By now, Justin Hartley has become a pro at pulling heartstrings. For six seasons, he played Kevin Pearson on the NBC family drama This Is Us, which followed the lives of the Pearson family and the moments that shaped them. If you logged onto Twitter on any given Tuesday night, there was no escaping the emotional toll that the series took on its viewers. Although This Is Us wrapped last May, Hartley is taking another journey through the past and present in the upcoming Christmas movie, The Noel Diary. Teaming up with Charles Shyer, a writer and director known for classics like The Parent Trap and Father of the Bride, The Noel Diary promises a complex tale of nostalgia and family connections. 

Based on Richard Paul Evans’ bestselling novel of the same name, The Noel Diary follows renowned author Jake Turner (Hartley) as he returns home for Christmas to settle his estranged mother’s estate. Jake discovers a diary belonging to a woman named Noel, and it just might hold secrets to his own past and that of Rachel (Barrett Doss), a young woman on a mission of her own. Together, the two strangers embark on a journey to confront their pasts and discover a totally unexpected future.

In the film, both Jake and Rachel are haunted by unanswered questions from their past. Jake lost his brother at a young age, and had a nearly nonexistent relationship with his father. He also never got to rekindle his relationship with his mother before her passing. Rachel is searching for the birth mother who gave her up for adoption. Both strangers are trying to put together their own puzzles, but little do they know that they share the missing piece to both of their stories.

'The Noel Diary' Trailer

“It’s a unique movie for Christmas. Those themes that drive the story are themes that all of us can relate to, about forgiveness, understanding, not holding grudges and closing chapters in your life in a good way,” Shyer tells Tudum. With the Christmas movie genre dominated by bright and playful rom-coms, The Noel Diary hopes to celebrate the season with a more emotional approach. “It’s touching. It’s a movie that stands on its own without Christmas,” Shyer adds.

Hartley believes that his fans will find the same comfort in The Noel Diary that they did with This Is Us. “I think it has a lot of the same elements in terms of why people will relate to the characters that This Is Us had,” he says. “There’s this feeling of being alone. There’s a whole theme of forgiveness, whether it be forgiving yourself or forgiving others.” 

For Hartley, working with Shyer was nothing short of a privilege. “His work is iconic and timeless, so you just trust him and it gives you more time as an actor to focus on the things that you should be focusing on,” Hartley shares. It was partially because of his role on This Is Us that helped sway Shyer into casting Hartley for the film (as well as some convincing from his ex-wife and ex-writing partner Nancy Meyers). 

“I wasn’t as aware of him as I should’ve been, but [Nancy] loved Justin, so I watched [This Is Us],” Shyer reveals. “I was just convinced he was right. He showed so much range in that show. He just stood out and he was right for the character that we’d written.”

Although this is Shyer’s first feature in 18 years (his most recent film, Alfie, came out in 2004), he described his return to filmmaking as seamless as remembering how to ride a bike.  “I’ve been on movie sets since I was 7 years old, because my dad was in the movie business. I just rolled right into it and it was like no time had passed,” he says. Both hope that fans are able to connect with the film in the same way they have with their previous heart-tugging works, too.

The Noel Diary premieres Nov. 24. To get into a festive mood, check out three original songs written for the film: “Christmas in Your Heart” by AJ Wells, “Sweet Christmas Memories” by Minnie Murphy and Ty Herndon and “Christmas In Connecticut with You” by Steve Tyrell.