Exclusive Interview
Meghan Ory & Benjamin Ayres on Why ‘Christmas Angel Match’ Isn’t Your Typical Hallmark Romance
Angels are the perfect matchmakers in Hallmark’s new holiday movie, A Christmas Angel Match, premiering October 19. Meghan Ory and Benjamin Ayres play Monica and Michael, Christmas angels on a mission to bring soulmates together during the holiday season.
Angels usually work solo, but the Christmas Connection Department pairs Monica and Michael together to guarantee that one couple falls in love by Christmas. During this quest, Monica and Michael realize the heavenly chemistry between them. Swooon spoke with Ory and Ayres about Monica and Michael’s unexpected love story — and how it’s different from the usual Hallmark romance.
“What’s interesting is they’ve known each other for a long time, but they’ve never worked in close quarters and secretly from afar,” Ayres said. “Michael has really had something for Monica, but in more of a respectful way. I think what’s so beautiful about the story is that they’ve never fallen in love ever before. They don’t even know if angels can do that. They never thought about it. They just love that it’s this beautiful emotion that humans have, and that they can go and facilitate it.”
Hallmark Media / Johnson Production Group
Embracing the eye-opening experience of someone falling in love for the first time was intriguing for Ayres. “Getting to play the discovery and such wonderful innocence was such a great experience, and just a unique thing to get to do,” he noted. “Other than a movie where you have amnesia, we don’t get to do that as an adult because you’ve gone through all of those steps.”
Ory didn’t just star in A Christmas Angel Match — she also wrote the film. When looking for the perfect actor to play the Michael to her Monica, Ory knew she’d found that person in Ayres. “He made this movie work,” she gushed. “He brought so much humor and this grounded aspect as well. I feel like that character could have just not worked at all. It could have been too serious, but Ben just brought this beautiful joy and lightness and humor and depth and spontaneity. Ben made the movie.”
Hallmark Media / Johnson Production Group
As we all know, matchmaking isn’t just a one-time thing. There are plenty of people who need a little help finding love. So, has Ory considered A Christmas Angel Match sequel? “Oh, 100%. We started writing it,” she told Swooon. “There’s a couple incarnations that it could come in. I feel like it would be so fun to continue in that way.”
Ayres pointed out that A Christmas Angel Match’s world is “so unique,” and so many questions still need to be answered about the Christmas Connection Department. “The movie is about making a match and our love story is kind of accidentally secondary,” Ory added. “The DCC and that whole world, we didn’t get into a lot of the how and what and why and all of those things. I think that we need to do The Office version of the DCC.”
In the middle of Swooon’s conversation with the stars, Ory’s brain was turning. “I just came up with a really good idea, and I’m not going to say it,” she teased. Maybe we’ll see the next chapter of A Christmas Angel Match in 2026!
A Christmas Angel Match, Movie Premiere, October 19, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel
