Alison Sweeney stars in the new Hallmark movie, Romance at Hope Ranch, alongside her daughter, Megan Sweeney. This is a milestone moment for her 17-year-old daughter, who makes her acting debut with this film.

Key Takeaways

• Alison Sweeney admitted that her emotions in the opening scene were for real.
• She couldn’t help but get emotional as she realized that her daughter was becoming an actor for the first time.
• Sweeney also recalled that her daughter’s life parallels her own career.

Alison Sweeney Overcome With Emotion

In an interview with EntertainmentNow, Sweeney talked about the moment that made her emotional. She admitted that the emotions she displays in the opening scene of Romance at Hope Ranch are for real. Sweeney couldn’t help but get teary-eyed.

In the scene, Sweeney (who may be hinting at a new project in Vancouver) plays Hope Morgan, a mother dropping her daughter off at college for the first time. That bittersweet goodbye affected Sweeney. Her real-life daughter, Megan, made her acting debut in that very opening scene, which choked up her famous mother.

“It just felt so real, I’m kind of getting emotional even talking about it,” Sweeney told EntertainmentNow. “It just felt like such a sincere moment between my daughter and me, and I think that really served the movie.”

Sweeney commended her daughter for working with director Tailiah Breon. But when it came to the moment when the mother-daughter duo filmed in the dorm, Sweeney remarked that it “just felt so real.” Megan stayed in character while her mother got emotional.

“Her instinct was to take advantage of this real feeling and use it in the scene, and allow it to be, and to be okay with sharing that emotion on camera. She really understood that the value of that, and made the most of it,” Sweeney explained.

Will Megan Sweeney Become an Actress?

Megan was 16 years old when she filmed Romance at Hope Ranch with her mom. That was the same age that Sweeney was when she landed the longtime role of Sami on Days of our Lives. She called the similarities in their career “wild.”

“I was driving myself to the studio, and, like, doing these very crazy scenes on the show,” Sweeney recalled. She feels grateful that her daughter had a safe and supportive experience.

Just because Megan’s acting alongside her famous mother doesn’t mean she’ll become an actress. “I asked her how she felt about it, if she was interested in doing it again, and she sort of was like, ‘No,’” Sweeney said with a laugh.

You can watch the mother-daughter pair on Romance at Hope Ranch, which premieres on Saturday, February 28, at 8 p.m. ET on the Hallmark Channel. It will also be available to stream the following day on Hallmark+.