Long Live Lacey Chabert, The Queen of Christmas!

Wherever you land on the “How early is too early?” debate when it comes to Christmas, I think we can all agree that "any point after Thanksgiving" is acceptable, right? So, let’s set the mood with the Queen of Christmas herself:

Although, perhaps a more apt description for Mariah Carey would be the Queen of Christmas Music. Because there’s another Queen of Christmas we have to talk about: Lacey Chabert. All hail the Queen of Christmas Movies!

At this point, Lacey Chabert has 10 Hallmark Christmas movies under her belt, with a 11th set for release this year. She has starred in a new Hallmark Christmas movie just about every year since 2012. Chabert didn’t make the slate in 2013 but made up for it last year (2020), pulling double duty on The Christmas Waltz and Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas.

Are they all essentially the same storyline? Yes, but that’s the beauty of Hallmark Christmas movies. Do we still look forward to watching them, and watching Lacey Chabert fall in love again every year? Absolutely. It’s tradition.

Chabert herself has even admitted to Hallmark’s somewhat (Christmas) cookie-cutter storytelling. But when it comes down to it, Chabert loves Christmas and loves making Christmas movies. And we’re not the only ones who love watching her.

The beauty of Chabert’s Christmas catalogue is that her love for these stories is profoundly apparent. She brings her heart and soul to every one of her Christmas characters (even the ones who maybe don’t love Christmas at the start of the movie). That’s half the battle with stories as saccharine as those from Hallmark. It’s easy to let the movie lean on the Christmas spirit of fans, along with simple recognition of the names attached to the project. But at no point has Chabert phoned it in; she’s always given her whole self to her movies, making them stand out from the rest. With Chabert at the helm, our heroine feels much more real and exceedingly easy to root for. At times, it’s easy to forget that this is the same woman whose hair was once "full of secrets".

This year, Chabert will star in Christmas at Castle Hart, airing this Saturday (November 27) on the Hallmark Channel. In this year's offering, Lacey heads to Ireland as her character seeks out her Irish roots. Along the way, a case of mistaken identity leads her (presumably) into the arms of a dashing Irish lad -- let the holiday hijinks ensue!