Exclusive Interview
Why ‘Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper!’ Is Robert Buckley’s ‘Bucket List’ Hallmark Movie
What To Know
- Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper! is part of Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas lineup.
- Robert Buckley plays Ted Cooper, a weatherman with horrible holiday luck.
- This marks the first time Buckley and Kimberley Sustad have worked together in the Hallmark universe.
The forecast looks full of romance and holiday fun in Hallmark’s new movie, Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper!, premiering October 25 on Hallmark Channel. Robert Buckley stars as weatherman Ted Cooper, a lover of all things Christmas, but his luck with the holiday over the last three years would have you thinking otherwise.
When Ted falls off a ladder while hanging decorations, he hits his head and winds up in urgent care, which is where he sees his former high school crush, now Dr. Hope Newberry (Kimberley Sustad), again. Swooon spoke with Buckley and Sustad about their new holiday romance, which came straight from Buckley’s brain.
“It came from two places,” Buckley said about the movie’s inspiration. “One, I’ve always wanted to play a weatherman. Don’t know why. Just seemed fun. I wanted to do the green screen, so that’s been a career bucket list item. The starting point for it was: I liked the idea of what relentless optimism looks like in the face of horrendous bad luck. And I thought that was kind of an interesting starting point. So that’s where we got Ted Cooper. He’s this very likable, sunshiny guy who just has a brutal run of bad holiday luck.”
Hallmark Media / Allister Foster
Ted and Hope first met as classmates, and Buckley noted that Ted “quietly crushed on” Hope in high school. “Ted always kind of thought she was the girl who was way out of his league,” he said. When they cross paths again after all these years, their hearts begin to thunder with feelings for each other.
Hallmark Media / Allister Foster
“I usually tend to play more of the Bridget Jones, kind of foot-in-the-mouth characters who were not cool in high school, so it was a lot of fun to watch Robert take that role and fall all over himself with that and me play more of the cool cat in this one,” Sustad told Swooon. She pointed out that Ted Cooper is “one of those Ted Lasso kind of characters that you just fall in love with and aspire to be like” because he’s so “charming and down to earth and relatable.”
Buckley and Sustad together bring a delightful comedic presence to the Hallmark movie. There’s even a scene in Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper! where Buckley is dressed up in a large snowman suit. (Think an adult size Olaf costume.)
“I’m a big fan of making myself look foolish,” the One Tree Hill alum quipped. “And the idea with that was, I wanted the biggest costume possible, so that I bump into as many things, and it would make a moment where chemistry is happening funny and awkward, as opposed to just easily romantic. I was a big advocate for the bigger the better.”
Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper!, Movie Premiere, October 25, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel
