‘THIS MAGIC MOMENT’

CAST BIOS

DIANE NEAL (Helena Harris) – Diane Neal is best known for her role on "Law and Order: SVU." She first appeared on the show in 2001 as a murderous villain in one of her very first acting jobs. Neal then reappeared, in classic "Law and Order" style, as the justice-driven ADA Casey Novak from 2003-2012. Since 2009 she has also recurred as Gibbs’ doppelganger, CGIS Special Agent Abigail Borin, on "NCIS" and for two seasons as Alison Holt on "Suits." Neal has also guest starred on a wide variety of other hit shows from "White Collar" to "30 Rock" and has appeared in numerous films and television movies.

With over a decade of playing tough-as-nails good guys and bad guys, it comes as a surprise to many fans that Neal is also a stand up comic. Although difficult to book consistently while filming, for years she has made audiences laugh all over New York City and Los Angeles. She can routinely be seen at Stand Up New York, her home club, and Upright Citizen’s Brigade Los Angeles. She also enjoys appearing in the hip and hysterical storytelling show Don’t Tell My Mother produced by Nikki Levy.

Neal was born in Alexandria, Virginia, moved to Littleton, Colorado at age eight, then to Oahu, Hawaii for college another eight years later. Thanks to her older sister, she started modeling and was fortunate enough to live and work in myriad countries in Asia and Europe. Neal landed in New York City, the city she still calls home and serendipitously found herself at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School in 1999.

A life-long learner, Neal is very proud to currently be an undergraduate student at Harvard University. Her areas of interest include everything from Classical Archaeology to Neuroscience and Biology. Previous to Harvard, Neal has taken classes as wide-ranging as “Predators of the Outback” handling dangerous wildlife in Australia at Uluru and the often handy “Coconut Opening 101” in the Caribbean.

Neal whole-heartedly believes in philanthropy and is on the artistic board and is a full participant in the Urban Arts Partnership under the tutelage of fellow actor Rosie Perez, as well as actively working with the Thirst Project, the RFK Center for Human Rights, Water Keeper and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to name a few.

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TRAVIS SCHULDT (Clark Gable) — Well known for his role on the NBC hit comedy "Scrubs," his starring role on the soap opera "Passions" and his role opposite Jessica Simpson in the film "Major Movie Star," Travis Schuldt has developed a fan base that spans daytime, primetime and major motion picture audiences.

The Topeka, Kansas native's career began after he graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. He quickly found success as a model and moved to Los Angeles in 1999, when he just as quickly scored the lead on the NBC hit "Passions." Schuldt

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HALLMARK CHANNEL / ‘THIS MAGIC MOMENT’– Cast Bios – Page 2 played the noble Ethan Winthrop on the subversive daytime soap opera for four years. After leaving "Passions," Schuldt immediately booked a starring role opposite Ernie Hudson and Danny Nucci on the short-lived drama, "10-8: Officers on Duty."

Schuldt's talent reached primetime audiences when he landed a series regular role on the NBC hit comedy "Scrubs" as Sarah Chalke's forgiving boyfriend, Keith. Since that time, Schuldt appeared in a recurring role on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (F/X) and in guest starring roles on myriad hit television shows, including "Community" (NBC), "CSI: NY," "Blue Bloods," "Rules of Attraction," "Big Bang Theory," "JAG" (CBS), "Melissa & Joey" (ABC Family) and "Fringe" (FOX), among many others.

One the big screen, Schuldt has acted in films ranging across many genres, including Tribeca Film's romantic comedy "The Giant Mechanical Man" opposite Jenna Fisher and Topher Grace, David Zucker's comedy "An American Carol" for Viviendi, the Sony Pictures comedy "Major Movie Star" alongside Jessica Simpson and Vivica A. Fox, the suspense thriller "From a Place of Darkness" and the horror spoof "Hack!"

Acting is just one of Schuldt's many talents. In 2004, Schuldt worked with director Jonathan Walls and writer/actor/producer Jay Thames to create, write, finance, produce and star in the critically acclaimed independent film "Automatic," which found enthusiastic audiences as an official selection at SXSW, Woodstock, Starz Denver and the Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas.

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VINCENT SPANO (Roberto Molinez) — An actor of striking intensity, Vincent Spano’s work displays his versatility as both a comedic and dramatic talent. His aggressive approach to his craft and proven ability have consistently delivered memorable performances. Although he has performed in numerous mainstream studio films, Spano never ceased in his support of the independent film industry, which is evident in the many substantial independents in which he has appeared.

Spano was born in New York City and first achieved Broadway success at age 14. While attending Stuyvesant High School, he was awarded the part of Steve in the Long Wharf Theater production of The Shadow Box. He moved with the play to Broadway where it won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize as well as two Tony® Awards for Best Play and Best Director.

Spano was cast in his first two feature films in 1978 at the age of 15, including Jonathan Kaplan’s "Over the Edge." At 18, Spano was cast in "The Black Stallion Returns" and was welcomed into Executive Producer Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope family. In that same calendar year, Spano added John Sayles "Baby It’s You" and Coppola’s "Rumblefish" to his growing list of credits.

Spano has graced a long list of television projects, including recurring roles on NBC's "Law and Order: SVU" and "Prince Street," series regular role on the Italian television series "Sangue Caldo" and a guest starring role on "House M.D." (FOX). His recent television work also includes

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HALLMARK CHANNEL / ‘THIS MAGIC MOMENT’– Cast Bios – Page 3 the films "Grave Misconduct" and "Her Fatal Flaw" (Lifetime), "Pandemic" opposite Tiffini Thiessen (Hallmark Channel), "The Engagement Ring" opposite Patricia Heaton (TNT), "Jenifer" alongside Laura San Giacomo, Annabella Sciorra and Marisa Tomei (CBS) and "Blood Ties" (Showtime), for which he was nominated for the Ace Award for Best Actor.

Spano has also starred in several full length features, including Dimension's "Texas Rangers" alongside Dylan McDermott and "Prophecy III: The Ascent" alongside Christopher Walken, Miramax's "A Brooklyn State of Mind" alongside Danny Aiello and Paramount's "Alive" alongside Ethan Hawke.

Spano is currently filming Luciano Sabor's "April Rain."

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ALAINA HUFFMAN (Emily McIntyre) – From lead roles in critically acclaimed festival films, to pivotal recurring roles on hit television shows, Alaina Huffman has showcased her versatility as an actress since she first graced the screen in 2001. Huffman is perhaps best known for her work in the science fiction arena in recurring roles on "Painkiller Jane" and “Stargate Universe” (Syfy), but her talent transcends many genres.

Huffman received her first big break in 2001, when she was cast as a lead in Artisan’s “Pendulum” alongside Rachel Hunter. After that, her film credits quickly built up, including Paramount’s “Serving Sara” with Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley, “The Gunman” with Joey Lauren Adams and Sean Patrick Flannery and film festival favorite “Screen Door Jesus.”

On the silver screen, Huffman played a lead role in the American Cinema International miniseries “Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit.” On top of her recurring roles on “Painkiller Jane” and “Stargate Universe,” Huffman also appeared in guest starring roles on “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “CSI: Miami,” “CSI: NY” (CBS), “Dawson’s Creek” (WB), “Tru Calling,” “The OC” (FOX) and “Alphas” (Syfy).

Huffman can also be seen in several acclaimed short films, including “A Promise Kept,” “Still,” “Night/Dawn/Day,” “Josephine,” “The Couch” and “Indefinitely.”

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CHARLES SHAUGNESSY (Doyle Duncan) – Charles Shaughnessy, born and raised in London, England, came from a show business family. His father was the principal writer and script editor on "Upstairs, Downstairs," his mother was an actress and his brother, David, was a director and producer in television. After graduating from Eton College, Shaughnessy earned his BA in Law at the Magdalene College of Cambridge University.

Upon graduation, however, Shaughnessy returned to his first love, acting and enrolled in drama school in London, where he met American-born actress, Susan Fallender with whom he moved (more)

HALLMARK CHANNEL / ‘THIS MAGIC MOMENT’– Cast Bios – Page 4 to California in 1983. Since that time, he has enjoyed a successful and varied career on large and small screen. On television, Shaughnessy’s roles have included a six year stint as Maxwell Sheffield on CBS’s “The Nanny,” a recurring role as Shane Donovan on NBC’s “Days of Our Lives” and a memorable arc as St. John Powell on AMC’s hit series “Mad Men.” He was recently seen as slick lawyer Alex Weaver in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie “Love’s Christmas Journey,” as well as in guest appearances on ABC’s “Castle,” CBS’ “CSI: NY,” TV Land’s “Happily Divorced” and the popular children's favorite “Victorious” on Nickelodeon.

Shaughnessy's many stage appearances include the Triple Tony® Award winning Broadway musical Urinetown, Pasadena Playhouse’s acclaimed production of Orson’s Shadow as well as double dipping as Arthur in both Camelot and Spamalot! Most recently he garnered great reviews for his performance as Henry Higgins in the North Shore Theater production of My Fair Lady.

Grateful for all that his career has given him, Shaughnessy spends a lot of time bringing the life-tools of improvisation to youth at risk groups. Recently, he was honored to be elected to the Advisory Board at The Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps in Massachusetts.

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ROBIN RIKER (Maryellen Gable) - Born in New York City, Robin Riker had her own "Magic Moment" shortly after her arrival in Hollywood when, like Lana Turner, she was discovered at a lunch counter by a local TV producer who did a story about her on his magazine show. Riker hasn't stopped working since.

Her television work includes starring roles in six series. Among them are "The Gregory Hines Show" on CBS, "Thunder Alley" with Edward Asner on ABC, "Get a Life" for FOX (her episode, “Zoo Animals on Wheels,” was named by TV Guide as "One of the 50 funniest moments in TV history") and the ground breaking SHOWTIME series, "Brothers" for which she received two Ace Award nominations as Best Actress in a comedy.

Riker was most recently seen playing Hector Elizondo's two times ex-wife on Tim Allen's “Last Man Standing,” followed by a recurring role on “Justified.” Spring of 2013 marked the release of “Devil May Cry” a motion capture video game in which she stars. With well over a hundred television appearances, Riker can be seen in recurring roles in a wide variety of shows such as "Reba," "Hung" and "Boston Legal" as well as guest starring roles on dozens of shows including "Switched at Birth," "NCIS" and “Bones.” She also played the role of Beth Logan on 60 episodes of the CBS soap "The Bold and the Beautiful."

A classically trained, third generation actor on both sides of her family, Riker grew up onstage backstage and selling cookies in the lobby. Theatre being her first love she made sure to split her time between stage, film and television since her arrival in Hollywood.

Her first feature film, "Alligator" has become a cult classic and was recently named by the WhatCulture! website as possessing the "12th Scariest Movie Monster That Came From Below." (more)

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Riker has appeared in several Disney films including "Read it and Weep," "Brink" and "Don't Look Under the Bed," as well as a number of Indie films including "Divorce Invitation," "Save the Date" and "Holly's Holiday."

Riker’s stage credits include a critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons with Neil Patrick Harris at The Geffen Playhouse for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Ovation Awards and The Kiss at City Hall at the Pasadena Playhouse. She recently appeared in two Off Broadway productions Pied-a Terre and Welcome to the Woods, the latter show was part of the New York 400 Festival. Riker had a wonderful time with Tony Danza starring in a very popular production of Bernard Slade's, I Remember You at Garry Marshall's Falcon Theatre and the late George Furth's play Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex, and Sex at the Matrix Theatre for which she received both LA Weekly and Ovation award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Her starring role in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at The Blank Theatre earned her another Ovation nomination for Best Actress.

This September you can see her under very suspicious circumstances in another of her recurring roles on A&E's season finale of "The Glades."

A writer since she could spell (her first word was Z-O-O), Riker wrote her first song at four years old, her first play at 11 and now her first book: "A SURVIVOR'S GUIDE TO HOLLYWOOD: How to Play the Game Without Losing Your Soul," which will be published early fall of 2013. More at robinriker.com

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MOLLY BURNETT (Justine Gable) – Molly Burnett made her television debut stirring up trouble as Melanie Layton on NBC's "Days of Our Lives." During her four years on the Daytime soap, Burnett was able to cross over into the primetime world, singing about "saving herself for Jesus" as Amanda on HBO's "True Blood," playing the romantic field as Madison on Disney Channel's "Good Luck Charlie" and helping the boys of CBS's "CSI: NY" find out who killed her father as Molly Byrne.

Burnett is working with MTV on two concurrent projects: embracing her comedic side in an episode of "Zach Stone is Gonna be Famous" and playing Ashley Bloom in the film "Ladies' Man: A Made Movie." Currently, Burnett can also be seen starring in the webseries "Cameras."

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