Christie Laing

Christie Laing is the kind of name you spot in the supporting column and trust to make the scene land. Across six Hallmark films starting in 2013, she has never been top-billed, and that is fine, because she does the steady work that holds a holiday picture together. Three of the six are Christmas titles, and she gravitates toward winter and the big city rather than the usual snowed-in small town. Her best-reviewed outing is Window Wonderland from 2013, sitting at 6.7, with The Mistletoe Promise close behind at 6.6 and Angel of Christmas a notch under. No co-star recurs often enough to call her half of a pair, so she turns up where she is needed and quietly raises the floor. If you keep a December rotation, you have seen her more than you realize.