Halloween Movies: Nikki DeLoach Looks Back On 2015’s ‘You Cast A Spell On Me’

Networks like Hallmark Channel, Lifetime and UPtv are already in the midst of their 2019 Christmas movie programming, but ION took it upon themselves to spend Halloween week in 2015 to actually celebrate Halloween. The network did so with its Wicked Week celebration, which featured their first-ever Halloween-themed movie, Nikki DeLoach’s “You Cast a Spell on Me.”

The “Awkward” actress starred in the Tosca Musk-directed flick opposite Ryan McPartlin (“L.A.’s Finest”), and, as of Oct. 21, it’s finally available for TV movie fans to check out on Hallmark’s online streaming service, Hallmark Movies Now.

Though Hallmark Channel airs a few new fall-centric movies each year, it usually only features Halloween in the yearly “Good Witch” movies. Thus, “You Cast a Spell on Me,” which features Halloween antics and warlocks and witches actually using their powers, will be a major treat for subscribers of the company’s streaming platform.

“A man (McPartlin) dressed as a fireman at a Halloween party is in fact a handsome warlock, and to his surprise his powers fail him once he smooches the mortal girl of his dreams, the formidable Sara (DeLoach),” according to ION’s synopsis of the Rachel Stuhler-written film. “Did his powers transfer to her? In any event, he must woo her the old-fashioned way, with romance, while also unraveling a loveless engagement to a witch from his council.”

In honor of the movie being added to HMNow, International Business Times asked DeLoach, while also chatting with her about the Friday premiere of her Hallmark movie, “Two Turtle Doves,” what it was like making this magical film and working with McPartlin.

“I had an absolute blast doing that movie,” she told IBT, before going on to compliment her former co-star. “By the way, Ryan McPartlin is a real-life Ken doll. He is — you look at him, and you’re like, ‘You're not a real person. There’s no way you’re a real person because real people don’t actually look like you.’”

To further explain just how handsome, and kind, McPartlin, who actually played a mannequin come to life in Lifetime’s “Holly’s Holiday,” is, DeLoach shared a memory of him visiting to drop off some meals from his and his wife’s healthy food company, Plate Therapy, while DeLoach’s family was dealing with her then-newborn son’s heart surgery.

“He came to the house to bring me a bunch of food during that time, and I was in the back bedroom and my nanny opened the door, and Ryan was standing there, and she was like, ‘Excuse me one minute,’ and then she shut the door and she walked into the bedroom and was like, ‘The most attractive man I’ve ever seen in my life is at your front door,’” DeLoach recalled. “And I was like, ‘Oh, it must be Ryan McPartlin.’ I mean, she literally couldn't speak to him. She couldn't even say, like, ‘Hi, my name is Lucy.’ She was frozen. I was like, ‘It’s just Ryan.’”

DeLoach also shared he’s “the nicest human being” and the two “had so much fun” working on “You Cast a Spell on Me” together. Apparently, he feels the same way about it all, writing of the experience and his co-star on Twitter on Sunday, “A Halloween Classic!!! @nikkideloach is magic, bewitching and any other endearing Halloween adjective you can think of.”

The two have remained close since meeting on the 2015 set, with McPartlin even recently signing up to join DeLoach’s (and Hallmark star Ashley Williams’) team for the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s fundraiser on Saturday. All of the team members involved have online donation pages available for friends and fans who would like to learn more about the organization and to donate.

McPartlin isn’t the only one DeLoach raved about from the project. “Tosca Musk directed it, and she is just such a lovely human being, very talented,” the actress said to IBT of the director, who is now also the founder of her own romance movie streaming service, PassionFlix.

Musk also tweeted about working with DeLoach and McPartlin, last week, after the film was added to Hallmark Movies Now, writing, “I loved making this movie with you both! So much fun! Magical kisses.”

“You Cast a Spell on Me” is now available for lovers of Halloween movies to watch on Hallmark Movies Now. DeLoach can also be seen in her new Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film, “Two Turtle Doves,” opposite Michael Rady, on Friday at 9 p.m. EDT. The actress will also be attending the first-ever Hallmark-sponsored Christmas Con 2019 event in November.