PROFOUND OFFERING On the situation of pulling back the curtain on the raw inspiration behind his highly anticipated directorial debut, Kristoffer Polaha revealed, “This new film is absolutely a profound gift dedicated to my parents,” as anticipation rises around the deep emotion hiding behind his new romantic horror…

Kristoffer Polaha Calls New Film a ‘Gift’ to Parents After Leaving Home at 14 (EXCLUSIVE)

Who says you can never truly go home again?

On March 24, 2026, when Kristoffer Polaha’s directorial debut “Mimics” lands on Amazon Prime, the beloved Hallmark star is overwhelmed with gratitude, not just for realizing a long-held creative dream, but for the profound chance to return to his roots in Reno, Nevada, after decades away.

Polaha has turned multiple dreams into reality with the seductive horror-romance “Mimics,” which first hit theaters in January.

In an exclusive interview with EntertainmentNow, he revealed that filming in his hometown was never just about logistics.

It was deeply personal: a way to spend extended time with his parents after leaving home at age 14, an experience he describes as the ultimate “gift” he could give them.

In a moment that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt the pull of family versus ambition, Polaha’s own father delivers the film’s final line.

Standing alongside “Saturday Night Live” alum Chris Parnell in key scenes, the actor-director captured something far more intimate than cinema, a full-circle homecoming.

Polaha, with decades of experience in film and television, including starring in more than 20 Hallmark movies, told EntertainmentNow he felt destined for something bigger from age 12 or 13.

He knew he had to leave Reno to chase it.

He attended boarding school in California, then headed to New York University to pursue acting.

“I left my parents at 14,” Polaha said plainly.

He returned for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and summer breaks, but always worked, installing refrigerators, washing cars, waiting tables.

His father, a highly successful lawyer who later became a respected judge in Reno, instilled in him that “hard work and doing it well were essential to becoming a real man.”

After college and summer jobs in New York, Polaha’s life accelerated.

“My life really started there.

I was acting in the city, I had an agent, a manager.

Within two years, I met Julianne, we got married, started a family.

I honestly think my mom always believed, ‘We’ll send him to boarding school, send him to college, and then he’ll come back to Reno.’”

Now, with two of his own three sons having left home, Polaha feels the weight of time he “partially stole” from his parents.

That makes the nearly two months he spent with them in Reno during pre-production and filming of “Mimics” profoundly healing.