‘Hot Frosty’ Stars Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan in ‘Releasing’ Nude Scene and This Mean Girls Nod

Red knitted scarf. That’s all Dustin Milligan’s sexy snowman Jack is wearing when audiences first meet him in Netflix’s latest Christmas movie, Hot Frosty.

“I was obviously very exposed during all of this, but in a way I was doing everything I could to just let go of all my inhibitions and be free, like Jack would have been at that moment,” Milligan says. Variety undressing “It was liberating for me!”

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In a fantastical plot that’s unconventional enough to work, Hot Frosty follows Kathy Lacey Chabert, a widow and local community role model, who unwittingly brings a snow sculpture (with a cut-out belly) to life with that red scarf and a little Christmas magic.

“It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the characters in the film are kind of joking around,” Chabert says of the film, recalling an early scene in which the town doctor (Katie Mixon) accepts the reality of an anthropomorphized snowman with a small question. “When I opened the script, it was only a few pages in and I was like, ‘Oh, wait a second, this movie has a lot of heart, it’s really romantic and it’s really funny.’

“One of the strengths is that it looks like it’s going to be one thing, and then it misleads you,” adds Milligan. “It’s a Christmas trick, and it gives you the best gift of all, which is the feeling of joy.”

Jack’s unbridled happiness and his wide-eyed urges Katie, who has plunged into work after the death of her beloved husband, to once again put her own happiness first. To convey Jack’s charming wonder, “Shitts Creek” alum Milligan says he drew inspiration from famous film characters caught in an unfamiliar world: Will Ferrell in “Elf,” Daryl Hannah in “Splash,” Jennifer Garner in “13 Going on 30” and Tom Hanks in “The Big One” to name a few.

And of course, Chabert brought her wealth of holiday knowledge to the project: She’s starred in more than a dozen Christmas movies for Hallmark, earning her the Internet’s “Queen of Christmas.”

“I like films that give a good mood. This is the kind of movie I like to watch personally, and Christmas is my favorite holiday. I’m so blessed to be in a position to do all these Christmas movies because I love them so much and they mean so much to me,” Chabert says. “It brings back good memories of my childhood. I have an 8-year-old daughter. Creating new memories by passing on these traditions is really important.”

While Chabert has been a Hallmark favorite for years, recently age discrimination lawsuit A statement from casting director Penny Perry claims the actor’s future with the channel may be in jeopardy. “Lacey is getting old and we need to find someone like her to replace her when she gets older,” Hallmark executive vice president of programming Lisa Hamilton Daley said in the lawsuit.

“I think it’s important that we have the opportunity to tell all of our stories at every stage of life,” Chabert says of ageism in the industry. “I have so much that I hope to share with my audience. Now I am a mother, and this is the experience of raising a daughter. It is very important for me to portray characters that she, as a younger generation, can also emulate and learn from. And in everything I do, I try to put as much of my real heart as possible.”

Hot Frosty, her first collaboration with Netflix, also includes a nod to one of her first and most famous film roles: Mean Girls. When Katie first brought Jack home, she mentioned Lindsay Lohan’s 2023 Netflix Christmas movie Falling for Christmas and quipped, “It’s so funny. It looks just like the girl I went to high school with.’

“Oh, I thought it was a lot of fun,” Chabert says, reading the line in the script. “I completely agreed. I love Lindsay. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and sharing the Mean Girls experience together was so special. And now that our paths cross again in this way, I’m just thrilled.”

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