Ginna Claire Mason and Wes Brown on Hallmark’s ‘Miraculous’ A Newport Christmas (Exclusive)

Ginna Claire Mason and Wes Brown were feeling the magic of the holiday season throughout filming their new movie for Hallmark Channel, A Newport Christmas.

As well, they should have — seeing as they filmed, in part, in the Rhode Island town, and the movie follows Ella (Mason), who time-travels from 1905 to 2025 upon seeing a comet just before Christmas. As Ella tries to find her way home, she’s faced with the shock of modern technology. Adding to her confusion is the man helping her navigate it all, Nick (Brown), who works in the museum that was once her Gilded Age home.

“It was a huge challenge to take on,” Mason, 35, tells PEOPLE. “I was like oohing and aahing when I got to watch the finished product. The magic is miraculous.”

“It’s sweet, it’s romantic, but it also has an element of beauty and fun to it, which is super unique,” adds Brown, 43.

Below, the two fan-favorites open up about more of the challenges of filming across two time periods and share how their new duet, “Timeless Christmas,” came about.

PEOPLE: The fun of watching this movie really is that you kind of know how it’s going to end, but you’re not sure how it’s going to get there.

GINNA CLAIRE MASON: Totally. The first time I read the script, I was like, “What’s going to happen? How are they going to be together? Is it going to work out? What century are they going to end up in?”

WES BROWN: Yeah. They’re from over 100 years apart. How is this going to end? When I read it, I ended up calling Dustin Rikert, the director, like, “Am I reading this right? This is what happens?” And he was like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “Dude, this is super fun.”

Were there any points when you needed to map out what was actually happening?

MASON: When I’m reading the script, I do a lot of mapping and note-taking, especially tracking our relationship — which I think is so important because we film everything out of order — to be like, “Okay, this is how far along we are, and this is where our chemistry is landing right now, and this is where things get a little more heated, either in an argumentative way or in a romantic way.” Tracking that was fun, and then definitely tracking the different centuries. It’s a love that transcends time, literally. Wes, did you ever get lost in our wild love story adventure?

BROWN: Lost in the best way possible.

MASON: Lost in my eyes.

BROWN: Yeah. (Laughs.) It was just a blast getting to go back and forth and see her with this internal struggle and also external struggle as well. It was unique storytelling from the Hallmark Channel, and we were really happy to do it, and it was one of the most fun I’ve had filming.

MASON: Yes, really. We had such a good time together. Moreso than other films I worked on with the network, Wes and I really combed through the script before we ever even got on set. So we were really excited to collaborate and game to step into the multi-century challenge of this film.

Some of those costumes are really incredible. 

MASON: I’d worked with Keith Nielsen before, our costume designer, on A Holiday Spectacular, so the bar was set really high already, and he delivered. I mean, the hats and the gloves and the corsets and the petticoats. It was such an easy way to step into costume and to step into character with the way she moves and her mannerisms, and I loved that it was such a transportive experience for me.

Wes, is there a highlight that stands out for you?

BROWN: One of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, parts of the movie is getting to watch her do her thing and bring this character to life and watch the internal and external struggle of this woman in a beautiful gown from 1905 freak out on a Newport dock in 2025. So I had a blast.

MASON: A blast from the past.

Yes! Ella’s reactions to modern technology are priceless.

MASON: Dustin was really good about doing a couple takes as-scripted and then sort of giving us a free take to try something. And I know one of my improv moments that made the film was, “Why is this alphabet all out of order?” [referring to a computer keyboard]. It’s so fun as an actor to sit back and ask yourself what if somebody from 120 years ago was experiencing things from right now, Bluetooth or ring lights? And to see that wonder and perspective, it was really fun to play with.

BROWN: It was kind of neat being on set in real life, recalling what did and did not exist in 1905, to make sure that we weren’t saying anything that perhaps wasn’t true or over-exaggerating something.

MASON: And then there’s things that are timeless, like traditions, or we get to talk about some really beloved authors like H.G. Wells and Edith Wharton and these things that connect us over the centuries.

Speaking of timeless, you guys just released a song, “Timeless Christmas,” on Oct. 31. How did that come about?

BROWN: I think, like so many actors, singers, whatever, it’s just politeness to say, “Yeah, let’s do a movie together. Let’s do a song together.” Well, that happened between Ginna Claire and I — and it actually happened. She said, “Let’s do a song together.” And I just felt honored that a veteran talent from Broadway would ever want me close to one of her songs, but she did.

MASON: I did, and I do.

BROWN: I was on the treadmill at our hotel, and she sent me a song of Donna Stuart literally snapping this tune. And it was so good I stopped the treadmill session, sat down in the gym, and I listened to it over and over and over again. Texted Ginna Claire to make sure she meant to send it to me and not someone else. Made her sign a contract right then and there. And then it happened. A few months later, we went to Nashville, and we recorded it, and I just couldn’t be more pleased to be a part of it.

MASON: On the drive to and from set, we would be practicing the song and figuring out how we were going to do it, so it was exciting.

BROWN: I got about $20,000 worth of voice lessons on it. She’s going to send me an invoice for that any day now.

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A Newport Christmas premieres Sunday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel, and it streams the next day on Hallmark+.