Hallmark
The “Aurora Teagarden Mysteries” are getting a revamped cast since former star Candance Cameron Bure left the Hallmark Family for Great American Family. But her co-star Marilu Henner is excited about this new iteration of the film, which is a prequel titled “Something New.”
In a Facebook live, Henner talked about the new version of the story and what she’s excited about for viewers to look for — like a future character death! And star Skyler Samuels, who is playing younger Aurora, and Henner both said they are optimistic for future installments of the revamped series.
Here’s what they had to say:
Marilu Henner Challenged Viewers to ‘See What They Can Pick Up,’ Like Perhaps a Future Character Death
In the Facebook live, Samuels asked her on-screen mom Henner if she was nervous about the new cast and Henner said she just wanted the new actors to love the series as much as she does.
“I was nervous in just wanting to make sure that everybody was as loved – first of all that you all loved what we were doing because I love it so much. I wanted you to be the kind of characters that people would latch onto just like the former characters were and I think that you have,” said Henner.
She added that she thinks viewers “are going to be very excited to take this ride with us,” and then she challenged longtime fans to see what they could pick up from the new movie.
“I think we’re putting enough things into the show that the audience is going to be glued to it to see what they can pick up, including maybe a character who dies in a future episode. This is like ‘Back to the Future,'” said Henner, adding, “I think that will be kind of interesting for people to say, ‘Oh, this is going to keep happening!'”
She later said that she hopes fans “really fall in love” with this new iteration because she’s on board to do many more.
“It’s important for the series to come to life as it always has and I’m sure it always will. I hope we get to do a lot of these, I hope people really fall in love with them because they’re so much fun. I think people have a blast trying to pick out all the little nuances we’ve thrown in there,” said Henner.
There’s a New Police Commissioner in Town & Samuels Said Aurora is Quite the Pain in His Neck
Since the film is a prequel, Aurora and her love interest Arthur have been recast with Samuels and Evan Roderick. And since Arthur is now just a beat cop (he was a detective in the other films because this is a prequel), there’s a new police commissioner for Aurora to pester, played by Steve Bacic.
“We have a new police commissioner that has never been addressed before and he is just a firecracker! I love him! I didn’t meet him on set because we didn’t have any scenes together,” gushed Henner.
“I hope he and Aurora have more stuff in the future because I loved him in the few scenes we got to have together,” added Samuels. “They are the most opposite in personality, but in a way that I think would be great if Aurora ever in the future is shadowing him as a detective or whatever it might be. She wants to be so nosy and involved and he’s like, ‘Why are you still here?’ and she’s like, ‘You can’t get rid of me!’ That relationship is so funny and he’s the best, so I hope we see more of him in the future.”
Henner then encouraged Samuels to take her ideas to the writers because they will definitely take those suggestions to heart, saying, “The great thing about doing a long-running series is that you can make suggestions based on what it feels like, what you’ve seen, so make sure you put that in the hopper.”
Samuels Also Said ‘Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New’ is Moodier Than Most Hallmark Movies
Henner said that most people when they think of Hallmark, they think about Christmas movies, but the “Aurora Teagarden” series is “more mysterious” and Samuels said she thinks the cinematographer was “really clever” in the way they made the movie so tense.
“I think they were really clever about wanting to punctuate our movie and sort of make you forget almost that you’re watching a Hallmark movie. I think sometimes people have a very particular idea in mind of what a Hallmark movie might look like or feel like,” siad Samuels, adding, “I think the fact that they chose these really cool aesthetics and tones make it moody. I think the camera almost feels like another character in the movie … it just adds to the moodiness and tension to the whole thing and I haven’t really seen that done before in the Hallmark world, so I think it’ll be really fun and immersive for the mystery audience to just put them in the story even more.”
“Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New” premieres Friday, June 9 at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
