Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas event is about to premiere with Noel Next Door, a unique movie that’s full of compassion, festive spirit and charm, as director Maxwell McGuire exclusive teased us.
We at Survived The Shows had the pleasure of chatting with Maxwell McGuire about his experience in the making of Noel Next Door and what fans can expect from the movie. Check out full interview in the video below!
What’s the main element in Noel’s and Jeremy’s characters and the movie in general that fascinates you the most and drew you to join Noel Next Door?
MAXWELL MCGUIRE: Compassion. Noelle’s character is so compassionate, so caring, despite the challenges she has. She’s determined to see the best in Jeremy, and then of course also the actors themselves, who are friends of mine. It was our second or third project with each other, for me and Natalie and then Corey, our second [project together] and we’ve grown fond of each other, so I’ll work with them whenever I can.
As we know quite well so far, Hallmark movies and shows always feature well-shaped and relatable characters. Is there any particular character you can relate to the most on a personal level?
MM: Actually, Jeremy’s character. He has a physical ailment that affects his emotional state and his ability to enjoy Christmas, the holidays and anything positive beyond what he’s passionate about with his music and myself. As some of my Italian friends and fans might know, I have cystic fibrosis and I made a movie about cystic fibrosis years ago. I got to tour your beautiful country showing the movie and sharing the story and raising money for the foundation there. And I actually directed an advertisement for the foundation in Italy. So yeah, I relate to that on the character, and then obviously as a human, you know where you’re navigating, battling your passion with the wanting to find love.
To all the fans looking forward to watching the movie, how would you describe Noel Next Door in just 3 words?
MM: Charming, heartwarming and festive
On the directing point of view, what’s been the biggest challenge for you?
MM: For this movie and all movies is always time. There’s never enough time to do everything you want to do. You want to go another take, you want to go another scene, you want to go another shot. But the budgets and the fast times, we make these movies in 14 days. Yeah, sometimes you get a Christmas script and you have to shoot in the summer. So you spend a lot of time making the snow, let alone the movie.
This one luckily was shot in the winter. So I think you can see the difference when you can feel the breath and feel the cold and. And they were cold, absolutely. And so you the elements, whether it’s, you know, I shot a movie overnight outside in the middle of winter when it was minus 30 degrees Celsius. Your actors‘ mouths, they stopped working properly. So it’s keeping the train running, it’s making your day, making sure you get the emotional beats of the film, getting the shots you want, and then hopefully having an enjoyable experience along the way. And so time is always your enemy on film.
If you could choose a character from Noel Next Door that you would have loved to play if you were an actor, which one would it be and why?
MM: The obvious choices are the leads, but I don’t find myself to be a leading man. So there’s a character who is not the right guy for Noel, and he was quirky and he was funny and ended up not getting the girl. Spoiler alert. But he got to be some Comic Relief and just be offbeat, and so I think that would be a fun role to play
The interview with Maxwell McGuire has been edited and condensed for lenght and clarity. Watch the full video interview at the top of the article!
Noel Next Door premieres Oct 21 on Hallmark Channel and opens up the annual Countdown to Christmas event. Watch an exclusive preview below!
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Chiara
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