Chandler Massey’s Romantic New Christmas Flick!
More than 30 years after Mystic, Connecticut, was the setting for the 1988 coming-of-age film Mystic Pizza, the quaint coastal village once again will be an unofficial movie star when Mystic Christmas debuts on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, Oct. 28. Starring Chandler Massey (ex-Will, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) and Jessy Schram, the original film is part of the network’s popular “Countdown to Christmas” programming event.
The movie follows Schram’s Juniper, a traveling marine veterinarian. As a favor for her college roommate, Candice, Juniper arrives in Mystic during the holidays to take a temporary position at the local aquarium’s rehabilitation center to help a seal named Peppermint be released back into the wild. While in town, Juniper reconnects with Massey’s character, Sawyer, the owner of the local pizza shop and Candice’s brother. Years ago, Juniper and Sawyer spent a romantic night together — and the spark between them is still there. But there’s a ticking clock on their resumed romance as Juniper is only in Mystic for a short time and Sawyer is too entrenched in his hometown to leave. Will Sawyer and the rest of the magical town convince Juniper to stay?
According to Connecticut Insider, the movie was filmed in Mystic last spring and features locations like the Mystic Aquarium, Mystic Seaport Museum, and Olde Mistick Village. Unfortunately for fans of Mystic Pizza, the pizza parlor that serves as Sawyer’s restaurant is Mango’s Wood-fired Pizza — but the film does include a cameo appearance by William R. Moses, who played Tim in the movie!
Mystic Christmas is Massey’s third holiday-themed film for the Hallmark network, having previously starred in Next Stop, Christmas and A Tale of Two Christmases. He’d also headlined Heart of the Matter for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and, last summer, The Professional Bridesmaid.
“I have a relationship with Hallmark over the years and I’ve done a number of movies for them,” Massey told Connecticut Insider. “And to be part of a feel-good Christmas story is a really lovely thing.”
You can watch a preview of Mystic Christmas below. And then tune in to Hallmark Channel at 8 p.m. EST on Saturday, Oct. 28!
