Osric Chau makes Hallmark sexy as a male lead in ‘Holidazed’
The actor's role puts an Asian character at the center of their own story at Hallmark
Actor Osric Chau in "Holidazed," Hallmark+’s new ensemble holiday limited series.
Courtesy of Hallmark+
Words by Philiana Ng
Osric Chau is no stranger to Hallmark. The Canadian actor, whose most recognizable roles include Supernatural, The Flash, and Arrow, has orbited the network the past several years, largely in supporting roles. It’s Hallmark+’s—the network’s streaming service—new ensemble holiday limited series, Holidazed, in which Chau moves to the spotlight as one of its leading men.
Holidazed, which drops weekly episodes through Dec. 24, revolves around six families from different backgrounds, cultures, and generations, who all live on the same cul-de-sac, with each family getting their own spotlight episode. In “The Lin Family” installment, which drops Thursday, Chau—whose mother hails from Malaysia and whose father is from Hong Kong—plays Ted Lin, a buttoned-up son who returns home to celebrate his engagement to fiancé Marcus (Shawn Ahmed). But Ted hasn’t broken the news yet to his grandmother (Lucille Soong)—someone who abides by traditional values—spawning a web of lies that soon spirals out of control.
While Hallmark has made significant strides to be as inclusive as possible with the people they choose to feature and the types of stories they invest in, Asian representation on the network is still scarce. (This year’s holiday slate includes one Asian-centric film, Christmas With the Singhs, about a blended family.) “I’m so proud to be part of Holidazed,” Chau says. “The entire series is full of bold choices, storylines, and characters, and I cannot wait to see the reception.”
The actor spoke with JoySauce about what drew him to his Holidazed character, portraying one of Hallmark’s few Asian romantic leads, and the cultural identifiers he fought to be included.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Philiana Ng: You’re part of a large ensemble for Hallmark’s first holiday-themed TV series, Holidazed. What’s your history with Hallmark?
Osric Chau: This is only my second as a lead. I did Christmas at the Golden Dragon [in 2022], which was a wonderful experience. I’m very honored and proud to be part of the Hallmark family. I definitely hope to do more of them. Hallmark does it right.
PN: It’s still rare—even in 2024—to see Asians at the center of their own stories at Hallmark. In recent years, the network has really expanded the breadth of their storytelling to include different cultures and traditions, and Holidazed features a Chinese family, the Lins. Can you tell us who you play and the storyline you’re involved in?
OC: I play Ted, and my storyline is a coming-out story to my grandma (played by Lucille Soong), who is not in the healthiest of shapes. But she’s the matriarch of the family and everyone’s afraid of doing anything that might be outside of the norm because we don’t know if her heart can physically handle it. Finding out your grandson is gay and about to marry a man is big news, and the Lin family is doing everything they can to avoid [drama].
From left, Shawn Ahmed, Jasmine Chen, Osric Chau, and Lucille Soong in "Holidazed."
Courtesy of Hallmark+
A lot of it is miscommunication, misunderstandings, and underestimating my grandma’s capacity to unconditionally love her grandson. This kind of rings true for my own family. In my culture as a whole, we tend to keep things close to our chest when we should just talk things out. When I read the script, I was surprised that it was a Hallmark project, but that’s more reflective of the type of content they’re making. I’m very proud of Hallmark for stepping outside their comfort zone and pushing the envelope on the types of stories that they want to make for their audience.
PN: Even though Holidazed is an ensemble show, the Lin family gets the spotlight in their own episode, which features culturally specific nods. It’s such a positive step forward seeing a loving Asian family celebrated within the fabric of the series. What was satisfying about getting to lean into your Asian culture and identity?
OC: The main thing to focus on is despite the differences, the heart of the story is still the same. It still has that Hallmark spirit. Hallmark, in showcasing all these different cultures and families that exist, they are able to hopefully bridge any divides or misconceptions that people have with [communities] they are less exposed to. It's all about love, it's all about the family, and it's all about belonging.
PN: What did you identify most with Ted’s coming-out journey?
OC: As an artist [from] an Asian family, I had made a lot of assumptions in terms of how my parents would perceive that career choice. I kept it a secret, expecting them to lay down the boot. But years later, I had a conversation with my dad, and he was like, “Look son, as long as you're happy, that's literally the only thing we care about.” It shocked me for many reasons. One, that he felt that way, and two, that it took me so long because I was so afraid that he'd give me a flat out “no.”
Osric Chau as Ted Lin and Shawn Ahmed as Marcus Khan in "Holidazed."
Courtesy of Hallmark+
PN: What conversations did you have about being culturally accurate?
OC: [The creative team was] very collaborative with us—the writer and the director was the showrunner on our episode. Our first thing was we wouldn’t wear shoes indoors and immediately [we said], “We need slippers ASAP.” Every little detail that we mentioned, they bent over backwards to make it happen because they wanted that authenticity. It was a creative collaboration you don’t usually get, just because of the luxury of time and resources, but they made the space for that.
PN: Anything you contributed that you’re proud of?
OC: We really dove into the food with my fiance [played by] Shawn Ahmed. We found these Asian-South Asian dishes that we were mixing together. But the slippers thing was cool because it was the dam that burst.
PN: On Holidazed, many of your scenes are with Lucille Soong, who plays Grandma Lin. How was your experience working with her?
OC: Lucille’s a legend. She has this presence and the hardest thing was to not crack up. Every time she opened her mouth, it was comedy gold. We had some long takes and I remember one take in particular, I thought she had fallen asleep. She didn’t have anything to do until the end [of the scene] and right before her line, she just said her line perfectly. [Laughs.] I don’t know if this is some kind of weird power but I was beyond impressed with Lucille.
Osric Chau as Ted Lin and Lucille Soong as Grandma Lin in "Holidazed."
Courtesy of Hallmark+
PN: Some of your fans grew to love you from your time as Kevin Tran on Supernatural. Does it still surprise you that people bring that character up?
OC: Yeah, for sure. It was a big part of my life and still is. But the Hallmark family is not too dissimilar from the Supernatural family. I was just at a horror convention and we were hanging out with the organizer's family. The mom looks at me and she's like, “Oh my god, you're from Christmas at the Golden Dragon!” After her not recognizing anyone from any of these horror movies, Christmas at the Golden Dragon was what got her.
PN: Is there a story you would like Hallmark to lean into next?
OC: There are, but I think the system in place right now is not necessarily conducive to more of those [Asian-led] stories. Now I have my producer hat on. There are stories that I want to develop, that I want to pitch to Hallmark that work under their banner. I put that burden on myself to develop it because I can't expect [them] to start doing it after not doing it for so long. I definitely want to develop more Asian-led Hallmark shows that have cultural flavor, but still have that Hallmark heart.
PN: What do you want people to know when they press play on Holidazed?
OC: There are so many surprises in the series, but keep an open mind. I just hope people enjoy it. You get a little bit of everything in the series.
Published on November 20, 2024
Words by Philiana Ng
Philiana Ng is a Los Angeles-based entertainment writer and editor specializing in TV. She is a Daytime Emmy winner and a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award honoree.Her work has appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Entertainment Tonight, TV Guide, Yahoo Entertainment, Netflix, The Daily Beast, The Wrap, Primetimer, Backstage, and more.