Kristoffer Polaha on Mimics, Reno Roots, and Why You Have to Invite Yourself to the Table
Today on Girls Gone Hallmark, we’re thrilled to welcome back Kristoffer Polaha for a conversation that’s funny, thoughtful, and refreshingly real. We talk about his latest projects – from Hallmark favorites like Missing the Boat and A Grand Ole Opry Christmas to his upcoming theatrical film Mimics, which he both directs and stars in. Kristoffer also shares insight into his recent non-Hallmark work on American Hostage, along with stories from his teenage years split between Reno and boarding school – and how “Reno Kris” and “Boarding School Kris” were two very different people.
“Reno Kris wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you guys.”
Kristoffer Polaha
Along the way, we get into how he met his wife (the moment he realized he was “cooked”), and the advice that stuck with us most: learning to “invite yourself to the table.” It’s the kind of conversation that stays with you long after the episode ends.
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What is Mimics About?
Search Fandango to see Mimics in theaters near you. Opens February 13, 2026.
Mimics is a genre-bending film that blends comedy, horror, and romance into a darkly playful cautionary tale about ambition and consequence. The story follows Sam Reinhold, a struggling impressionist who’s desperate for his big break. When he makes a deal with Fergus – a wicked, sentient puppet with very real strings attached – Sam’s career begins to take off, but at a terrifying cost. What starts as a shortcut to success quickly spirals into a nightmare that threatens not only Sam’s future, but the safety of the people he loves.
“I dreamed a dream and I did this thing and I made it. I could call it a day and be very content. I’m not going to. But I could literally pack it up and be like, I did what I set out to do.”
Kristoffer Polaha
Written by Marc Oakley and directed by Kristoffer Polaha, who also stars as Sam, Mimics leans into dark humor, unsettling horror, and an unexpected emotional core. The film also stars Moriah, Chris Parnell, Jesse Hutch, and Stephen Tobolowsky, and uses its offbeat premise to explore bigger themes about identity, desire, and what we’re willing to sacrifice to be seen.
The Reno Love Letter
When you watch Mimics, you’ll see Reno in all its complexity. “There’s a lot of unexpected beauty in Reno, and there’s a lot of heartbreak,” Kristoffer says. “It’s a place of hope and desperation, and I think the film captures that pretty nicely.”
The world premiere on February 11th at the Pioneer Center for the Arts holds deep personal significance.
“When I was a kid I was like, one day I’m gonna be on that stage. I call it the Carnegie Hall of Reno. It’s the crown jewel of performing arts in Nevada.”
Kristoffer Polaha
“When I was a kid I was like, one day I’m gonna be on that stage. I call it the Carnegie Hall of Reno. It’s the crown jewel of performing arts in Nevada.”
It’s also “right across the street from the courthouse where my dad worked for 52 years.”
American Hostage: 63 Hours of Live Terror
Kristoffer just wrapped filming on MGM+’s American Hostage, an eight-episode series starring Jon Hamm and Giovanni Ribisi.
The show tells the true story of February 1977, when Tony Kiritsis walked into Meridian Mortgage in Indianapolis with a gun hidden in a sling and took Dick Hall hostage for 63 hours. The entire ordeal was broadcast live on radio and even interrupted the 1977 Oscars. “John Wayne was accepting an Oscar speech and they broke away to go to this live report,” Kristoffer explains.
In the series, Giovanni Ribisi plays Kiritsis, Jon Hamm plays radio host Fred Heckman, and Kristoffer plays the hostage, Dick Hall. The production kept the actors separated by role: “It was me and Giovanni on one set, and then Jon Hamm and all of the radio station actors were on a whole other set. We had different days.”
What makes the story particularly compelling is its historical context. Just five years earlier, terrorists had taken the Israeli Olympics team hostage in Munich—an event that ended in tragedy with the entire team massacred. “So what the world saw was a hostage situation that ended in tragedy,” Kristoffer notes. “And what the world didn’t wanna see happen again was Dick Hall die. So they were willing to do whatever it took to keep this guy alive.”
That desperation led authorities to agree to Kiritsis’s demand for live radio coverage. “They were like, whatever it takes to keep this guy alive. Like, just keep him talking.”
Written by Eileen Meyers with showrunner Sean Ryan, Kristoffer describes it as “an incredibly well-written eight episodes of television” that’s “really riveting” and “intense.”
American Hostage will premiere on MGM plus in 2026.
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