JoAnna Garcia Swisher Makes Hallmark Debut in As Luck Would Have It

By: Community Magazine | April 6, 2021 |  Entertainment | 

Saturday, April 10 9PM ET/PT

You may recognize JoAnna Garcia Swisher from Sweet Magnolias on Netflix or as the eldest daughter on Reba. JoAnna makes her Hallmark debut this weekend alongside Allen Leech, one of the stars of Downton Abbey. As Luck Would Have It, a new, original movie premiering Saturday, April 10 on Hallmark Channel was filmed entirely on location in Ireland.

Here’s the plot

Lindsey Johnson (Swisher) is sent to a coastal town in Ireland for work, tasked with acquiring a valuable piece of land to develop into a hotel resort. The only catch is the14th century castle sitting on it owned by the town council –they won’t sell to anyone who wants to tear it down, much less to a stranger who doesn’t understand the town. Most emphatic about this is Brennan O’Brien (Leech), a handsome councilman and local whiskey distiller. While Lindsey is there, the town’s annual, world-renowned matchmaking festival filled with local activities is taking place. Seeing this as a chance to prove her investment to the town, and Brennan, Lindsey signs up even though the last thing she’s looking for is a love connection. After non-stop days of soda-bread baking, knitting classes and a trip to the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher, Lyndsey finds herself falling for the town as well as for Brennan. Now committed to saving the castle, her career and a new chance at love, Lindsey will need more than just a little luck.

More about the leading actors

Aside from her starring roles, Garcia Swisher has also had a series of memorable guest roles on television series throughout her years of acting. Among these are her roles as Bree Buckley, one of the many love interests of Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) in the third season of The CW’s Gossip Girl, her recurring role as Dr. Nina Greene on Royal Pains, her guest starring role as the girl that continues to get away from Ted (Josh Radnor) on How I Met Your Mother and her recurring role as the sister of Adam Pally’s Dr. Peter on The Mindy Project. From 2013 to 2017 Garcia Swisher has also recurred in ABC’s Once Upon a Time as the iconic Disney princess Ariel.

Born to a Cuban father and American mother, Garcia Swisher started her career at a young age. She found a knack for acting at the age of 10, and quickly jumped at opportunities to explore her acting potential in local theater productions in her hometown of Tampa, Florida. Her first break outside of local Floridian theater came when she was still in high school, after Nickelodeon discovered her and slotted her into a starring role as Samantha on three seasons of the network’s hit show Are You Afraid of the Dark and Fiona on Clarissa Explains It All. Although she had to commute between Florida and Montreal for the roles, her efforts proved fruitful when it led her to other acting opportunities. Her career truly began to blossom after she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting as a career, at which point she landed roles such as Hallie on Party of Five; the recurring character Vicki Appleby on Freaks and Geeks and the key role of Joyce Cass opposite John Ritter in the television movie Holy Joe. From there, Garcia Swisher co-starred in two hit teen comedies in 2001, American Pie2 and Not Another Teen Movie.

Outside of acting, Garcia Swisher has founded The Happy Place, a destination that explores, motivates and empowers the experience of living a life with intention and how that reflects in your interiors. At its core, The Happy Place will ignite and inspire the inner designer in every person. She has also been inspired by working with the Step Up Women’s Network, a national network of women dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls. She and her husband Nick Swisher, a former professional baseball player, also founded the Swisher Family Foundation with a mission of providing children in need with medical care, education and recreational activities. Garcia Swisher currently splits her time between Los Angeles and Tampa Bay with her husband and their daughters, Emerson and Sailor.

Allen Leech is known for the role of Tom Branson in the award-winning series Downton Abbey. In 2019, he reprised the role in the series’ film feature continuation, Downton Abbey, which received massive commercial and critical success. Prior to that, he co-starred in the award-winning story of the band Queen in Twentieth Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody, opposite Rami Malek. He was also seen in the WGN series Bellevue, opposite Anna Paquin. Prior to this, Leech starred in Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game, opposite Benedict Cumberbatch. He can also be seen in Jonathan Mostow’s The Hunter’s Prayer opposite Sam Worthington. Leech’s previous television credits include Rome and The Tudors.

*Photos property of Crown Media.