Girard's Marc Blucas to star with Candace Cameron Bure in holiday TV movie
Girard native Marc Blucas co-stars with Candace Cameron Bure of "Full House" and Hallmark fame in an original holiday movie premiering this month on Great American Family.
Blucas, who appeared on TV as the boyfriend of the title character in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" from 1999 to 2002, and Bure, who also starred in "Fuller House," play husband and wife in "A Christmas ... Present." Airing Nov. 27 at 8 p.m., the movie is one of 18 titles making up the network's "Great American Christmas" holiday franchise, according to a Great American Family news release.
In the movie, Bure and Blucas play Maggie and Eric Larson, professionals and parents of a busy family who make the decision to travel to Maggie’s widowed brother’s home for Christmas, according to Great American Family. The network's description of "A Christmas ... Present" goes on to say that everyone in the family has different expectations for the holiday and, through a series of transformative events, Maggie learns to embrace the reason for the season.
Great American Family can be found on providers including Armstrong, DirecTV, Dish Network, Hulu Live TV, Sling TV and Spectrum. Check with your provider for channel number.
This is Blucas' first movie for Great American Christmas and Bure's first holiday original for it, according to the network founded in 2021. "A Christmas ... Present" was conceived and developed through Bure's Candy Rock Entertainment venture and marks her first project with Great American Media since signing with the company to develop, produce and star in movies and television across Great American Family and Great American Living.
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Previously, Bure starred in TV movies for Hallmark including "The Christmas Contest," "If I Only Had Christmas" and "Let It Snow." She played D.J. Tanner on the popular sitcom "Full House" and again on the spinoff, "Fuller House."
From 2016:A Blucas Christmas
Blucas has appeared in TV movies for Hallmark including "Season for Love," "Operation Christmas," "Miss Christmas" and "Good Morning Christmas!" His other television credits include "Swagger," "The Fix," "Underground," "Killer Women" and "Necessary Roughness."
From 2016:Girard's Marc Blucas stars in WGN's 'Underground'
On the big screen, Blucas has appeared in movies including "Brawl in Cell Block 99" with Vince Vaughn; "Knight and Day" with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz; "The Jane Austen Book Club" with Emily Blunt; "First Daughter" with Katie Holmes; "We Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson," and "Unearth," a 2020 Erie-based production co-directed by John C. Lyons and Dorota Swies and filmed in northwestern Pennsylvania.
'Unearth'
Blucas was one of the producers of the film and he took part in the 2021 Eerie Horror Fest, at which the movie was screened. "Unearth" features two neighboring farm families whose relationships are strained when one of them chooses to lease their land to a natural gas company. Subsequent drilling releases something terrifying.
From 2021:Interview: Girard's Marc Blucas talks about starring in John Lyons horror film 'Unearth'
"I love the first hour of this movie, which you spend really getting to know the people," Blucas told the Erie Times-News in April 2021. "Then the (horror) genre comes in the back door. It's a smart way to come about this."
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Blucas also said he enjoyed shooting "Unearth" so close to his hometown. He grew up in Girard, the son of Wally Blucas and Mary Blucas.
Girard basketball player
Marc Blucas was a sophomore on the Girard boys basketball team when the YellowJackets won a state championship in 1988.
“We can’t wait to get home to celebrate this championship with everyone,” he said after that win. “Every person in Girard played a role in our success.”
Blucas on the court:A look back: 1987-88, 1989-90 Girard boys basketball
Two years later, as a senior, he had 22 points and 10 rebounds as Girard won the state title again.
A 1990 graduate of Girard High School, Blucas went on to play basketball at Wake Forest University and then played professional basketball in England for a year. He played the "basketball hero" in the 1998 movie "Pleasantville" with Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon.
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This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Marc Blucas, Candace Cameron Bure star in Great American Family movie
