ET; Monday, December 16, at 6AM ET; Saturday, December 21, at 10:30PM ET; Wednesday, December 25, at 2PM ET; and Tuesday, December 31, at 12PM ET.
Check out a few behind-the-scenes photos from the filming of Christmas in Rome below and let us know what you think about the casting and premise of the film in the Comments section at the end of the article.
Chabert won the hearts of daytime fans as Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) daughter Bianca, a role she played from 1992 to 1993 before going on to find fame in series like Party of Five and films like Mean Girls. She's now a staple on Hallmark, having appeared in countless films on the network.
Page starred on AMC from 2002 to 2003 as Trey, who turned out to be not only Kendall's (Alicia Minshew) brother via Richard Fields, the man who raped Erica Kane, but also the brother of Leo (Josh Duhamel) and David (Vincent Irizarry) via their psychotic mother, Vanessa Bennett (Marj Dusay).
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