‘Party of Five’ Star Lacey Chabert

—Cranston Wong, Hilo, Hawaii

Chabert, 30, stars in the Hallmark Channel holiday movie, “Matchmaker Santa,” premiering this week, as a bakery owner hoping to get a proposal from her boyfriend, when Santa Claus interferes with her plans.

This is the second Hallmark Channel movie the Purvis, Miss.-born actress has done, but this one had a special appeal because she is a big fan of Christmas movies—her favorite holiday—and has always wanted to star in one of her own.

“The script had a very uplifting and upbeat tone to it, I kind of fell in love with the story,” she says. But she is also a romantic at heart, so the love story was also a big part of it.

“I have someone very special in my life,” she adds. “I feel we are very well suited for each other. I think when you meet someone who is your best friend and that is the basis of the relationship, I think it is a really a special thing.”

Chabert, who has worked continuously since “Party of Five” went off the air in 2000, can also be heard in several animated series, including “Transformers: Rescue Bots,” “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” “Young Justice” and “Allen Gregory.”

“Acting with your voice only and not being able to use your body is a different challenge,” she says. “It is a fun world where you can be creative because your physical appearance isn’t restraining you from playing a character.”

This past summer, Chabert filmed “Sanitarium,” an independent film, in San Antonio, Texas, in which she plays a teacher. She says the project turned out to be “cool” because it became a family affair.

“One of my little nephews wants to be in the business badly,” she says. “He was able to be in the film with me as one of my students. He got his big break. It was adorable to watch him on set. He was so excited and he knew what to do. I was shocked.”