In this exclusive interview, Szohr and Farr discuss what it was like to mix romance and renovation.
Would I be interested in reading the script?
an hour from where we shot.
The story was cute, the producers were great.
It was a no-brainer.
Hilary Farr:That was an incredibly long answer, and I don’t have as much to say.
All I’m going to be doing is, she’s so good.
I’m going to jump in and right back out again.
The answer was very similar to Jessica’s: “Yes, why not?”
Depending on timing, mostly, that was my biggest concern.
The real kicker and clincher was they said I could bring my dog.
Ah, that’s important.
Hilary:A big deal.
Jessica:It was amazing and awesome.
Making the houses that you live in a home was so special because you spend so much time there.
To work with the lovely Hilary was amazing, so it was great.
It felt really like we were tearing down walls and putting up wallpaper.
That’s the pressure element that most designers can’t even comprehend.
There’s a lot of work, long hours to be put into a timeframe.
It was quite fascinating to see what all goes into it from start to finish.
I’ve had a really great experience with all of it.
The team was extraordinary.
It’s clear there’s a lot of work that went into this.
He was very informed, I must tell you, and everybody there was in terms of renovations.
I did have input.
Actually, Jessica asked me something at one point.
It wasn’t a long, drawn-out answer or we didn’t have to take 45 minutes.
I’m like, “Okay, let’s move on.”
The other thing is that Jessica’s character [is] supposed to be an engineering genius as well.
You were being given all sorts of dialogue and information.
We’ve pulled it off.
I felt really good, and you know a lot anyway.
It felt very collaborative in a good way.
I’m curious, is this based in any way on real life events?
Does this kind of behind-the-scenes drama ever happen on real-life home improvement shows?
Hilary:It depends on how good-looking the contractor is.
On top of which, she’s got this love triangle thing happening.
I don’t think we’d get very far with all that going on with any of us.
We’d have more fun, possibly, but no is the answer.
The drama usually comes from me saying, “No, the tile is in upside down.
That’s the sort of drama that I deal with.
Jessica:There’s probably more love triangles or things on TV and movie sets.
Hilary:With luck, you would know.
He’s usually got five children and a marriage happening, so he’s really just a contractor.
That is very bonding.
They have this very comfortable dynamic with each other.
We never realized that maybe he was the one for me or I’m the one for him.
You feel right away like, “They’ve known each other for a long time.”
The way it played out and was written was very organic for us to play with.
Hilary:It doesn’t, because in reality, it’s a very small renovation.
There’s nothing much that happens in terms of a show.
It wouldn’t be enough for our average shows to carry a six-minute regular show.
There’s a lot of things in there I embraced.
It’s very charming.
It really did look beautiful and amazing.
It’s not a proper cabinet or cupboard in the kitchen.
There’s a lot of movie magic happening to make everything look great.
In reality, some of the stuff was taped up there.
It was quite wonderful.
How did you navigate that as an actor?
Stella was trying to do the right thing and ride it out.
“, she knows it’s wrong.
She doesn’t want anyone to hear it.
They’re bringing back a lot of emotions, going to this house that she grew up in.
She did the right thing by not going forward and getting married when her feelings were somewhere else.
I could see where people would be like, “Ah, this is tough.”
“Designing Christmas” is now streaming on Discovery+.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
