Heavy/Hallmark Hunter King in "Two Scoops of Italy"
Actress Hunter King says she spent a charmed month abroad while filming her latest Hallmark Channel movie, “Two Scoops of Italy,” premiering on June 22, 2024. The only issue, she’s revealed in interviews, was that she developed a bad habit of eating gelato multiple times a day.
On June 21, during an Instagram Live with “CherryChat” host Meg McCarthy, King admitted that not only did she eat the sweet treat on set while filming, but most evenings after a long day on set, she went out to buy more.
“Basically every day when I was in Italy, I would … eat gelato on set,” she laughed. “Every day. And then immediately when I would wrap I would then put my bags down, then walk out my door and go find more gelato. It became a problem.”
In addition to becoming a gelato connoisseur while filming “Two Scoops of Italy,” the actress said she delighted in the opportunity to immerse herself in the culture for a month, calling the experience a “chance of a lifetime.”
While Filming in Italy, Hunter King Says She Became Obsessed With One Particular Flavor of Gelato
HallmarkHunter King and Michele Rosiello in “Two Scoops of Italy”
In “Two Scoops of Italy,” co-starring Italian actor Michele Rosiello, King plays a chef who travels to an ancient Roman village for culinary inspiration, worried that her restaurant will shut down if she doesn’t revamp the menu, per Hallmark. Once there, she meets Giancarlo Donati, played by Rosiello, a gelatiere who teaches her about the quaint town’s culture and food — including his area of expertise, gelato.
Though the movie’s underlying theme is about branching out to try new things, King told McCarthy that she got stuck in a rut with her gelato habit.
“Oh, my God, I’m a big Nutella or hazelnut person, every time,” she said. “Every time. I wouldn’t try anything new. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, the life lesson in this movie is try something new. Okay, but not when it comes to food — stick with what you know!’ Every time that’s what I would get, but they’re all so good.”
Expanding on her love of Nutella, a hazelnut and cocoa condiment that originated in Italy, King joked to McCarthy, “(Once you try it), there is no going back. Your life is forever changed, you’re a new person post-Nutella. And it was like I’d never had Nutella in my life when I went to Italy. And all of a sudden I’m like a monster. Like I needed it every day. But yeah, the food there is just it’s better than anything that you could dream about.”
King also brought up her gelato habit to Us Weekly, telling the outlet, “The food, oh my gosh, the food is so good. The food is so good that every single night, after almost every single night after filming, I would put my stuff down and then go and get gelato immediately.”
Hunter King Says Filming in Italy Was ‘Chance of a Lifetime’
Though gelato was a central theme of both the movie and King’s stay in Italy, the actress said she jumped at the role so she could immerse herself in the culture there, telling Us Weekly, “Anytime that I get a chance to travel, I will.”
When she read the script for “Two Scoops of Italy,” she told Us Weekly, “I heard Italy (and) I was like, ‘I’m in. I’m totally in.'”
“I stayed in a wonderful neighborhood and just exploring all the little cobblestone streets and restaurants and shops,” she continued. “It was incredible.”
“Getting to actually film in Italy,” she told McCarthy during their Instagram Live, “I got to really immerse myself into the culture, the food and just, I don’t know, it was like a dream come true. I never thought that I would get to play or be in a movie that actually takes place in Italy and film in Italy and then live in Italy for a month. Like, it just was so much fun!”
“And then you actually do feel like you’re in a movie when you’re like, ‘Okay, I get to really immerse myself in what it’s like to live here.’ I mean, it was only a month, but still, it was just
the chance of a lifetime to get to do that and, like, when the heck would I ever get to do that
otherwise?”
“Two Scoops of Italy” premieres on Hallmark Channel at 8 p.m. Eastern time on June 22, and is scheduled to re-air on June 23 at 7 p.m. Eastern time.