How Autumn Reeser Went from ‘The O.C.’ Eccentric to Hallmark Sweetheart
Autumn Reeser made her Hallmark debut in the 2012 film Love at the Thanksgiving Parade, portraying parade coordinator Emily Jones, and has since been a steady member of the family channel. But before she got her start in those sweet roles, Autumn Reeser was making a name for herself in the world of teen dramas.
The actress' breakout role was in the 2003 series The O.C. as Taylor Townsend, an initially unpopular member of the cast. After starring on multiple series and films, Reeser eventually found her way to Hallmark.
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Reeser, who's appeared in nearly 20 projects on the channel and is getting ready to star in another, recently shared her gratitude on social media, writing, “As I get ready to film my 20th project for @hallmarkchannel, I find myself reflecting on my long relationship with this brand and company… I’m grateful to have a home with the @hallmark company.”
Take a walk down memory lane and reflect on the early career of Hallmark sweetheart, Autumn Reeser.
Autumn Reeser early career
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Born on September 21, 1980, in La Jolla, California, Reeser was certain of her calling from very early on, having seen her first play at age 6. Prior to achieving stardom, she moved to LA to attend theater school at UCLA, where she also interned at a casting agency. By age 20, she was officially working as an actress.
She started out with guest appearances on series such as Star Trek: Voyager (2001), George Lopez (2002) and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005). By 2005, Reeser booked her breakout role in the hit teen drama The O.C. as Taylor Townsend, first appearing early in season 3 as a less than likable character. But over the course of the final two years, audiences grew to love her.
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“I feel like there’s a lot of girls out there who could really relate to her, who hadn’t seen themselves on TV in that way,” Reeser explained of her role. “I loved that about her. I loved that she made no apologies for who she was even though she wasn’t what all the magazines said was OK.”
Reeser moves onto new roles
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Following the end of The O.C. in 2007, Reeser booked roles on multiple movies, including Nature of the Beast (2007), The American Mall (2008) and The Bannen Way (2010). In 2009, Reeser scored a longer term role on the series Entourage. Soon after that role came to an end, she starred in No Ordinary Family (2010).
“Yeah, very different characters. In No Ordinary Family, my character is a little ditzy. She's a scientist and she's book smart, but she's not very socially smart,” Reeser explained of her character. “In Entourage, she's just a bad-ass. She's take-no-prisoners, a ball-buster and just so much fun to play.”
Unfortunately, No Ordinary Family was cancelled after one season due to a decline in ratings. Over the next few years, Reeser had extended roles on Last Resort (2012), Necessary Roughness (2013) and Hawaii Five-0 (2013).
Reeser joins the Hallmark family
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In 2012, the actress made a move over to the family channel, where she starred in, as noted, her first role in Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Following her Hallmark debut, Reeser began to star in films back-to-back on the channel.
Some of her earlier projects on Hallmark include Midnight Masquerade (2014), I Do, I Do, I Do (2015), A Country Wedding (2015) and Valentine Ever After (2016). Reeser also starred in a number of Hallmark Christmas films including A Bramble House Christmas (2017), Christmas Under the Stars (2019) and A Glenbrooke Christmas (2020).
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In 2022, Reeser joined the cast of The Wedding Veil, which was a trilogy, alongside Hallmark veteran’s Lacey Chabert and Alison Sweeney. The trio also then starred in a sequel trilogy, starting with The Wedding Veil Expectations in 2023.
Although Reeser has worked on the same network as Chabert and Sweeney for years, she shared, “We never get the opportunity to work with each other like this. We all work for the same network, but we never get to do movies together.”
Personal life and recent projects
Reeser married Jesse Warren in 2009, and the couple had two children together, Finn and Dash. The couple, however, divorced in 2014 and Reeser is now raising her sons as a single mother. Meanwhile, she is continuing to film for the Hallmark channel, with her newest film, Junebug, premiering in August 2024.
Starring alongside Aaron O’Connell, she is playing Juniper, a book editor on the verge of 40, who is reconnected with her 8-year-old self. Juniper begins to question her life choices and remembers the dream she had of writing her own stories.
Reeser shared in an Instagram post, “This week we started production on a movie I’ve been co-birthing for five years… maybe I was kind of like a creative doula… I love this one. It’s sweet and it’s important. I think you’ll love it, too. Coming to @hallmarkchannel in August 2024 ??? ??.”
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