On The Young and the Restless, Michael Damian has played rock star Danny Romalotti for decades, but off camera, he has been writing, producing, and directing movies with his wife, Janeen Damian. The pair are two of the producers of A Paris Christmas Waltz, which premieres on Netflix on November 19.
Michael Damian also directed the movie, which stars multi-talented actors Jen Lilley and Matthew Morrison. Soap fans know Lilley for her role on Days of our Lives as Theresa Donovan from 2013 to 2023 and Maxie Jones on General Hospital from 2011 to 2012. Triple-threat Morrison is well-known on Broadway and television and notably starred in Glee as Will Schuester.
In A Paris Christmas Waltz, Emma (Jen Lilley) is an accountant who meets a retired professional dancer named Leo (Matthew Morrison). The two pair up for a dance competition but need to work through rehearsals, the competition — and their intense chemistry.
Michael Damian also produced and directed The Christmas Waltz movie in 2020, which starred Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp.
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Lilley and Morrison are both singers. Although Morrison was trained in ballet, tap, and jazz, he had never waltzed. For a couple of weeks, the two navigated their learning curve together in the dance studio and shared a behind-the-scenes look at their experience of filming next to world-champion dancers.
“I think it would almost be easier if I didn't know how to dance going into this. I had to unlearn a lot of stuff that I knew because ballroom and Latin are so different and such different counterpoints and timings and stuff, so it was really challenging to unlearn. But then once I got it, it was such a feeling of accomplishment.” - Matthew Morrison to PEOPLE
Jen Lilley also shared the experience with her Instagram followers, noting that she had “never been more proud of a project” that she had worked on.
“The dancing challenged me beyond belief, and we did it! (I definitely cried after our big finale dance tears of relief and joy and gratitude and pride). This movie will move your hearts and fill you with so much joy.” - Jen Lilley on Instagram
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Morrison also sings in A Paris Christmas Waltz, but dance “is what moves me,” he said to PEOPLE, adding, “It was also special just having two weeks of just dance rehearsals before we even started shooting. It really built up the chemistry between her and I and going into it.”
Jen is also starring in a new holiday movie on Great American Family. A Little Women's Christmas, a modern retelling of the popular novel, premieres on November 23. The movie stars Jillian Murray as Jo March, Trevor Donovan as Friedrich “Fritz” Baehr, Laura Osnes as Beth March, Jen Lilley as Meg March, Jesse Hutch as John Brooke, and Julia Reilly as Amy March. Gladys Knight also stars and will perform her new original Christmas song, “Joy.”
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