Oliver and Shane face newlywed hurdles in the latest Hallmark Mystery movie
It s been nearly three years since Signed Sealed Delivered aired its last original movie. Now everyone s favorite quartet of post office detectives — Oliver (Eric Mabius) Shane (Kristin Booth) Rita (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe) and Norman (Geoff Gustafson) — are back to solve the latest postal mysteries in two new films for Hallmark Mystery s longest-running movie franchise.
The first of the two movies titled Signed Sealed Delivered: A Tale of Three Letters picks up six months after Oliver and Shane said "I do" in 2021 s The Vows We Have Made. (The second To the Moon and Back was filmed simultaneously and won t air until 2025.) After enjoying their honeymoon period the couple discovers that being married and living together isn t a walk in the park like they envisioned. "We see Shane and Oliver being pushed in directions we haven t seen before " Mabius told TV Guide.
As Oliver and Shane navigate rocky terrain they re tasked with investigating three dead letters (aka undeliverable mail) — the results of which have a profound impact on the issues they re currently dealing with and that Rita and Norman are also facing as they work on possibly expanding their family.
Ahead of Friday s premiere of A Tale of Three Letters TV Guide spoke with Mabius and Booth about returning for more Signed Sealed Delivered movies after a three-year drought the marital challenges Oliver and Shane face and what may be in store for their future.
Kristin Booth: It s such an interesting dance with this show because we re always at the point now where we re like okay this might be the last one. We always are hoping that there will be more because we really love the show we love the characters that we get to portray and we love working with each other. So there s always that hope. When we were told that we were going to shoot more movies we were absolutely thrilled and excited to get back at it. It s been a long time coming. We re so grateful that the POstables remain dedicated to the show and that the network has given us more opportunity to make these great movies.
Eric Mabius: Honestly I didn t doubt it for a minute. Every time we come together we don t necessarily know there s going to be another one. That s why it was so great to shoot two movies at a time. Hopefully we ll have more in the future but there s still so many stories left to tell and creator Martha Williamson always brings her A-game when she s writing. There s so much depth and breadth of emotion and there s an excitement when we all get back together to make these movies. To be back together with the people that I ve grown to love so much over the last 11 years I m a lucky man.
Why do you think Signed Sealed Delivered has lasted this long?
Booth: There is something so unique about Martha s storytelling and we really become such a family not just for each other but for the people that watch the show. People genuinely feel a part of these character s lives. What s different about Signed Sealed Delivered is that it s not easily put into a genre. You get something family-friendly which is the cornerstone of Hallmark but then you also get drama mystery comedy love stories all wrapped up in one. That is what appeals to people. Whenever they tune into Signed Sealed Delivered they know they re going to get a beautiful complex story.
Mabius: There isn t a fixed point of evolution. There isn t a plateau they hit and then there are no more stories to tell. It s more reflective of real life and the challenges that they have to face down but doing it with humor and depth of emotion is really important.
When we last saw the gang Oliver and Shane got married. What can you tee up as they enter a new chapter in their relationship?
Booth: Oliver and Shane are certainly entering a new period. In A Tale of Three Letters we really get to explore what a new marriage can look like and Martha doesn t shy away from the challenges of a new phase of a relationship. When you take a relationship to a next level there are always going to be surprises; sometimes those surprises can be wonderful and sometimes they can be a bit more disconcerting or challenging. I think what Martha does brilliantly with this movie is illustrate with Shane and Oliver that it doesn t matter how much you love someone or are committed to someone — that living with someone and marrying someone can be a whole new experience.
Throughout the movie you see Oliver and Shane in their honeymoon period but then reality slowly settles in when the early bumps of their marriage begin to surface. How do they adapt to life as newlyweds?
Booth: The bumps that they experience are not devastating in the sense of "We made the biggest mistake of our lives " but more so the fact that these bumps are unexpected. They both had this idea that the honeymoon phase was going to last forever and they knew each other so well that they weren t expecting any bumps. When you take a relationship to the next stage there are always going to be bumps along the way because it s a change. Oliver and Shane aren t great when it comes to change especially Oliver. He s very set in his ways. Ultimately it comes down to when they are able to discuss what it is that is really getting on their nerves or really bothering them.
Mabius: Shane and Oliver couldn t be more opposite. You put two strong people together and sometimes they repel one another or draw closer together. How we see them take steps back emotionally as they face these struggles and as things disintegrate and evolve where we end up it s a happy ending. For instance seeing them in a therapeutic environment. We always see couples in a couples counseling environment but the way Martha handles this and sort of turns it on its end a little bit it was fun to be a part of those scenes.
Kristin Booth and Eric Mabius Signed Sealed Delivered
Hallmark
There are also several scenes where they re in couples therapy as they try to figure out what s potentially wrong which isn t often depicted on TV.
Mabius: I was surprised that each of them could be so stubborn and childish in many ways. I think the resolution that we achieved by the end is really earned. It s not pie in the sky. It s not completely fabricated for the two-hour movie structure. It happens in an organic resonant way.
Booth: We really get to see their arc as a couple in this film. What Martha does with the ending is weave a lot of their history into the resolution so to speak. Not only do we go on this journey with Oliver and Shane navigating the challenges as a newly married couple but we get to celebrate them as a couple and the history of this couple — and it s a vast history.
I love that aspect of this film. You get the whole picture and for people who perhaps haven t even seen the previous films this one can stand alone and that s the result of Martha weaving in the history and giving those answers to questions that might be there.
Was there anything that surprised you with the story that fans might enjoy?
Booth: I was surprised to see Oliver and Shane in this stage of their relationship especially when the last time we saw them was at their wedding. A lot of fans are going to be excited. They won t feel like they missed a lot because we go from their wedding to this film and we see a glimpse or two of their honeymoon. The audience is riding alongside Oliver and Shane in their journey through a new marriage and a new phase of living together.
Mabius: What I love about this movie is sometimes Oliver doesn t know what to say and he doesn t know what to feel. These two movies are really important for our evolution certainly my experience playing him. It was nice for him to be pushed far off-balance in each of these movies in very different ways and for us to end up where we do.
Do you have favorite scenes you want to call out from A Tale of Three Letters?
Mabius: There are scenes between Oliver and Shane we ve never seen before and I think it ll create a whole new type of emotional investment for the people who have been watching all these years and those who are tuning in for the first time. This movie on Friday is really about having the guts to admit you don t have the answers in a relationship and being willing to start over again. The fact that Hallmark has the guts to not present things in a neat and tidy bow all the time speaks to the quality of work they re striving towards.
Booth: There are lots of surprises coming up. It s going to be a lot of fun and it was for us to shoot the letter story in the next film which takes the POstables out of the DLO (Dead Letter Office) which I personally always love. I love to see these four characters outside of their element and thrust into the real world meeting new people and tracking down all the clues in the letter. People are going to really enjoy the storyline of the next one.
When you started this journey on Signed Sealed Delivered you probably didn t think that you would still be playing the same character 11 years later. How have your relationships to Oliver and Shane changed as time has passed?
Booth: It s an interesting question because when we started this show you re right I had no idea that 11 years from that moment I would still be inhabiting this character and living in this world. I ve always loved playing her but what I love about Shane is that she seems to be always evolving. She never gets stuck in a rut. That s a great challenge for me as an actor as it doesn t become boring. The way that Martha has written these characters is they re constantly evolving. They re constantly faced with new challenges and dilemmas often through the letter stories. Even though they re still working at the same job no two letters are alike and no two mysteries are alike. So we get to see the characters journeys mirrored back from these letters. As much as I ve grown and known Shane I m still always discovering new things and that is rare.
Mabius: Taking a second to think about how we want to be treated before we act or speak to others is an important aspect of Oliver that I try to implement. Because it s been since 2013 when the pilot aired I was in a very different place as was everyone else. I was a father of two young boys and now one of them just graduated high school and I m trying to help him find a car. All the things I learned over time — learning how to be patient learning how to understand that my actions and words have a real effect on those around me — Oliver embodies that in a wonderful way. Not all the time but it s something we should all strive for.
What would you like to see the characters do or experience?
Booth: I really would love to see the POstables travel outside of the country. I would love to see them put in a completely different culture. I think that would be really fascinating. Because they are characters who are quite unique and very set in their environment and protocols putting them into something foreign could be hilarious but also bring out different sides of them that we perhaps haven t seen yet.
Mabius: There are a limitless number of things I d like to see Oliver do. If you mean like learning how to ride a unicycle I don t have any of those things on my bucket list. Laughs One of my favorite movies was when they head out in the RV in 2018 s The Road Less Traveled and Jamie-Lynn Sigler was so great as our guest star who I worked with on Ugly Betty and pushed them out of their comfort zones.
Is there anything you want to say to the POstables?
Mabius: Without having the POstables being such fervent fans I don t know if we would be here so the support has been overwhelming. There s a whole other vibrant life that s been set into motion just from the show. It s great to see all the new ways that the show continues to positively influence people in their daily lives. Rarely does someone get to be a part of a show that lasts as long. If they do it s a procedural and they have 24 25 26 episodes a year and they re so overwhelmed they just want to be done with it. That s the opposite of our experience on Signed Sealed Delivered.
