See Matthew Morrison Teach Jen Lilley to Dance in “A Paris Christmas Waltz” Trailer (Exclusive)
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
"To be able to see my kids watch it and see what Papa does on the screen, I'm really excited for that," the father of two tells PEOPLE
Nothing feels quite as festive as Paris at Christmas.
In PEOPLE's exclusive debut of Great American Family’s A Paris Christmas Waltz trailer, retired dancer (Matthew Morrison) gets back in the game to pair up with an overworked accountant (Jen Lilley) for a competition in Paris.
“Christmas movies just bring so much joy. I love them,” Morrison, 45, tells PEOPLE. “There's so many of them, and I think there's so many for a reason. You want to have those feelings that it evokes for the holidays.”
Despite being trained in ballet, tap and jazz and dancing on Broadway, Morrison found it challenging learning to ballroom dance for A Paris Christmas Waltz.
“I think it would almost be easier if I didn't know how to dance going into this,” the Glee alum says. “I had to unlearn a lot of stuff that I knew because ballroom and Latin are so different and such different counterpoints and timings and stuff, so it was really challenging to unlearn. But then once I got it, it was such a feeling of accomplishment.”
Great American Media
Matthew Morrison and Jen Lilley in ' A Paris Christmas Waltz'Morrison also sings in A Paris Christmas Waltz, but dance “is what moves me,” he says. “To be able to tell stories through movement has always been so special to me and something that I feel very lucky that I'm able to do. I love being a storyteller through that way because I think it can evoke different types of emotions that I don't think you can convey in other arenas.”
Like in the movie, Morrison went on a journey with Lilley, 39, to learn how to dance.
“Jen was not much of a dancer going into this, so that made it very special,” Morrison says. “It was also special just having two weeks of just dance rehearsals before we even started shooting. It really built up the chemistry between her and I and going into it.”
Great American Media
Jen Lilley and Matthew Morrison in 'A Paris Christmas Waltz'Morrison and Lilley shot A Paris Christmas Waltz in Paris as well as Bucharest, Romania. After filming wrapped, Morrison and his wife Renee Puente embarked on a European vacation.
The father of son Revel, 6, and daughter Phoenix, 2, admits Christmas festivities have already begun in his house.
“My son is on one with video games,” Morrison says. “We do not do video games. He has never been introduced to a video game, but he is obsessed with Super Mario, with Minecraft. We did Santa's list a couple mornings ago, and he was naming all these video games, and I was like, ‘Santa makes toys. He doesn't do video games.’ So I had to break the news to him about that he should not expect any video games for Christmas.”
Great American Media
Matthew Morrison and Jen Lilley in 'A Paris Christmas Waltz'He wants to hold off on putting up the tree for a little bit, though.
"We usually put it up after Thanksgiving, but I think this year we're going to maybe put it up in the next couple weeks," the actor says. "There's never enough time with a Christmas tree. The problem with the Christmas tree though [is], once you put it up, the kids start asking for presents and expecting stuff to be under it."
Morrison plans to make watching A Paris Christmas Waltz part of his family’s holiday celebrations this year.
“This is one of those that I'm really proud of,” he says. “When you have your own children, it really reignites the [Christmas] experience again in a much deeper, more heart-centered way because you are seeing the wonderment through your children's eyes. That is something that's so special and particularly in a movie like this, to be able to see my kids watch it and see what Papa does on the screen, I'm really excited for that.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
A Paris Christmas Waltz debuts Sunday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. ET on Great American Family.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
