When Ben Rosenbaum landed his first role as a Hallmark movie leading man in “The Christmas Cup,” he knew longtime Hallmark Channel star Rhiannon Fish had already signed on as the movie’s leading lady and was “very excited” to work with her.
But the longtime “When Calls The Heart” star told EntertainmentNow ahead of the movie’s premiere on November 30, 2025, that he had no idea some of his WCTH castmates — including Pascale Hutton, Natasha Burnett, and Jaeda Lily Miller — would be joining him on the set.
Ben Rosenbaum Actually Surprised Andrea Brooks With Her Role in ‘The Christmas Cup’
Rosenbaum, who’s played Mike Hickam on WCTH since it premiered in 2014, announced at the Hearties Family Reunion event in September that he would be starring in his first Hallmark Christmas movie and that several WCTH castmates would appear in “The Christmas Cup,” too.
“I was very excited to hear about Rhiannon,” he told EntertainmentNow. “And then, with regard to the ‘When Calls’ cast, Pascale got to surprise me with the news when she agreed to come and do the cameo. And Natasha and Jaeda were a surprise to me as well.”
Meanwhile, Brooks’ appearance in the movie was actually a surprise to her. Rosenbaum explained, “Andrea’s story is a funny one because she was actually in Kelowna, where we were filming the movie, for a wedding. She texted me just to say that she was in town and see if I would be available to get a coffee or something like that. And I said, ‘I’m not available because we’re filming all the time for this, but you could come on down to set and join the movie!'”
“It was really fun,” he continued. “It was that type of collaborative set throughout the director, Robin Dunne, and our producers on it were just great start to finish, allowing us to ruminate (on scenes), give input and make suggestions, and really participate in the crafting of the movie. So it was a really rewarding process in that way, and Andrea has a really fun little pop-in cameo.”
Ben Rosenbaum Says ‘The Christmas Cup’ Was a Definite Departure for His WCTH Castmates
HallmarkIn “The Christmas Cup,” Fish plays an injured Marine who’s sent to recover at home, where she gets roped into leading her hometown team in the Christmas Cup competition against a neighboring town, with help from Rosenbaum’s character, a local firefighter.
Rosenbaum beamed about Fish but also said his WCTH castmates’ roles are a definite departure from their characters on the long-running series.
British-born Burnett, for instance, is “still doing an American accent, which is not her natural accent, but her it was a very different version of an American accent, obviously much more modern. So that was a really distinct change for her, and Jaeda as Starla is gonna steal some scenes. She’s so bubbly and
fun and funny in this and really, like, takes a character that felt like it could have been a caricature, and made it feel totally real, like a real person in the world who’s just a little bit extra dramatic, a little extra.”
Rosenbaum wasn’t the only one impressed by the cast and crew on the project. On November 28, Fish shared a preview of the movie on social media and wrote, “It was an honour to work alongside this extraordinary crew. Witnessing the way you showed up for each other was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I will carry that love with me forever ❤️”
As for the difference between Rosenbaum’s WCTH character and Quinn, his “The Christmas Character,” the actor said, “I think for me, it was more about turning down some of the dials that I turn up for my kick him with Hickam. I really turn up specific kind of parts of my own personality and make him a bit of a human puppy dog, whereas for Quinn, it (took) a lot more grounding. I wanted to feel sort of the weight of his responsibility and his stature in the town as a leader and someone with some authority as the captain of the firefighters. So that was more about kind of grounding into his boots, and finding more stillness than I think Mike Hickam has.”
“The Christmas Cup” premieres on Hallmark Channel on December 5 at 6 p.m. Eastern time, and will be available to stream via Hallmark+ the following day.
I liked that movie. I was surprised to see several WCTH stars appear in it including Kavan Smith.
Why did they do such a crappy job on Rhianna’s uniform … mismatched pants, wrong jacket dress, poor fit, no tie, shoulders wrong …
Disgraceful