Canadian actor Christopher Russell chatted about his new film “The Most Colorful Time of the Year.”
It will be released on Friday, December 9 on the Hallmark Channel and he stars alongside Katrina Bowden.
In this movie, he plays Ryan, who is an elementary school science teacher who meets Michelle (Katrina Bowden), an optometrist, whose daughter Bailey (Ava Weiss) is in his class. While helping out in the school gymnasium giving eye exams Michelle notices something different about Ryan, he lacks interest in color which is surprising given the holiday season.
“It was a lot of fun playing the schoolteacher,” he said. “We were able to use a real school and in the daytime (because we filmed it in August), and a lot of the kids in my class, that played my students, were so excited to be there. They were so keen and eager and we developed this rapport. The kids would listen to me more than the director so I became an actual teacher to them. It was a lot of fun and I got a couple of cute notes from that week written in crayon basically saying that they had a great week and it was pretty awesome.”
When Michelle is finished seeing the kids, she prompts Ryan to participate in an eye exam. He is reluctant and cuts it short, leaving her to suspect he may be colorblind. To confirm her suspicion, Michelle humorously tries to trick Ryan. He is guarded and sly but ultimately gives himself away. Michelle gains access to specialty glasses for Ryan but refuses them.
When Bailey learns of this, she sneaks them into her backpack and leaves them on her teacher’s desk with a handwritten note, “These glasses exist because of science, and you taught me that science should give us hope.”
“Working with Katrina Bowden was great. I remember her from ’30 Rock,’ she was hilarious,” he said. “To meet her so many years later in person was a lot of fun. Katrina is definitely a kindhearted and warm person. She is naturally nurturing and she did a really good job with her character.”
“The Most Colorful Time of Year” was directed by Maxwell McGuire from a story written by Keith Hemstreet and Alan Donahue. “I hope this movie makes people feel happy and I hope that it warms their hearts during the holidays,” he said.
This past July, Russell was a part of a virtual fan event for Star Image Entertainment, which benefits the Canadian charity Cedars CanSupport, which aids cancer patients and their families. “That was a lot of fun. The fans were really gracious and they had a lot of good questions. It was just a really nice experience,” he said.
Russell had great words for fellow actor Clayton James. “I’ve known him for a while now. We actually did a superhero comedy web series together called ‘Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.’ Clayton is great,” he said.
To learn more about actor Christopher Russell, follow him on Instagram, and check out his IMDb page.
