Nicollette Sheridan’s Horse Play in Honeymoon For One

The Hallmark Channel Premiere’s Honeymoon For One Aug. 13

It seems Nicollette Sheridan was born to play hot-to-trot sexy vixens. The actress who was so good as Edie, the man-eating neighbor on Desperate Housewives, also played the seductress Paige on Knots Landing.

Nicollette has the right equipment for those roles. The blonde bombshell has a rocking traffic-stopping figure, oozes smoldering passion, and has striking blue eyes that reflect she’s smart in worldly ways.

But now she’s trading in her conniving bad girl image to play a sweet and sympathetic character in the Hallmark Channel’s original movie Honeymoon For One, premiering August 13.

“When I read the script I loved it. It was a sweet, old-fashioned romantic comedy, and my character was just a kind, sweet, trying-to-find-her-way character. That was very appealing to me,” says Nicollette.

She plays Eve Parker, a successful advertising executive in Los Angeles. Just prior to her wedding she discovers her fiancé (Patrick Baladi) is cheating on her– in business and in romance. So she calls off the nuptials, but decides to use her nonrefundable tickets and go on the planned honeymoon trip to Ireland by herself.

Handsome English actor Greg Wise, best known for Cranford and Sense and Sensibility, plays the manager and tour guide of the castle estate where Eve is staying. And he sees Eve as a mishap-prone city girl who is adrift in the Irish countryside. That gave Nicollette the chance to show off her knack for physical comedy, which was a lot of fun for her.

Even more fun was the opportunity to go horseback riding while filming on location in Ireland. The idyllic countryside was a great lure for Nicollette, an expert equestrienne who began riding at around age three, and who owns four horses.

Ironically, she had to play her character as a brand-new, nervous rider. Knowing horses as well as she does “was quite useful, because then you can do anything. You can feel safe doing something that looks very unsafe. I did all my own stunts on the horse,” she reports. Another bit of irony was that Greg Wise was supposed to be the horseman, and he didn’t know how to ride. “So I sort of helped him choreograph a scene chasing me,” she reveals, and praises Wise as a quick learner.

It was intense to get the riding sequences right, but Nicollette calls the time she spent heavenly.

“I grew up riding, galloping across the English downs. So being in Ireland in that rough wild Irish countryside on this beautiful white horse– I fell madly in love with my co-star,” she says about the horse. “I wanted to bring him home with me. His name is Star, and he’d never done a movie before.”

“It’s always a bit daunting for a horse when they’re around a camera and a boom for the sound and all of a sudden things are coming at them. He was a bit skittish but I think he trusted me, and I think he finally warmed up to the movie set quite well.”

Despite growing up in England, the West Sussex-born actress had never been to Ireland before. During the weeks of shooting Honeymoon For One, Dublin was the base for production, “and we’d go out to the beautiful countryside. The people were so friendly. I’m dying to go back when I have time to explore the country, and visit the castles and the seaside towns. And of course the Irish pubs.”

Back at her home outside the Los Angeles area, Nicollette’s love of horses has led her to get involved with Ride On, which she describes as “a wonderful charity for emotionally and physically disabled children and adults. It’s all about them bonding with the horses and riding. There’s so much for them to learn and to feel that love.”

“There’s a very different kind of communication that occurs between man and horse that is very powerful and extraordinarily healing. It’s a wonderful place where people truly care and have devoted their lives to making such a difference,” enthuses the horse-loving star of Honeymoon For One.