Jana Kramer isn’t a widower, but she was still able to pull from her own experiences with loss when it came to playing one in her new holiday film, The Christmas Ring.
“[My character Vanessa] is a widower. She lost her husband, and obviously, I don’t know that pain. I hope to never know that pain. But like everyone, I’ve also experienced loss in other ways,” Kramer, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly. “There’s a scene in the movie where I’m having to take my wedding ring off. I remember having to do that, not because I wanted to, not because I lost them, but I had to. I had to move on, and I had to say goodbye.”
While Kramer is happily married to Allan Russell now, she’s often been open about her tumultuous divorce from ex-husband Mike Caussin. The pair, who split for good in 2021 after six years of marriage, share daughter Jolie, 9, and son Jace, 6. (She was also previously married to the late Michael Gambino from 2004 to 2005 and briefly to Johnathan Schaech in 2010.)
For Kramer, it’s pulling from her past that helps her understand the characters she’s playing today — and she didn’t hesitate to use the experience of stepping into Vanessa’s shoes as an opportunity to heal herself too.
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“It’s another therapeutic moment for me,” she explained, noting that she felt an innate “connection” with Vanessa. “She’s scared to move on, just like so many people that have lost or gone through divorce. And what I hope that people can learn from my character, but also my life too, is that through healing and through time, love is out there, and it is possible.”
Kramer has certainly found her happily ever after with Russell: The couple said “I do” during an intimate wedding at a Scotland castle in 2024, less than one year after welcoming their first baby together, son Roman. It’s the kind of hope-filled ending the One Tree Hill alum wishes for anyone who wants it.
“We all feel that moment of, ‘I don’t know if someone will ever love me again,’ but I believe that one day it will happen for everybody,” she said, “if that’s what they want.”
The Christmas Ring, based on the novel of the same name by Karen Kingsbury, follows military widow Vanessa as she searches for her family’s lost Christmas ring, an heirloom from D-Day. Her journey brings her to Ben (Ben Hollingsworth), who shows her that a second chance at love might be possible.
Kramer has become known for her holiday films — “I feel like I’ve been in Christmas in Mississippi, Louisiana, every state possible,” she said with a laugh — but The Christmas Ring felt like something different, standing out for both its complexity and the fact that it was cowritten by book author Kingsbury.
“She is just a phenomenal author, and what I love about Christmas movies is that they have a formula down, but sometimes I wish they would have a little bit more of [the things that] Karen brought to this movie,” Kramer said. “It has conflict, it has loss, it has grief, it has hope. And she just ties it together so beautifully.”
Kramer noted that the film also has an “element of faith” she appreciated but “not so much that it’s going to make people lean out.” Instead, she feels the message is ultimately that there’s always “hope” for everyone, “and I think that is a beautiful message at this time of the year.”
Doing a “family-friendly” film was “fun” for Kramer, who admitted she likes a certain amount of balance and depth when it comes to her projects. She co-led Lifetime’s 2023 A Cowboy Christmas Romance, which marked the network’s first time including a sex scene in their holiday content.
“It was so fun to do a Christian, faith-based [movie], and it’s also fun to have that steamy thing too,” she told Us. “And that’s what I love about The Christmas Ring and [A Cowboy Christmas Romance], because each one pushes the limits a bit. The Christmas Ring is pushing the limits with loss and grief and family connections and conflict. And [Cowboy] drew on the sexual boundaries.”
For Kramer, it really is all about range, from straight-laced parts to the “wild and crazy” rebels that take her outside of herself. “It’s [great] doing movies like The Christmas Ring and pulling from past traumas and all that stuff,” she said, “but I would just love to have some fun too.”
Kramer added that while some people have argued that she shouldn’t do certain projects while being a woman of faith — she recently revealed she was nearly cast on Netflix’s super steamy The Hunting Wives series — that’s actually what being an actress is all about.
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She cites her iconic run as Alex Dupree on One Tree Hill as the type of role she misses playing — and one she’s hoping to take on next.
“I didn’t relate to [Alex], but I got to have fun,” Kramer explained. “And I love playing the mom in movies, the PTA mom or whatever. But gosh, do I want to go back to having some fun really acting, and [being] these crazy characters.”
The Christmas Ring hits theaters on Thursday, November 6.
