Fans may know her best as “Dr. April Kepner” on Grey’s Anatomy, but Sarah Drew feels festive about her latest project, Mistletoe Murders. Acting as executive producer and headliner “Emily Lane,” the series hits HALLMARK+ on October 31 and, as Drew told us, “there’s a lot to discover” with her character.
It’s hard to believe we’re talking holiday. Can you tell us a little bit about Mistletoe Murders?
It’s actually based on an Audible podcast of the same name, which stars Cobie Smulders. That is the character that I play in the TV series. It’s about a woman named Emily Lane who runs a Christmas shop in the small town of Fletcher’s Grove—shout out to Jessica Fletcher! [laughs] People start dying and she starts investigating. We discover there’s more to her than meets the eye. Let’s just say she has skills that she shouldn’t have as a Christmas shop retail owner.
Through her voiceover, we find that there’s a whole other life that she’s…well, we’re not sure what it is. She’s either hiding from it or running from it. But there’s a past in there that has allowed her to have some special skills to help her solve these crimes. It’s a really, really fun mystery show that has a lot of Christmas elements in it. And all the mystery sleuthing. There’s romance, there’s friendship, there’s comedy. It has a bit of everything. It feels a little like Veronica Mars to me.
I love that show. That sounds really fun. People are always so excited when it is time for the Hallmark holiday programming. At the end of the day, after you’re filming and working, how do you make time for yourself?
Most of my work has been away from home since Grey’s Anatomy ended [for me] because almost nothing shoots in Los Angeles. I’m usually living by myself in an apartment when I get home from work. I have a very specific routine. I do like a Korean face mask and a bath. I have bath salts and essential oils. It’s sort of my way to release all the stress from the day.
When you’re shooting long hours and you’re in every scene, and in a leadership position, you’re have to be on the entire time you’re at work. There’s not really a moment that somebody’s not watching you or you’re not on. For me, at the end of the night, I have to allow my body and my nervous system to calm down. The bath with the Epsom salts and essential oils has been huge for me.
That sounds great. What do you rely on for skin care? Is there anything that you really love?
Yes! Tatcha! The Camellia Cleansing Oil. It’s my absolute go-to now. Actually, Joy Lenz put me onto it. She’s a friend of mine. I had been just using regular face cleansers, the ones that bubble up and soap up. She was like, “No, you should be using oil cleansers—only oil cleansers.” I swear by this Tatcha cleansing oil; I have it on set with me. I do a whole routine where I get out of my makeup, do a hot towel, cover my face in the oil and then wipe it off with a wet towel. It’s what I use every single day before I go to bed. That’s the one. Then, I use a night cream from my dermatologist and a retinol cream. I mix those two things together for when I go to sleep.
The moisturizer I use is IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream. I ask every makeup artist to have that. That’s what I put on after I cleanse with Tatcha. If I’m just getting rid of my makeup, if I’m not going to bed yet, or if I’m starting in the morning, that’s what I start with. That’s where I always have my makeup artists put on as the first thing before we get going on any makeup. I’ve fallen in love with this moisturizer. I swear, I was not very good at taking care of my skin until a couple of years ago. I feel like my skin has been aging backward since starting to do this routine.
I love that product. I think that everything they put out is amazing.
Yes! I love IT Cosmetics. I often use their foundation as well because they have a really strong SPF. I’m Irish and Scottish and English, so I just burn. I have to be really careful, especially if I’m shooting. For foundation, when I’m on camera, I often ask for that. But I’m also always up for trying something new. I just always have to have my La Roche-Posay tinted sunscreen underneath.
I also love my Supergoop! The Unseen SPF. I have it in my purse at all times. If I’m going out to pick the kids up at school and I have to wait outside in the sun or whatever and I forgot to put sunscreen on, I just have it in my purse and throw it on. It’s the easiest thing. Then I have the tinted La Roche that I just use daily. If I’m just putting on a tiny bit of mascara and just want to look not quite as naked on my face, that’ll just be my daily thing. I use it pretty much as a foundation, even if I’m just going out. I don’t ever do any heavy stuff. I just do the tinted.
I also love essential oils and things like that. I have this Madison Charles oil that Kelly Kruger actually sells. I love it because it has this frankincense scent to it. For some reason, it tricks my brain that it’s time to go to sleep. I love it.
A great lineup. My last question: What are you excited about as we get into the holidays and Halloween?
We have so many fun traditions in my little home and neighborhood block. First of all, my family’s really into Halloween. This year is a little bit different. My son made a Mandalorian costume from scratch last year. It took him a solid five weeks and he worked on it multiple hours a day, like after school. He built every piece of armor. He got a template online and built a helmet. He spray-painted everything. He bought fabric and built a cape. He built a bag to hold the little Baby Yoda. It was bananas.
I basically just dressed up like a bounty hunter in space to go with it. [laughs] Now, we have the giant green screen that we hang up in our backyard. We’ve started doing little videos of our costumes. We do little slow-mo videos walking toward the camera at Halloween. Halloween is a big deal. I just have so many fun things happening—the show included. There’s just a lot of fun coming up.
