“Merry Little Mystery” is out on Roku Channel this week. That Hashtag Show shared a cup of cocoa with Jordin Sparks while we talked about her latest Holiday film. In the new movie, she plays Nat, a woman at the center of a Christmas whodunit that will warm your heart. As someone who has been a music star for a while, and now an actor, we asked the American idol winner about what she’s learned from both of those worlds.

“Honestly, for me, I love anything under the creative umbrella. So I like painting, dancing, theater, movies, singing. I love all of it,” the star admitted. “Music will always be the one thing that is in my bones. You give me a microphone, I know what to do with that. You know what I mean? With acting, there’s so many different things to learn and I love to learn.”

“So anytime I’m on set, I’m always asking questions,” she continued. “I’m like, okay, what does this do? How do you make the light look like that? How did you make this look like that? How long did it take to set up the set? Did you have to come in last night? I’m that kind of person. I want to learn as much as I can, so I’m always absorbing.” 

Sparks smirked, “And I think for me, because of the sets that I’ve been on, whether it’s been holiday or not, I’ve just learned to kind of have an eye for detail. And also making sure you double check the list twice” 

Merry Little Mystery and Holiday Traditions

As we rounded it into the rest of the conversation, sparks told us that one moment in “Merry Little Mystery” really hit home for her. Traditions are what makes the holidays such an anticipated part of the calendar year. And, the crew behind this Roku Channel original made sure that their star felt right at home while they were filming.

Sparks told us, “So there might be other families that do this, but something that really stands out to me is there’s little things that you do one-on-one at Christmas time and there’s things that the whole family gets together and does together. And for us, for a lot of my childhood that was making popcorn balls and basically it’s like making Rice Krispies, except you make it with popcorn and then you put ’em with the color and it’s red and green. They usually turn out pink, but you get the point.

“But I told when they were casting and we were doing prep for the film, they were asking me about a few different things and I told them about that. I didn’t think anything of it,” she added. “And then we got on in the scene where we’re supposed to be making stuff for the little holiday bazaar, and they are their popcorn balls on the table. They brought them out and I just was like, that’s really thoughtful. And it was really sweet of them to think of that, to put that in there.”

“Merry Little Mystery” is now streaming on Roku Channel.

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