Mae Whitman and Jane Seymour Take Us Inside Their New Hallmark Series Twelve Dates 'Til Christmas

'Tis the season to be enjoying cozy Hallmark fare, and the Crown Media network is delivering in style this year with the star-studded holiday limited series Twelve Dates 'Til Christmas. Mae Whitman stars as Kate, an interior designer living in a quaint British village with her father, Mac (Nathaniel Parker), until her friends intervene and sign her up for a matchmaking service that sends her on a dozen holiday-centric dates for the Christmas season. 

"It's a really nice story. It was really well-written, and I talked to the people involved. I fell in love with the entire crew and everybody involved," Whitman told TV Guide on the set of Twelve Dates earlier this year. The show takes place in England, but Hallmark and the crew took over the square of a charming village in Ireland and turned it into their own winter wonderland. It's Whitman's first job since becoming a mom, and she couldn't imagine a better project to get her back into the swing of things. 

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"Everyone seems so lovely and committed to making something really interesting and kind of different, digging into more complex characters. I thought that was really cool," she said. "It's scary, venturing out in the big world when your world has been small with your baby at home. Getting this kind of project is perfect because it's cozy. Who doesn't love a Christmas moment?" 

Whitman wasn't the only one having a surreal time on the set. Author Jenny Bayliss, who wrote the novel 12 Dates of Christmas that inspired the series, was also on hand, enjoying a springtime winter wonderland in Ireland. Bayliss joined the writers' room for the duration of the series and co-wrote the season finale with executive producer Erin Rodman. 

"I was sort of seeing the changes as they were happening, and that was really lovely. It felt like a natural progression. There are lots of changes, but it feels very natural. It feels like your heart is writing it," Bayliss explained on set. "To be able to have all these amazing people around me that are willing to show me their craft and let me learn from them, you can't put a price on it. I've had such an amazing time in the writers' room and here." 

Adaptations can be a tricky thing, with fans of the source material hankering to see their favorite scenes brought to life on screen. Bayliss is excited for fans of her novel to see what's coming in the limited series, but she also promises that a key component of the novel will be in the series, and she's not talking about the romance (though there will be plenty of that, too). 

"Kate had to stay being a strong woman. She had to have strong female presences around her. That has absolutely happened," the author promised. "We've got all these amazing female characters, and they're all really supportive of each other. Laura and Kate's relationship was so important in the book and is so important in the screen adaptation as well. So yeah, Kate and Laura was my main one, but that happened all on its own. There was no point at which I said, 'Excuse me, could we have a bit more?' They knew what they were doing." 

Another important female character is Evelyn, played by Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman herself, Jane Seymour. Evelyn is a widow and a social fixture in Kate's small town who strikes up an unexpected romance with Kate's father, sending both women on a whirlwind emotional adventure leading up to Christmas. 

"Evelyn decided to fill her life with everything that's fun and community, rather than grieve,"  Seymour explained over dinner on the Ireland set. "She is the buzzing part of the community here. She's got the book club. She's got knitting. She never did any of this before. She's dancing. She's busy. She's not thinking about the fact that she doesn't have what she'd really like to have in her life, which is a partner, because she lost the only one she thought she was going to have." 

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Evelyn finds herself in a complicated entanglement with Mac, which comes with attachments to his daughter and his ex-wife, Delilah (Mary McDonnell). It's no surprise that with a dozen dates on her calendar, Kate ends up in a bit of a complicated love-shape herself. 

"What I like about the story is that it's less black and white. It's not so down the middle where one person is good and one person is bad," Whitman revealed. "One of my favorite movies is Broadcast News, and it's sort of the same concept — people can just be not right for each other and still be great people. I really think that's a cool theme to explore." 

Before Kate can make any decisions about her happily ever after, or even happily Christmas after, the 12 dates will help her reignite key parts of herself that she's been neglecting while caring for her father and burying herself in work.

"Kate doesn't really know who she is. It's hard to know what you want if you haven't really spent enough time with yourself, being vulnerable and examining your fears and examining things that have maybe been holding you back," the actress said. "You can't really maintain control necessarily if you're jumping into an equal partnership, or something that feels like you have something to lose. She's somebody that's always been a little afraid to relinquish control." 

Whitman, Bayliss, and Seymour are very excited for fans to get to see Hallmark's first rom-com holiday series and be on both Kate and Evelyn's romantic journey through the six episodes. There are a dozen dates to enjoy, and all of the Christmas energy that Hallmark is famous for. 

"What a wonderful thing to get to experience all of this. Everything is dedicated to the nines," Whitman gushes. "You're sitting in a snow globe, and there's magical stuff all around you and fake snow in your eyes and mouth. That part's maybe not as romantic, but it looks great, and that's what matters." 

Twelve Dates 'Til Christmas premieres Friday, Dec. 5 at 8/7c with the first two episodes on Hallmark Channel. Two episodes will drop every Friday until the season finale on Dec. 19. Episodes will be available the next day on Hallmark+.