'When Christmas Was Young': Karen David Talks 'Magical' CBS Holiday Movie, Reveals Incredible Coincidence of Working With Sheryl Crow (Exclusive)
CBS has been delivering some fun holiday flicks this season, and coming up soon the network will debut When Christmas Was Young. The music-centric movie is produced by music industry icon Sheryl Crow and written by bestselling novelist Robert Tate Miller (Hope at Christmas, Forever Christmas). The story "follows a headstrong music manager (actor/musician Tyler Hilton) in desperate need of a hit song for his last remaining client." However, he "finds himself falling for a gifted singer-songwriter (Karen David) with abandoned dreams of making it big, as he attempts to secure the rights to a Christmas song she wrote years ago."
PopCulture.com had a chance to chat with David (Galavant, Barry) about the new film, as well as what it was like to work with Crow on the project. During our conversation, she eventually revealed an incredible coincidence about their collaboration. First, sharing a little about the movie, David assured viewers that the film's greatest strength is that "it celebrates music." She continued, "Music is the star and the heartbeat of this movie. And that's why I signed up to do it. And I'm pretty sure for Tyler too." Noting that she and Hilton both come from "music backgrounds," David explained that working on When Christmas Was Young "has been such a joy to be going back to my music roots and to be singing again, and recording a record and everything. Has just lit my soul on fire because it just takes me back, the nostalgia of it, back to my journey and where I started. And what that was like."
She went on to say, "There's so much about this storyline that I could relate to, and I know that Tyler could relate to as well, which just made our hearts really fuzzy and warm. And at the same time, going, 'Oh my god, we really survived all this stuff that we went through in our journeys at the beginning.' The rejections, the ups and downs, the twists and turns, and all of that involved when you're trying to pursue a career in music. It's not for the fainthearted. But gosh, when you get those wins, it just becomes the most magical thing. And certainly for this movie, a lot of stars aligned with being able to relate to all of that."
Crow, an award-winning singer-songwriter, is an executive producer of When Christmas Was Young, and also wrote the film's title song. When asked about working with Crow, David gushd that she is "a consummate performer, and her talent for crafting a song is like no other." The actress also shared that, coincidentally, she had been exposed to Crow's music during her days as a young music student.
"I remember being a 16-year-old at Berkeley College of Music, and I had a summer there. And they always invite these guest artists to come in and speak," she said. "And Bonnie Raitt was one of the guest artists that came in, and she's a legend in herself. It was a songwriting clinic, and she was talking about songwriters, and she mentioned about Sheryl Crow."
David continued, "I remember just being this teenager, this 16-year-old, wet behind the ears naive, not knowing a thing about the big world out there in the music business and all of this. And here with someone like Bonnie Raitt coming in to talk to everyone. And she mentioned about Sheryl Crow and how she highly rated Sheryl as a songwriter, and just talking about Sheryl's journey too. And she joked with all of us, but was being serious too. And she was like, 'Listen, if you guys ever get the chance to work with her, highly recommend.'"
The actress then went on to say, "It was so funny. And we're sitting there, 'Really? What are the chances we're ever going to work with Sheryl Crow?' I remember this. I just love how the universe works in mysterious ways, and can be so magical... When I read the script and then was told that Sheryl was writing the title track, and that I would get the opportunity to record the song and release it as a record and all of that. I could not believe it. I just thought, this is a win-win. This is beyond a dream and then some.
Vicariously reliving her musical youth, David added, "It just took me back to being that 16-year-old back when I was a student, a music student. And just wishing upon a star and just thinking, 'oh my gosh.' And so to have that opportunity now, gosh, that was so deeply humbling." However, the opportunity was as "petrifying" as it was exciting, David confessed. "Listening to Sheryl sing the demo, I couldn't believe what I was hearing," she said.
She continued, "I was like, 'This is the Sheryl Crow who's written this song for my character... and this is her singing it, and she sounds so amazing. How am I going to make it sound good?' She sets the bar high. And I just thought, I've just got to be me. I've just got to channel in melody and make it true to melody. If that makes Sheryl and CBS and everyone happy, then that makes me happy. And it was truly such a thrilling and magical moment for me." When Christmas Was Young airs Sunday, Dec 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. PT, on CBS.
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