Eastern Iowans take a spin on Sunday's Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie

Two Eastern Iowans are big wheels in Hallmark Hall of Fame's TV drama, "Christmas in Conway," to air this coming Sunday.

Riley Smith, who grew up in Marion and graduated from Alburnett High School in 1997, has a featured role as landscaper Tommy Harris in the holiday romance. Among his character's duties is tending to the movie's other big wheel - the 12-seat Big Eli Ferris wheel owned by Round Concepts, a division of Sound Concepts in Cedar Rapids.

The movie was shot from July 30 to Sept. 3 in Wilmington, N.C. Smith said he got goosebumps the very first day, when he walked by one of the wheel technicians who was wearing a Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival T-shirt.

That's when he discovered the Iowa connection.

"The Ferris wheel really is the centerpiece of our movie," Smith said by phone from Oklahoma City, where he was attending a quarter horse show with his father, Russ Smith, who lives near Dallas.

"I deal with the Ferris wheel the entire time, so I felt like it was kind of a costar, and here it is - my costar is from my hometown. That's pretty neat," Smith said.

His other costars are pretty big wheels, too - Andy Garcia, Mary-Louise Parker, Mandy Moore and Cheri Oteri.

Garcia plays a husband who had proposed to his wife (Parker) on a Ferris wheel. Now that she's gravely ill, he wants to bring a wheel to their backyard so they can relive that tender moment.

Smith's character helps in the assembly in reel life, not real life. He said movie magic makes it look as if he's working on the wheel, but three members of the Round Concepts team traveled to the site to assemble and maintain the structure, which measures 45 feet, 3 inches.

The vintage 1921 wheel was made in Jacksonville, Ill., and sat atop the Boardwalk Casino in Las Vegas until that venue closed in January 2006. Marvin Smejkal, owner and president of Sound Concepts, bought it and added it to his Round Concepts collection.

He now has eight Ferris wheels available for everything from corporate to family events, and two have appeared onscreen - in “The Lone Ranger” (2013) and “Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon” (2011).

The "Christmas" wheel traveled to North Carolina by truck for its film debut. Smejkal, of Cedar Rapids, said many of his clients find out about his Ferris wheels via the Internet, but this time, the movie producers called the manufacturer and another person they found on the Internet, both of whom recommended Round Concepts.

Even though he's shooting a project for writer and producer Nicholas Sparks in Austin, Texas, Smith - a veteran of film and television, including "Radio" and "90210" - requested time off to fly home to Los Angeles to celebrate Thanksgiving and the movie's debut with family and friends, including his mom, Roxanne Smith of Cedar Rapids.

After decorating his house on Sunday, he'll put on some cider and everyone will settle in for a movie marathon, starting with "Christmas in Conway," at 8 p.m. on ABC, and ending with "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

Smith left the Corridor right after graduating from high school 16 years ago. But he said his hometown spirit has never wavered, and that's what he loves about this film.

"The message is very much apropos for Christmas," he said. "It's about a community coming together and helping someone do something for somebody they love. The message of the story embodies what Christmas is all about."

Audiences will have even more chances to catch Smith in action, as he guest stars this month in episodes 7 and 8 of "Beauty and the Beast," airing Mondays on television's CW station. Then at the end of March, he'll appear in Sparks' Civil War drama, "Deliverance Creek," which will debut as a Lifetime channel movie of the week - but if ratings are high enough, could spin into a series.

"To work for Nicholas Sparks is pretty amazing," he said of the man who penned "The Notebook," "A Walk to Remember" and "Dear John," among others.

"The words just fall off the page for us. ... I'm really excited about this one," Smith said. "I think this could be a really good deal for me."

Between shoots in North Carolina, Texas and Toronto, the busy actor is looking forward to his Thanksgiving break.

"Sounds like I haven't been to my bed in LA for quite a while," he said with a laugh. "I'm missing my bed, but I have hotel living down pretty good."

TUNE IN

• What: "Christmas in Conway," Hallmark Hall of Fame
• When: 8 p.m. Sunday (12/1) on KCRG-TV9
• Details: Hallmark.com/online/hall-of-fame/christmas-in-conway.aspx