Where was Hallmark’s The Christmas Charade filmed?

Hallmark’s The Christmas Charade (2024) filmed almost entirely in Ontario, Canada, with Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area serving as the combined production base. The most specific confirmed venue is LIUNA Station at 360 James Street North in Hamilton, a Beaux-Arts rail terminal that closed to passengers in 1993 and reopened as an events centre in 2000. Its grand main hall appears as the Christmas Eve charity ball where the film’s central heist unfolds. Principal photography ran through the summer of 2024, with the art department converting warm-weather interiors into a December setting ahead of the October 26, 2024, Hallmark Channel premiere.

LIUNA Station, Hamilton

LIUNA Station takes its current name from the Labourers’ International Union of North America, which purchased the historic building and funded its restoration. The station was designed by architect John Schofield and built by Canadian National Railway, opening in 1931 as Hamilton C.N.R. Station. Via Rail withdrew passenger service in 1992, and GO Transit formally closed the building the following year. After years of vacancy, LIUNA invested in renovation and reopened the space in 2000 as an events venue for weddings, banquets, and private functions. The building was historically designated under the federal Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act; it also carries provincial protection under the Ontario Heritage Act and from the Ontario Heritage Trust, which has kept the exterior and main hall largely intact.

For The Christmas Charade, the station’s vaulted ceilings, arched windows, and ornate stonework provided the setting for the charity ball scenes. The production team added Christmas trees, seasonal lighting, and draped fabric to dress the space for a December-night tone, working against the summer temperatures of the actual shoot.

The Greater Toronto Area

Vortex Media, which produced the film, is an Ontario-based company with a track record of Hallmark and streaming productions shot in the province.

What the Film Is About

The Christmas Charade follows Whitney (Rachel Skarsten), a librarian raised by home security experts, who is drawn into an active FBI operation after a blind date mix-up pairs her with Special Agent Josh Dawson (Corey Sevier). Her cover role is to pose as Josh’s girlfriend at a Christmas Eve charity ball where a thief is planning to steal the Saint Nicholas Ruby, a necklace also referred to in the film as the Heart of Christmas and valued at over $10 million. Whitney proves useful to the operation, including suggesting the idea of embedding a tracker in a replica necklace as part of the sting.

Skarsten described the material to Swooon as “probably one of the best scripts for Hallmark that I’ve ever read.”

Director and Screenwriter

Corey Sevier directed The Christmas Charade while also playing the male lead. It was his second Hallmark feature as director, following Take Me Back for Christmas (2023). The screenplay was written by his wife, Kate Pragnell, a Vancouver Film School graduate whose Hallmark credits also include Take Me Back for Christmas, Cabin Connection, and Heart of the Holidays.

The casting of Skarsten came directly out of an earlier 2024 project. While the two were filming Jazz Ramsey: A K-9 Mystery together, Sevier mentioned that Pragnell was writing a Christmas movie and that Skarsten would be right for the lead. Their working relationship goes back considerably further: they first appeared together as children on the Canadian series Little Men (1998 to 1999), when Skarsten was 12 and Sevier was 13.

Cast

Rachel Skarsten plays Whitney, the librarian protagonist. She was born in Toronto. Her first major television role was as Elizabeth “Bess” Lawrence on Little Men (1998 to 1999), a Canadian series adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s novel. She followed that with Dinah Lance in the WB series Birds of Prey (2002). Later credits include Lost Girl, Reign (as Elizabeth I), and Batwoman (2019 to 2022, as Alice / Beth Kane). Her film work includes The Vow (2012) and Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). On Hallmark, she appeared in Marry Me at Christmas (2017), The Royal Nanny (2022), and Christmas Island (2023) before The Christmas Charade.

Corey Sevier was born in Ajax, Ontario, and began working as a model before age one. His breakout came playing Timmy on the 1990s Lassie series, a role that earned him a Gemini nomination. Later film credits include the mythological epic Immortals (2011), in which he played the god Apollo, and The Northlander (2016). On Hallmark, he played fisherman Seth Gunderson across 14 episodes of Cedar Cove (2013 to 2014) and starred in The Heiress and the Handyman (2024) in addition to Take Me Back for Christmas (2023).

The principal supporting cast includes Jayne Eastwood as Gladys, Jefferson Brown as Maxwell, Kristin Booth as Larissa Rush, Rob Stewart as Jim, Kate Hewlett as Patty, Cynthia Dale as Cheryl, Tamara Almeida as Kiera, James Kall as Henry, and Glen Michael Grant as Agent Michaels.