By Lucas Hill-Paul

Copyright dailyrecord

Virgin River star Alexandra Breckenridge looks utterly transformed in the first glimpse of a heartwarming and hilarious new Christmas romance heading to Netflix. Dropping on the streaming service on 3rd December, the fresh film from Princess Switch trilogy director Mike Rohl features the Mel Monroe actress as single mum Taylor, who’s determined to fulfil her daughter’s festive dreams. To earn some additional cash for Christmas this year, she chooses to dress up as Father Christmas, complete with a remarkably realistic mask and artificial beard, to entertain holidaying families at her neighbourhood upmarket ski resort. Nevertheless, she discovers herself in a tricky predicament when romance begins to blossom between her and the resort’s attractive manager, portrayed by Ryan Eggold. Hallmark and Netflix Christmas movie specialists Ron Oliver and Carley Smale are crafting the screenplay, so anticipate loads of festive joy and amusing mishaps when the picture arrives during the lead-up to the holidays, reports the Express . An initial peek at the movie shows Breckenridge as her typical cheerful self when she’s outside the Santa outfit. Yet not even the sharpest-eyed Virgin River devotees could recognise her when the actress puts on her St Nicholas costume, as she’s completely hidden by a pink-cheeked mask and cotton-wool-like white locks. Chatting to Entertainment Weekly about the part, Breckenridge confessed she found the Santa outfit, which required more than three hours to put on, “very uncomfortable”. “It was a lot,” she recalled. “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s hard to get into prosthetics. “I had never done something like that before, and I was excited because it’s not very often that a woman gets to play something like this.” Fortunately, she managed to meet the challenge head-on, drawing inspiration from Tim Allen’s beloved The Santa Clause films. “It scared me to death,” she confessed. “But I was like, ‘I have to do this because this is actually why I became an actress. If I don’t meet my fear head on, what am I doing?'” Breckenridge continued to detail how both the prosthetics and costume were “extraordinarily uncomfortable”, even requiring ice packs beneath Santa’s legendary red outfit. Nevertheless, the Virgin River star also characterised the experience as “the most fun I have had working in years”, describing the performance as a “real treat” to execute. Branded as a festive Mrs Doubtfire, Virgin River devotees and Christmas lovers alike should ensure they’re adding this heartwarming holiday rom-com to their Netflix viewing lists. My Secret Santa premieres Wednesday, 3rd December on Netflix.