When 'One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery' debuts on Hallmark Mystery on April 5, 2024, it will be the ninth time Hallmark star Alison Sweeneyhas played the crime-solving bakery owner. However, this time feels different for the actress because she also wrote the movie for the first time, which made her more nervous.
While Sweeney has always had a say in the direction of each movie and has been a producer for all of them, she admitted that becoming a screenwriter for the franchise was unexpected and sometimes overwhelming.
Despite her nerves, she hopes that viewers will enjoy the final product. The movie also introduces a new partner for her character in solving crimes, played by longtime Hallmark star Victor Webster. Alison Sweeney gives credit to her dad for inspiring her to write the new 'Hannah Swensen Mystery.' Alison Sweeney in 'One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery' premiering April 5, 2024, on Hallmark Mystery..
The 'Hannah Swensen' series is based on a collection of
Hallmarkover 30 books
written by Joanne Fluke since 2000. Sweeney, who is a producer of the movies with creative development partner Craig Baumgarten, told CinemaBlend on April 3 that she is responsible for reading the novels to determine the plot of the next movie. She said, “As a producer, I sift through Joanne Fluke’s great books and try to identify the key points that we want to showcase in the next movie,” to the outlet. While working on the next mystery, inspired by Fluke’s
“Apple Turnover Murder,”
Sweeney became more engaged in the plot, thanks to her dad. “Two or three movies ago, my dad was like, ‘That’s not enough evidence to convict someone. You don’t know that he did it,’” Sweeney told Us Weekly
in February. “(He’s like), ‘Well, I’m just saying, I mean, that’s not real evidence.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I think he’s right. I have to develop the evidence, get proof.’” Baumgarten noticed Sweeney’s newfound passion for making the next mystery more believable and suggested that she write the movie. “As it was unfolding with this one, I had really taken ownership of the outline and what the pitch was going to be,” she told CinemaBlend. “Craig asked, ‘Would you ever consider writing one? You really have a handle on what you’re doing and how you want to tell the story.’ I felt a little overwhelmed when we first started talking about it, and then then, the more we discussed it, the more excited I got at the opportunity to write it.”
Sweeney added, “Hallmark seemed very enthusiastic about it. That’s the amazing thing about working with Hallmark, how positive and supportive they are. They really gave me a chance to do it, and it all kind of went, knock on wood, pretty smoothly.”
Alison Sweeney shares that she watched YouTube videos to learn how to write the new movie.
Although Sweeney has appeared in many Hallmark movies, she had no experience in writing one, so she did some research to figure out how to get started,
she recently told TVLine
She said, “I watched some YouTube videos and read about how writers manage their time, and once I had completed the outline — creating the mystery and figuring out where the clues are being placed felt like the most challenging part — I committed myself to writing 10 pages every day.” Sweeney also had to include a new character in the mix. Though Cameron Mathison has played Swensen’s love interest, “Detective Mike,” since the franchise began in 2015, he moved from Hallmark to Great American Family in late 2023. Webster, who.
co-starred with Sweeney
in Hallmark’s “The Wedding Veil” trilogy, was cast as local prosecuting attorney Chad Norton. She told TVLine, “Initially, when we approached Victor, I had to explain to him how I envision this character: ‘How do I think he fits into Hannah’s world? And how is he going to be different (from Mike)?'” “The fortunate thing for me is I’ve worked with Victor before and I know him very well, and I had this image in my mind of the man he could be that would truly be different to Hannah’s world,” Sweeney continued. “He’s a little more resistant to her charms, a little more about following protocol, rules. That was a really enjoyable twist to bring into Hannah’s world.”
The most difficult part of the entire writing process, Sweeney said, was letting others read her script.
“The most nerve-wracking part was when I finally finished it and had to send it out to other people to read it,” she told CinemaBlend. “That was the part where I was like, ‘Oh God. No. Now what? Other people are going to read this?’ I hadn’t prepared myself for that.”
“One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery” premieres on Hallmark Mystery on April 5 at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
Actress Alison Sweeney expands her horizons with her ninth “Hannah Swensen Mystery,” adding a new role to her resume that she’s been anxious about.
“One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery” premieres on Hallmark Mystery on April 5 at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
