Villainous boss Priscilla Hall
Priscilla Hall (Elizabeth Röhm) is the main villainess of the 2011 film, A Christmas Kiss.
Introduction[]
She was a successful interior designer, having an assistant in aspiring designer (and main protagonist) Wendy Walton. The film quickly established Priscilla as a controlling boss to Wendy, with Wendy's friend and roommate Tressa referring to her as an "insanely demanding control freak" and Priscilla having Wendy go to her penthouse to turn up the heat and turn on some lights when her flight into town was late.
It was soon after this that Wendy had an encounter with a stranger in an elevator, sharing a passioante kiss with him as it appeared the elevator was about to collapse. The next day, Priscilla had Wendy clean her apartment for the upcoming arriving of her boyfriend Adam Hughes while she was at the spa, with Wendy being stunned to learn that Adam was the man who kissed her in the elevator. Priscilla eagerly greeted Adam home, as she had earlier expressed a belief that Adam was planning to propose to her. Priscilla initially believed him to be preparing to ask her when he asked her for a favor, only for that favor to be to decorate his house for a Christmas party for an upcoming city ballet performance of The Nutcracker. Priscilla agreed to do so, but later became frustrated with Adam wanting a traditional Christmas as opposed to the numerous social events she wanted them to go to as a couple.
Priscilla later called Wendy to her penthouse, assigning for her to help with decorating Adam's house while putting all their other clients on hold, threatening to replace Wendy when she expressed discomfort in working with Adam. As Wendy began working with Adam and Priscilla for the party, Wendy gave a suggestion to Priscilla about using A Christmas Carol as the party's theme, having seen that Adam cherished an original copy of the book given to him by his grandmother. Priscilla, however, vehemently refused and blasted the idea as horrible, claiming neither she or Adam cared for sentimentality when Wendy brought up how Priscilla believed Adam would use the party as a chance to propose to her. When Wendy inquired about how Priscilla and Adam met, Priscilla admitted to seeking Adam out as a boyfriend before even meeting him personally, unabashedly calling her actions calculated and arguing that she and Adam were a perfect couple due to their lifestyles meshing well.
Heel Turn[]
Priscilla as she blackmails Wendy
The next day, after spending the night working on sketches of her ideas for the party decorations, Wendy shared her work with Priscilla, who was quick to dismiss Wendy's ideas and sketches as "repellent" and disappointing, even going as far as to say she had no reason to be proud of them. However, after showing Adam her sketches and having him say they weren't the direction he wanted for the party, the evil Priscilla presented Wendy's work as her own, which Adam praised. After Adam left, Wendy confronted Priscilla on taking credit for her designs, with Priscilla saying she was right to do so since Wendy was working for her and threatening to destroy Wendy's career if she fought against her. Priscilla still, however, had Wendy work on implenting her designs, with Wendy (against the advice of Tressa and her other roommate Caroline) giving in to her boss' demands out of fear that Adam would believe Priscilla over her if she tried to tell him the truth about her designs.
Later on, Priscilla discovered an engagement ring in Adam's coat pocket, excitedly believing Adam was planning to propose to her as she desired him to, unaware that Adam was growing doubtful over marrying Priscilla (in part due to his kiss with Wendy). Priscilla was later accidentally struck in the face with a decorative lamppost while Wendy and Tressa were working to decorate Adam's house, leaving to go to New York to see her mother's plastic surgeon and leaving Wendy in charge of decorating. During that time, Wendy and Adam began to bond with each other, with Priscilla returning to find the two asleep together on the couch after watching classic Christmas movies together. After Wendy left, Priscilla subtly accused Adam of cheating on her, with Adam assuring her that nothing happened between him and Wendy. Later on, though, Priscilla answered Adam's phone while he was upstairs and realized that Adam was planning to return the engagement ring. In response, Priscilla called Wendy to Adam's house to clean up, where Priscilla (while wearing the engagement ring) boastfully claimed Adam proposed to her and informed Wendy that she was firing her as her assistant. The villainess went on to accuse Wendy of betraying her and warned her not to contact Adam or come to his party, stating she would go through with her original threat if she did.
Defeat[]
After calling the local newspaper and informing them that Adam's party would also serve as an engagement party to her, Priscilla met with Adam at his house, claiming Wendy had abruptly quit her job due to not wanting to be a part of their lives anymore. Priscilla also showed Adam she was wearing the engagement ring he bought and abruptly said she was agreeing to marry him, stopping Adam from trying to tell her of his true intentions. As a result of Priscilla's meddling, the newspaper reported on her and Adam's "engagement", with Priscilla smiling at the article while calling her mother to inform her of the news.
On the night of The Nutcracker premiere, Priscilla chided Adam for not socializing during the opening party, with Adam in turn confronting Priscilla for the fact that he hadn't actually proposed to her. The couple also argued over Priscilla moving a cherished nutcracker ornament of Adam's and her dislike of live Christmas trees, prompting Adam to reveal that he had come to realize that Priscilla stole Wendy's designs. Priscilla attempted to justify her theft by saying all of Wendy's work was overseen by her, only for Adam to catch her in her lie when she claimed he was given his A Christmas Carol book by his grandfather rather than his grandmother.
At the ballet premiere, Adam was called backstage by his friend, stagehand Charlie, as a plan he devised with Tressa to reveal the truth to Adam. There, Adam was approached by Wendy in the costume she wore the night of their elevator kiss, leading Adam to finally recognize her and begin attempting to explain his false engagement to Priscilla. But before he could, Priscilla came backstage and saw the two, attempting to cover up her past deeds by "apologizing" to Wendy and asking her to come back to work with her. Finally fed up with his manipulative and controlling boss, Wendy confronted Priscilla on her callous behavior and Adam for choosing her and not recognizing her before as the woman he kissed, believing it meant that he felt nothing for her and was choosing to stay with Priscilla. After Wendy stormed out, Priscilla stopped Adam from going after her, criticizing the glitter she was wearing before stumbling into a nutcracker cutout lowered down by Charlie and Tressa, re-injurying her nose. Adam appeared to begin helping Priscilla up, only to instead take off her engagement ring before going after Wendy, apologizing for not recognizing her and affirming the romantic spark he felt with her before they reconciled, with a newspaper-style epilogue revealing that Adam officially broke up with Priscilla and married Wendy instead.
Trivia[]
- Elisabeth Röhm later appeared in 2013's Darkroom as sadistic villainess Rachel Lefferson and in 2016's Love Is All You Need? as evil reverend Rachel Duncan.
- In TV, Elisabeth Röhm appeared on Hawaii Five-0 as serial killer Madison Gray and the evil Brooke Mason on Magnum P.I.
Gallery[]
