Mistletoe Murders Left Sarah Drew Feeling Like a ‘Sore’ Action Star

Sarah Drew is in awe of Hallmark’s first-ever holiday mysteries show, Mistletoe Murders, especially after her unexpected action sequences.

“I got to do this really cool fight scene that involved a three-hour weekend practice of learning all the choreography,” Drew, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting the Hallmark+ series, which premieres on Thursday, October 31. “I was so sore.”

The actress, who plays Christmas store owner turned amateur sleuth Emily Lane, revealed that her muscles were “so sore” that she had to borrow costar Peter Mooney’s Theragun massager on set.

“He lent me his [Theragun] because I was in so much pain from the rehearsal,” Drew recalled of Mooney, 41, who plays Detective Sam Wilner. “Then his wrap gift to me was my very own Theragun, which I love so much.”

While Drew had a few bumps and bruises from the scene, she gushed about the experience and her newfound draw to action roles.

“I just got done playing a bounty hunter where I had another epic fight scene and I was like, [a] bad assery, gun toting, I am going to burn this place down [character],” she explained. “I just did that in North Carolina and I’m like, ‘What is happening? Why am I all of a sudden an action person?’”

Mistletoe Murders specifically, gave Drew the opportunity to “learn new skills” and “jump into” an action-packed part, which is contrary to her own personality.

“I love getting to play moments of high intensity, like, anger [and] fighting because I’m so self-controlled in real life and I will never let loose like that. I’m not going to punch someone or kick someone. It’s not going to happen,” she told Us. “But getting to do it when someone wrote it in a script, so I have to, it’s like a release. It’s so nice. I love it so much.”

Drew noted that thanks to the launch of Hallmark+, she isn’t the only actress who is getting to flex different muscles in front of the camera. (Drew is also working behind the camera on Mistletoe Murders as an executive producer.)

“Hallmark is launching into that streaming world and really elevating all of their material and it’s really fun because it’s like we got a little bit more layers,” she said of the network’s streaming service, which premiered in September. “We still have all the things that Hallmark viewers know and love about Hallmark, but we’re bringing in a little more spiciness, a little more darkness at times, bigger emotions, bigger loves, bigger all.”

The Grey’s Anatomy alum continued, “It just gets a little deeper and more layered and more complex. And that’s where I love to live, so this is heaven for me. If I could do this show for years, I’d be a happy camper.”

Drew explained that the complexities in Mistletoe Murders start with her character, Emily, and spread throughout the story lines.

On the show, which consists of six episodes, Emily’s “sleuthing skills are put to the test as she investigates local murders” while running her Christmas store. “Despite Detective Sam Wilner’s growing affection for her, Emily’s enigmatic past raises suspicions about her true motives,” the synopsis reads.

Drew, meanwhile, described the show as the mixing of “two beloved genres,” the holiday genre and the murder mystery genre.

“What’s really fun about it is that my character is a paradox in and of herself. So it’s fun that it’s a show that is a paradox of two genres about a character who is a paradox,” she said. “She is on the surface, a very sweet owner of a Christmas shop and then people start to die and all of a sudden you discover she has all these skills that a retail owner should not have.”

Drew added, “[We] sprinkle some bread crumbs throughout to fill in some gaps about her past, but it’s a nice long tease.”

Each episode brings mystery to the forefront, but it’s Emily’s evolution that Drew is most excited to show viewers.

“I love that we could hear her inner monologue all the time in the voiceover and then watch her face doing something completely opposite to what her mind is saying,” she shared. “I just think that it’s so wonderful because I feel like it’s very human, actually. We all have a million conversations going on in our brain and you put on a mask to get the thing done that you need to do and whatever setting you’re in. … I feel like this show just sort of illuminates that.”

Drew revealed that Emily has a “really cool backstory,” which she hopes fans will get more of if the show is renewed for a second season. (Mistletoe Murders is based on an Audible original story, so there is a possibility of multiple seasons.)

“When we were all leaving, I definitely shed tears in the trailer on my last day. I’m like, ‘This can’t be the end. It can’t be the end,’” Drew confessed. “We’ve created such a gorgeous family here. We’re having so much fun. There’s so much joy on that set, and we’re telling stories that matter.”

The star explained that she’s “fallen madly in love with Emily Lane” and considers the character “a sister” similar to the way she felt about her Grey’s character, April.

“I cherish her, I treasure her, and I want really good things for her. I want things to work out for her,” Drew said of Emily. “But she’s got pain and she’s got trauma and she’s got life stuff and she’s got darkness and she’s got messiness. I love that about her. It’s just she’s so human and I just want to keep telling her story.”

Drew noted that she’s “obsessed” with her Mistletoe Murders’ alter ego because she is “a freaking cool character” who has “so many places to go.” She teased, “We’re just getting started in season 1.”

Mistletoe Murders premieres on Hallmark+ Thursday, October 31.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi