Jane Seymour on Parallels of Her Relationship and ‘Twelve Dates ‘Til Christmas’ Role (Exclusive)

Art is imitating life for Jane Seymour.

The actress, 74, stars in Twelve Dates ‘Til Christmas, a new Hallmark holiday series led by Mae Whitman and adapted from Jenni Bayliss’ beloved 2020 novel. Seymour plays Evelyn, a widow who finds a spark with Mac (Nathaniel Parker), a divorcee recovering from a motorcycle injury and in need of expanding his world.

For Seymour, the role called to her because she saw her own romantic life reflected in it. “I felt that when I read this. I went, ‘Okay, I know who Evelyn is.’ That dynamic about two older people finding one another is very much my story,” she tells PEOPLE during a visit to the show’s set in Ireland earlier this year. “And the nervousness of — what is it? How do you deal with this? What do you do at this time in your life? It’s something I know.”

Seymour has been married four times in the past and has found love again lately with boyfriend John Zambetti, who she met in 2023 after their sons set them up.

In the series, Evelyn explores her connection with Mac, but things get complicated when his ex-wife Delilah (Mary McDonnell) arrives unexpectedly in town.

Seymour saw the relatability in that complication, too. “I thought she was kind of spunky, independent, older. She’s got on with it, she’s making a life, and he’s got his ex-wife and life creeping up on him and destroying everything,” she says of the dynamic between Mac and his ex, who share daughter Kate (Whitman, 37).

“I think the Hallmark audience, a lot of them are my age, and they’re vicariously living through this,” Seymour continues of the older love story that unfolds for Mac and Evelyn. “They’re going, ‘Oh my goodness, that could actually happen.’ ”

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That feeling rings all the more true considering Seymour’s real experience falling in love later in life. “They know in real life, it actually has happened to me, and then they’re even more kind of interested. ‘Oh, I wonder what that would be like,’ ” she says.

Her character in the series is a widow, which isn’t a feeling Seymour can fully identify with, but, as she points out, “I can relate to it differently. I’ve never lost anyone who died on me, but my partner, his wife died, so I can relate to it because I know what I see him go through.”

She also relates to Evelyn “being selfish enough to say, this is my time in my life, and I can do it myself.”

“And then she’s completely thrown for a loop when she actually has feelings for [Mac] and she doesn’t really quite know how to handle it. And so she has to dare — because her heart’s been broken by losing her husband,” Seymour continues. “Does she really want to have another broken heart? She might lose him. I mean, I understand that one a lot.”

Along with Seymour, Whitman, Parker, 63, and McDonnell, 73, the cast of the Hallmark series includes Julian Morris, Lucy Eaton and Toby Sandeman.

New episodes of Twelve Dates ‘Til Christmas premiere Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on Hallmark.