Actress Ashley Williams captivated millions of viewers during her turn as Ted’s girlfriend, Victoria, on “How I Met Your Mother.” Though Williams wasn’t entirely happy with that show’s controversial ending, her beloved character catapulted her into other roles, including Jeannie Gaffigan on “The Jim Gaffigan Show.” Beginning in 2015, Williams struck up a relationship with the Hallmark Channel and has since become a staple of the network, starring in nearly two dozen films. In 2023, she partnered with the channel to establish the Make Her Mark Directing Program, championing first-time female directors — perhaps inspired by her 2021 directorial debut for Lifetime, “Circle of Deception.” “I have loved so much working with the Hallmark Channel for the last couple of years, due in large part to their commitment to female-forward storytelling,” Williams said when announcing the initiative, per Forbes.
Williams’ efforts to diversify Hallmark’s offerings have been lauded, but reception to the films she has appeared in has been mixed. Some of her Hallmark movies were called “cringey” or “weird,” and a common criticism is that Williams tends to overuse her brilliant smile even when the dialogue or the scene doesn’t call for it. Below, read about the Williams Hallmark films that fans were iffy on, from her debut, “October Kiss,” to her jaunt to Barcelona.
October Kiss was called ‘weird’
Ashley Williams’ first movie with Hallmark was “October Kiss,” released in 2015. She played Poppy, a flighty, optimistic woman who is hired by an uptight widower, Ryan (Sam Jaeger), as a nanny for his children. Williams filmed the movie shortly after she and her husband, Neal Dodson, welcomed their first son together, and Williams would bring her baby to set and nurse him in between takes. “Fun fact, I did a movie called ‘October Kiss,’ and I was pumping in the basement of that house for the whole movie,” she told Hello Magazine. “The refrigerator in the kitchen set is full of breast milk when you watch the movie.”
Perhaps because Williams was still dipping her toe into the world of Hallmark and balancing new motherhood, viewer reception to “October Kiss” and her acting was mixed. “Ashley Williams dials up her wackiness up to [11]. If she’s younger, she would be classified as a manic pixie dream girl. Her Cheshire cat smile fits the role very well,” a review on IMDb said. In a Reddit thread titled “October Kiss is so weird,” another viewer wrote of Williams, “She’s too much and always the same.” A reply stated, “I agree, she is always so ‘up’ all the time, kinda silly [and] childish.”
She was called out for overacting in Love on a Limb
For her second Hallmark movie in 2016, Ashley Williams starred in (and shared an executive-producer credit on) the environmentally themed “Love on a Limb,” in which her character, Aimie, chains herself to an oak tree to prevent it from being cut down. This causes her to be at odds with landscaper Kyle (Trevor Donovan), who has been contracted to take down the tree, until an unexpected bond forms between them.
Williams revealed that she actually did spend up to 14 hours a day sitting in a tree during filming. “I became very comfortable up in my tree! I somehow found a little divot that just perfectly held my bottom, and I was very comfortable,” she told “Home & Family.” “When it was time for me to get out of the tree when we were wrapping, I actually cried cause I was so sad to say goodbye.”
Some viewers, however, seemed happier to let the movie end, with much of the criticism directed toward Williams’ exaggerated acting. “She overacts dreadfully as an increasingly annoying and neurotic character,” said an IMDb review, “and has the same overdone mannerisms throughout the film. Some not making sense within certain scenes (including a fixed wide smile in scenes meant to be emotional).” Another review on IMDb also noted the contrast between the acting choices and the dialogue, saying, “Her acting was so over-the-top ‘perky,’ even when she’s trying to be serious.”
Viewers wanted more of the supporting cast in Christmas in Evergreen
In 2017, the first of four “Christmas in Evergreen” films was released. Ashley Williams portrayed a veterinarian named Allie who makes a wish on a snow globe that she will have a romantic Christmas, ostensibly with her long-distance boyfriend. However, everything changes when the airport is shut down and she meets a single father traveling with his daughter.
Though the film centers a love triangle, Williams revealed that her favorite part of her experience on set was the friendships she formed with actresses Barbara Niven and Holly Robinson Peete — the latter of whom was just starting out on Hallmark after controversially being fired from “The Talk.” “Those girls are the REAL DEAL! We became so close, and I think you can tell on camera,” Williams told blogger Ruth Hill. “They were so joyful and supportive, reminding me every day how lucky I am. I needed that. I feel so lucky to know them!”
And viewers seemed to clamor for more of the supporting cast in the film. “Holly R. Peete was totally underutilized in this film. The writers made Ms. Peete’s character look as if she were incapable and inept as if she could not solve a problem without Ms. [Williams’] help. I am not a fan of films that tear down the supporting characters in order to make the lead character look good,” one IMDb review said. Another agreed that “Teddy Sears (Ryan) and Holly Robinson Peete (Michelle) were bright spots in this movie,” while Williams was “overacting to the hilt.”
Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater left viewers cold
In November 2020, Hallmark released “Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater,” in which Ashley Williams plays a single mother named Maggie, who hosts an unexpected guest, Lucas (Niall Matter), over the holidays. The eyebrow-raising title generated a lot of questions, which Williams laughed off. “It’s the age-old proverb. You can’t trust a man in an ugly Christmas sweater,” she said in a Hallmark Channel interview.
Though Williams once admitted that she was not always a big fan of the holidays, she grew to appreciate Christmas more after starring in Hallmark movies and had an especially good time filming this one. “The sort of patter and the banter that Niall and I were able to find through [Nina Weinman’s] writing was such a joy,” she told Hallmark Channel. “We just laughed the entire time. I’m really excited for people to see it.”
The viewer reception didn’t quite match up to that excitement, however. A Reddit thread lamented, “The woman and her daughter act so desperate to have a man in their house. He wants to be alone, but she harasses him into doing Christmas stuff. It’s so embarrassing.” A review on IMDb concurred, saying, “Ashley’s character was a little too sweet and good. Sometimes her behavior with grumpy-pants Niall was kind of cringeworthy. She just would not leave him alone,” adding that Williams seemed to overdo her character’s upbeat demeanor. “Some of her scenes have a definite ‘insert smile here’ feel.”
Notes of Autumn didn’t strike the right chord
Though Hallmark is primarily known for its Christmas movies, the channel opted for a fall romance in 2023’s “Notes of Autumn,” starring Ashley Williams and Luke Macfarlane. Williams played Ellie, a former professional pianist stuck in an unsatisfying day job who swaps homes with her best friend, Leo (Macfarlane), for a change of scenery and fresh inspiration.
While Ellie is quirky and bubbly, she is also subconsciously deflated from not following her passion for music, and Williams found it easy to relate to her character. “I have a way that I play these characters, and it’s basically me,” she said in the commentary for the film. “I do have some trouble taking time for myself, so that’s definitely something Ellie is struggling with, which I identify with.”
Some viewers felt Ellie’s lack of confidence was overexaggerated, however, with one IMDb review saying, “90% of this … movie became boring because it just repeated the insecurity element until the very end when magically she finds confidence to play.” Another reviewer criticized Williams’ discordant acting choices: “She included a fake and phony smile that, at times, was inappropriate for the [dialogue] she was reciting.”
Her character in Falling Together was ‘pushy’
Ashley Williams returned to a fall-themed movie in 2024’s “Falling Together,” in which she portrays Natalie, a woman who moves into a condo building and strives to bring her feuding neighbors together in friendship. One of the first people she befriends is the aloof superintendent, Mark (Paul Campbell).
A subplot in “Falling Together” is Natalie’s volunteer work for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and her friendship with the charity’s organizer, Linda — a character named after Williams’ mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease and passed away in 2017. Williams recalled thinking, “‘Wow, this is incredible that I get to honor my mom this way,'” per Us Weekly. “Marking the journey that we all went through with her disease on screen in a way that really means something to me.”
Although viewers appreciated the delicate way in which Alzheimer’s disease was portrayed, they were not fans of Williams’ character Natalie. “Considering I was a fulltime caregiver to my late grandmother for [six] years, I knew this movie would hit an emotional spot, and it did. I will admit that Ashley’s character was overbearing … The movie itself was just okay,” one Reddit comment said. An IMDb review critiqued, “This character is going to attempt to ‘fix’ the building’s community into a group of happy, shiny people who get together to play and make nice. She is annoying and in your face pushy and rude. But thinks she is being friendly.”
The Sister Swap movies were confusing
Ashley Williams shares a tight relationship with her sister, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Kimberly’s husband, country star Brad Paisley, who Ashley revealed is a huge Hallmark fan. “Hallmark is always on, and that’s not just because it’s my job; it’s because my brother-in-law is obsessed, which is hilarious,” she said, per ABC News. Brad probably didn’t need much cajoling to watch the “Sister Swap” duo of movies, in which his wife, Kimberly, stars alongside Ashley as sisters Jennifer and Meg Swift, respectively, who switch cities over the holidays.
Ashley revealed on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” that she came up with the idea for the films. “I’ve wanted to work with my big sister my entire life. I was her first fan before all y’all came in here. It was a dream come true,” she said. “I had this idea that, what if she was the star of one movie, and I was the star of another movie, and then our story lines sort of wove back and forth throughout?”
The interconnected movies were released a week apart, and reviewers critiqued that the story and timeline seemed unclear as a result. “I really don’t know what it was about. I could not figure out any story line, and it seemed like people and the story line was all over the place,” said one IMDb review of the first film, “A Hometown Holiday.” As for the second film, “Christmas in the City,” a one-star IMDb review stated, “I love watching Kimberly and Ashley in movies, but not this one. I was let down by the plot and how the movie moved along … Some of the movie made no sense to me, and I quickly lost interest after about 20 minutes into it.”
The scenery in An Alpine Holiday didn’t make up for the absurdity
One of Ashley Williams’ most recent Hallmark films was also centered around the relationship between sisters. “An Alpine Holiday” stars Williams as Faith, who travels to France and Mont Blanc with her sister, Kelly (Laci J. Mailey), as it was their late grandmother’s final wish that they see where their grandparents got engaged.
Williams detailed in an Instagram post what it was like to film on location in France. “Some of you were wondering if we actually shot in France, and the answer is yes we did! We got to spend a whole week in Chamonix, France and rode up to the very top of Mont Blanc where we all got a bit of altitude sickness and giggled our way through the weirdness,” she wrote. “Thank you, Christmas movies, for the nonstop adventures as usual. I’m a lucky actress.”
One IMDb review took note of the gorgeous scenery and lamented that it overshadowed the rest of the film. “The locales are very attractive and interesting. The problem is, the performers get in the way with some of the most [insane] dialogue you have ever heard in a Hallmark movie. We usually enjoy Ashley Williams but, here, her performance is over-the-top goofy,” the viewer wrote. A string of comments in a Reddit thread also criticized the unrealistic nature of the hiking scenes. “I know nothing about mountain climbing, but I was thinking this isn’t how this works?,” someone wrote, while another added, “Oof, this was bad. Non-hikers hiking up a snow covered mountain in a snow storm. And making it to top in full makeup. Yeah, sure.”
Williams’ chemistry with Ryan Paevey in Two Tickets to Paradise received mixed reviews
Ashley Williams also got to film on location in Hawaii for 2022’s “Two Tickets to Paradise,” in which she plays Hannah, a woman who has just been stood up at the altar. Alone on her honeymoon in Hawaii, Hannah keeps encountering Josh (Ryan Paevey), who has also been left at the altar.
Williams and Paevey formed an easy friendship while working on the movie. “She’s just a really kind person, and she’s a great actress and she’s funny,” Paevey told Just Jared. “We had a blast on set in a very pretty place. I was very lucky.” The two actors riffed about their opposite personalities in a promo for Hallmark Channel. “You and I are serious yin and yang. How did we get along so well?!” Williams asked Paevey, who replied, “But it works, sometimes opposites attract, right? Or, I will say, it balances.”
Their IRL chemistry didn’t translate onscreen to some viewers, however. Opinions were divided on a Reddit thread, with some people seeing sparks between the characters and others writing, “Chemistry? Ehh, I thought they had a great friendship forming with their adventures, but I personally didn’t feel sparks jumping off at me with those two,” and “No, the chemistry wasn’t really there. Friends? Sure.” A two-star review on IMDb agreed: “I did not feel the spark between Ashley and Ryan. More of a brother/sister vibe.”
The Barcelona series didn’t receive much love
In 2025, Ashley Williams starred in another two-part series of movies: “To Barcelona, With Love” and “To Barcelona, Forever,” which aired a week apart and featured Williams as Anna, an author who is invited to Spain to promote her book — but unbeknownst to her, her book’s translator, Erica (played by Alison Sweeney), has rewritten it. In the sequel, Anna and Erica return to Barcelona, and Anna sets out to write about handsome farmer Javier (Miguel Brocca) and his family.
Williams, whose character focuses on food writing, loved immersing herself in Spanish culture through dinners and jogging on Las Ramblas after filming wrapped for the day. She also appreciated that although there is a romantic element, the story is more about the friendship between Anna and Erica. “Ultimately, these two women really bond as they fall in love with, well, my character really falls in love with Spain and bonds with her translator, essentially, and Spain becomes integral to the journey that they take together and is sort of the basis for their friendship,” she told Heart in Motion Media.
Not all reviewers believed the platonic chemistry, however. “I usually like the two female actors who were in the Barcelona series. However, their chemistry did not work in this series for me. Things seemed stilted amongst the four main characters in the two-movie series. We almost stopped watching the first movie, but decided to ride it out. The second movie was a bit more tolerable, but [they] equaled a C+ in my estimation,” a Reddit commenter said. “The friendship that builds between the main actresses feels rushed; at least you buy them as friends,” an IMDb review concurred. “I enjoy these actresses and hoped for more.”
