Alison Sweeney Shot Hallmark Movie with Daughter, 17, and ‘Couldn’t Keep It Together’ During One Emotional Scene (Exclusive)

Erin Clack, Eleanor JacobsSun, August 23, 2026 at 7:30 PM UTC

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Megan Sweeney and Alison SweeneyCredit: Alison Sweeney/Instagram -

Alison Sweeney stepped out to Hallmark Channel’s 25th Birthday: A Quarter Century of Feel-Good Television event in New York City earlier this month

She reminisced about shooting the movie Romance at Hope Ranch with her 17-year-old daughter, Megan

Sweeney revealed that she “couldn’t keep it together” during one particularly emotional scene with her teen

Alison Sweeney is reminiscing about filming a Hallmark Channel movie with her daughter, Megan — and how one particular scene left her weeping.

The actress, 49, caught up with PEOPLE exclusively while stepping out to the network’s 25th Birthday: A Quarter Century of Feel-Good Television event in New York City earlier this month. Recalling her experience working alongside her 17-year-old daughter on the set of Romance at Hope Ranch — which premiered back on Feb. 28 — Sweeney said a moment occurred that she “didn’t expect.”

In the film, the Days of Our Lives star plays Hope Morgan, a mother who sets out to begin a new chapter in her life — fulfilling her childhood dream of running a ranch in the picturesque town of Ruidoso, New Mexico — after her daughter, Maggie (played by Megan), goes off to college.

Sweeney told PEOPLE that the first scene she and Megan shot together was the pair saying goodbye as Maggie went off to school. “I had memorized my lines,” she recalled of her preparation. “But I didn’t expect [how emotional it would feel]. I mean, I knew it was an emotional scene, and then I looked at my little girl — oh, my God, in this dorm room — and I just couldn’t keep it together.”

“She did cry,” confirmed Hallmark regular Ashley Williams, who joined Sweeney during the interview, along with Holly Robinson Peete. “I remember that scene. It’s one of those scenes that’s impossible to watch without crying.”

Alison Sweeney and her daughter Megan in ‘Romance at Hope Ranch’ on the Hallmark ChannelCredit: Hallmark Media

Sweeney remembered, “[Megan] was like, ‘Mom, pull it together. We’re still acting.’ I was like, ‘Right, right, right. Got it. Got it. Okay, your turn.’ ”

Peete, 61, chimed in to sympathize with Sweeney’s mom tears and shared her own similar, real-life experience with her daughter, Ryan, now 28.

“I slept at Washington Square Park and left my daughter at NYU and cried in a puddle for about two hours. Yeah. My family didn’t even want me to be around me,” she recalled with a laugh. “So, that would’ve made me lose it. I don’t think I could have reenacted that.”

During the conversation, Sweeney also raved about Megan’s performance on set, including her cool and calm demeanor.

“Megan’s a big personality, and she was not at all nervous about being on camera, not for a split second,” she explained. “And she didn’t turn. Like there was no — you know how people, especially the first time on camera, there’s sort of like a, ‘Oh, I’m acting now.’ No. She was just like, ‘Yeah, cool. What are we doing now?’ ”

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Alison Sweeney and her daughter MeganCredit: Alison Sweeney/Instagram

Sweeney went on to share that Megan — whom she welcomed with husband Dave Sanov — had an easy rapport with their costar Gabriel Hogan.

“She was cracking him up, giving him a hard time behind the scenes. He was like, ‘Oh, that’s your daughter, isn’t it?’ Like, ‘Geez,’ ” the actress shared.

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Despite loving the experience and having a “great time” on set, Megan later had “a heart-to-heart” with her mom about her future in showbiz.

“She sat me down to say that maybe acting … like she might not wanna necessarily do it again,” Sweeney told PEOPLE.

Sweeney previously spoke to PEOPLE about filming the college drop-off scene and how it stirred up thoughts of Megan leaving the nest one day.

“I was surprised by how sincere and sweet the first scene was between Megan and me, when my character, Hope, drops her daughter off at college,” she said ahead of the movie’s premiere. “I had initially approached it purely from an actor’s perspective, but once we were filming together, the reality of the moment really hit me because of how soon I’ll be dealing with that with Megan in our real lives.”

Alison Sweeney at Hallmark Channel’s 25th Birthday: A Quarter Century of Feel-Good Television event in New York City on Aug. 4, 2026Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty

“It made me far more emotional than I expected,” she added.

Sweeney and her husband are also parents to son Ben, 21. They sent him off for his freshman year of college in August 2024, and ahead of Ben’s departure, the actress told PEOPLE that the tears “sneak up on me and it’s hard for me to rein it in.”

“I’m definitely more emotional, or more forthrightly emotional than [my husband] Dave and Megan, for sure,” she added. “So, I will do my best to stay under control, but I’m sure it’ll be right at the very end, just the goodbye.”

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