Jessica Morris, best known for her role as Jennifer Rappaport in the soap ‘One Life to Live,’ brings you the full realm of holiday joy with BYUtv movie ‘Shoelaces for Christmas’, which aired December 2.

In the movie she plays Jan Miller, a selfless and loving wife and mom, someone whose essence Morris would love to emulate, the actress tells MEAWW.

'Shoelaces for Christmas' is a "story about growth and change within the human heart. I hope that it inspires people and makes them feel hopeful," says Morris.

The movie, which is also available on Amazon and iTunes, is among the plethora of Christmas movies coming out this holiday season. However, there is something that sets this joyful story apart from the rest and Morris knows exactly what it is: “Even though it has a positive message, the characters are flawed and are going through some pretty heavy and real drama in the beginning.” 

Over the last few years, Morris has become a household name, especially thanks to her role as trophy wife Crystal Amhurst in the Amazon mini-series ‘Ladies of the Lake.’ 

The series, based on the novel by ‘Days of Our Lives’ producer Ken Corday, follows four wealthy wives as they go through life in the gated community of Avalon. The role even earned her a nomination for Best Lead Actress in Drama at the 2018 Indie Series Awards, while the show was nominated for Best Digital Drama Series at the 2018 Daytime Emmys.  

The second season, which was added to Amazon earlier this year, turned out to be as successful, if not more, as the first season, and for Morris, it was the joy of reuniting with the entire cast that made it all the more appealing.

She says, “I was just so excited to work with many of the same people again. It was such a fun reunion but at the same time everyone was laser-focused on making the show even better.” 

As someone who has spent most part of her career on soap sets, this has been a plus point throughout. In her own words, “Once you sign a contract for five years, you settle in, knowing that you will be there for a while and the cast and crew become like your family.”

‘One Life to Live,’ for example, “was on for so long and that made it a well-oiled machine, which ran very smoothly,” she says.  

However, the process of working on a refreshingly new soap like ‘Ladies of the Lake’ is a great, experiment. As she puts it “there is also something so creatively refreshing to be experimenting with a new concept and new characters.”  

While fans are all rooting for season 3 of the show, it has not been confirmed yet, but Morris is all for it. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” she says, adding that seeing her character Crystal’s love life blossom is in her wishlist.   

Morris also has two huge horror flicks on the horizon. ‘The Onania Club’ is a dark thriller, in which she plays Hanna Vertree, the leader of a group of wealthy Los Angeles women who have many secrets.

“I also have 'Art of the Dead' coming out. In this one I play Gina Winter. She is a wonderful wife and mom who gets overtaken by dark forces. Both will come out in 2019,” narrates Morris.  

For ‘The Onania Club’ she worked with the iconic Tom Six; and while many are intimidated to meet the enigmatic personality due to the scary nature of his films - think ‘The Human Centipede’- Morris says, she found “him and his producing partner/sister Ilona to be so lovely to work with, full of vision and passion and very professional.” 

Morris has some very busy and full months ahead of her, and we can’t wait to see what she brings to the table at the end of it.