Lacey Chabert on reuniting with Scott Wolf for the Hallmark Christmas movie and producing those Mean Girls commercials for Walmart

The main character Lacey Chabert meets her again Group of five Co-star Scott Wolf hits the channels November 18 A very Scottish Christmasa bit about a formerly close sibling who reunites at their mother’s girls’ home in Scotland during the holidays.

Here, Chabert talks about reuniting with Wolf — who played her older brother Bailey on the 1994-2000 Fox drama — in her 38th (!!!) Hallmark film and what it meant to reunite with Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried be in these excellent Walmart Christmas ads.

Reporter Hallmark really pushed the strike. when did you shoot A very Merry Christmas?

LACEY CHABERT I recorded “Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up” in April [for Hallmark] and then filmed “A Merry Scottish Christmas” in June.

How long does it take to complete one of these films?

CHABERT Every Hallmark movie I’ve done, all 38 of them, came out in about 15 days. It’s really amazing to shoot so much and so fast, but it’s a pace and rhythm that we’re all so used to and it’s really nice that I get to work with a lot of the same teams. I have repeatedly worked with the same directors and producers, so there is a certain family atmosphere.

Whose idea was it to bring in Scott Wolf?

CHABERT Scott and I love each other so much, and ever since we finished Party of Five 23 years ago, I’ve been hoping we’d have the chance to work together again. And even though he’s always been in my life as a brother – we’re very, very close – we haven’t had a chance to work together on screen yet. When he did a Hallmark Christmas movie a few years ago, everyone asked, “Are you guys going to do one together?” We both said we would love the opportunity, and Hallmark embraced the idea and found this great story. They let us participate in the development of the story and the characters because we wanted to make sure it felt right. I am very excited to talk about this today. I’ll never forget being on set before we shot our first scene. I had a little tear in my eye because I just couldn’t believe that I had the opportunity to play his sister again and spend those three weeks with him and remember our time together on Party of Five.

Was Hallmark clear that you were supposed to be siblings and not lovers?

CHABERT One hundred percent. He and I both said that from the start, as did everyone else. It was never anyone’s idea that we would be lovers in the film. Nobody wants to see that! We’re brother and sister forever, and I was really happy that Hallmark was willing to take that as the core of the story. While there are romantic storylines in the film that are important and beautiful, what was really important to us was the brother-sister relationship and the way they find their way back together when they receive this news about their family in Scotland.

What memories do you have of working with Scott on Party of Five? You were just a child.

CHABERT I was 11. Can you believe it? I did this between the ages of 11 and 17 and was not much older than my daughter is now. I still remember the first time I met him. It was during the audition and our very last reading together. We all read together as a family, Neve, Matthew and Scott. It was in one of Fox’s offices and at the end of the audition they said, “Should we tell them?” We all looked around and they said, “You are our Salingers.” There was an immediate outburst of laughter, tears and Hugs. I didn’t really understand what it meant to be on a show, but I knew right away that I was going to be a part of something very special and that it would mean a lot to me. I never thought it would be six years and 144 episodes. Who I am today as an adult was largely determined by the influence of all the wonderful people around me during that time.

Do you think many of your Hallmark fans were Party of Five fans?

CHABERT I noticed that a lot of the fans of the Hallmark movies were people who also watched Party of Five, so hopefully they’ll enjoy filming it as much as we did. If you look closely, there are quite a few Easter eggs in Party of Five in the film.

You have Remove the holly will be released next weekend.

CHABERT It is a very different film to A Merry Scottish Christmas. Warm and festive, “A Merry Scottish Christmas” is the beautiful story of a brother and sister finding each other again. Haul Out the Holly is this big, broad comedy, super lighthearted. And there’s also a Party of Five reunion of sorts. Jennifer Aspen, who starred in four seasons of Party of Five [as Daphne Jablonsky] Play my kind, what’s the word? I don’t want to say Nemesis, but rather Fre-Mesis in the film. So it was a wonderful year of reunions on all fronts.

What has your career at Hallmark meant to you? What has it done for your life?

CHABERT I had no idea it would become what it did. I can’t even express my gratitude. As a viewer, I love these films. I love watching all the other movies that Hallmark makes and I feel so lucky to be a part of something that brings just a little bit of joy into the world and that I get to tell stories that people connect with. Hopefully you can identify yourself in it. These stories touch my heart so deeply and I don’t take them for granted for a moment.

Time to talk about itThese are mean girls inspired walmart commercials!

CHABERT I had the best time reuniting with Amanda and Lindsay and stepping back into the shoes of the characters for a moment. It was a great joy and a full circle moment. It’s been almost 20 years. We all have children now. We were able to talk about our children and spend the day reminiscing. It also felt like no time had passed. We did it in Los Angeles.

Were you worried that it would damage the film’s legacy?

CHABERT Natural. When you revisit something, you just want it to do justice to the original project and always leave it in a good light. But I think we were in good hands and it was great to revisit the story and these characters. It was just a great time. I mean, we laughed all day on set and were really excited to get the chance to see these characters again. The ads will air until November. We had more of Gretchen [Chabert’s character from Mean Girls] Story from last week. And last Wednesday, Lindsay’s character was there, and I think there will be a few more.

Do you know why Rachel McAdams couldn’t do it?

CHABERT I actually don’t know. I love Rachel and we would love to have her with us, but I’m not sure what happened.

Have you booked your Hallmark projects for 2024 yet?

CHABERT We are working to make it possible. And I have another project that I can’t talk about at Hallmark yet, but that will expand the Hallmark brand in exciting ways.