Amanda Kloots had a little piece of husband Nick Cordero with her when she filmed her CBS holiday television movie Fit For Christmas alongside their son, Elvis Eduardo, 3, who makes his acting debut in this Sunday's premiere.
"He was a pro," the 40-year-old star and co-writer tells PEOPLE exclusively of Elvis. "It was insane. He had one little line and we were practicing it and the first take, he nailed it. [He] did it perfect."
Despite her toddler acting like he's ready for his first Emmy Award, she's hoping to keep him off camera at least for a little while.
"I was like, 'No more for you,' " Kloots jokes. "I will encourage him to do whatever he wants to do. As long as he is happy and fulfilled in life, I will support him. I just want him to be a happy little boy."
In the film, Kloots plays Audrey, a fitness enthusiast who's obsessed with Christmas living in Mistletoe, Montana. Kloots stars alongside mysterious businessman Griffin, played by actor Paul Greene. The two begin a holiday romance that eventually complicates his plans to turn the local community fitness center where Audrey teaches into a more lucrative spot for the town.
"The nod to Nick was actually so crazy," says Kloots. "I was leaving to shoot one day and it was cold that morning so I grabbed his [Nick's] flannel shirt that I wear a lot when I just want to feel like he's with me and I put it on."
When Kloots, who also serves as a Co-EP on the project, and her crew had to change a scene at the last minute, she enlisted Cordero's help without even noticing what she was doing.
"They're frantically running around, trying to figure out what I could wear for this scene that was going to be in the daytime, that now is going to be at 4:00 a.m. and I said to them, 'I have the perfect thing.' I went and grabbed his flannel," she says.
"The scene is with my dad in the movie and I was like, 'I'm just going to wear this. It's like I put on my dad's flannel, but it's Nick's.' It really is a beautiful scene because in the scene, the dad is saying, 'Sometimes, your life path takes a different journey.'"
The Talk co-host and Cordero married in New York City in 2017 and relocated to Los Angeles at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 when their son was just 9-months-old. The Broadway actor passed away in July 2020 from COVID-19.
Kloots almost didn't bring the shirt to set that day which made the nod to Cordero extra special.
"It was so crazy though because I wasn't even going to bring it," Kloots shares while holding back tears. "I was just like, 'Oh, I'll just bring Nick's flannel,' and then it ended up being the perfect thing to wear for that, especially for that scene. It was really nice."
The fitness instructor knows her husband would be so proud of her television movie debut, too.
"I think one hundred percent," Kloots says of Cordero's feelings. "I definitely felt him there and he was such an amazing actor, so there were a lot of times that I would just say to him, 'Alright, can you be with me today? This is a bigger scene or whatever.'"
"The first day we started, I remember just being like, 'All right, honey. Bring on your magical acting power so I could do a good job in this,' because I really wanted to do a good job. I wanted to make this character as real as possible because I know that these movies are heightened and not as real as a lot of things, but I wanted to make her very real, as real possible."
On top of Fit For Christmas' upcoming release, Kloots is getting in the holiday spirit by helping others alongside her co-hosts at The Talk. The show just launched a new segment called "The Talk Sleighs The Holidays" and "Holiday Wish List Giveaways," which will give away almost $4 million worth of prizes to single parents, foster parents, essential workers and community charity volunteers in the audience.
"As a single parent, it's so nice to be able to give them these giveaways," Kloots says. "It's so amazing. It's so fun to do these giveaways and see the audience's reaction. We have the best audience at The Talk. They're so full of energy. They're so devoted to our show and such just happy fans every day."
Fit For Christmas airs Sunday, Dec. 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+. The Talk airs weekdays at 2 p.m. ET/1 PM PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+
