Hallmark "Make Me a Match"
The Hallmark Channel’s newest June Weddings movie, “Make Me a Match,” premieres on Saturday, June 24, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. The movie stars Eva Bourne and Rushi Kota. Read on to learn all about where the movie was filmed and cast’s behind-the-scenes stories.
‘Make Me a Match’ Was Filmed in the Vancouver, Canada, Region
Hallmark“Make Me a Match”
Labeled as “the very first Hallmark South Asian story” by director Heather Hawtorne-Doyle, the movie’s working title was “Match Me, Please.” It was filmed in the Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, region. According to social media posts, the 14 days of filming for the movie began on March 21.
Hawtorne-Doyle posted a picture of a Vancouver beach on April 24.
She shared a behind-the-scenes photo on April 11.
On May 9, she posted a video about wrapping filming (but the wrap day itself was much earlier.)
She posted on March 23: “Wildest day of my career yet, so I wore a wild shirt! Amazingly we pulled it off. Match me, Please (working title) coming in June (wild turnaround too).”
“Still sends a thrill! Day one shot, 14 more to go!” she posted on March 21.
Now that she’s back on social media, Bourne has posted a few pictures about her new movie on Instagram too.
“Absolutely over the moon to be guided by our incredibly brilliant and fearless director @hhdtvis ✨” she wrote on April 1. “Oh…and @rushikota isn’t half bad either. 😛”
“All done ✨I experienced the magic of so many truly good and talented people on this project. Lucky, lucky me,” she wrote on April 11.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you @nikhilsjayaram for your words, wit and art. @rushikota @therekhasharma you brought every page to life so flawlessly and I couldn’t be happier to have shared this experience with you both.
I finally found my match! ❤️” she wrote on April 11.
Bourne recently told JustJared that she was excited to be back at Hallmark.
“I was super grateful for the opportunity, and I was excited that this was the script that I got to have the first leading role with,” she shared. “I had a lot of ideas swirling around in my head about all the things that would come with a lead, but to be honest, all of my worries were completely gone once the second day came. ”
On Kota’s birthday, she posted the following “Happy Birthday @rushikota 🥳✨Thanks for really pushing through and always putting up with me 😛”
Rekha Sharma, who is from North Vancouver, posted a few pictures on her own Instagram as well.
“*Spoilers 🤩 Some behind the scenes tomfoolery for y’all from my current project – set to be released this summer on @hallmarkchannel 😍I havefakegreyhaairrthisisfuuunnn Woohoo 🥳” she wrote.
And Kota posted photos of him and his co-host, writing: “The many times @evacbourne and I make the same faces. #makemeamatch”
Meet the Cast
Hallmark“Make Me a Match”
Hallmark’s synopsis reads:
Vivi (Bourne), an optimistic woman with a substandard romantic history, works at a datadriven matchmaking app. Once she discovers that the success rate for matches at her company is low, she hires Raina (Rekha Sharma,“Battlestar Galactica”), an Indian matchmaker, to provide advice on how to improve their numbers. However, Raina suggests an unusual arrangement to teach Vivi her tactics: she will use her expertise to help Vivi find love, and Vivi can use what she learns through this process to help her company. As they embark on this matchmaking journey, Vivi meets Raina’s spontaneous son, Bhumesh (Kota), and questions whether finding love is something one must take control of or allow to happen on its own.
Eva Bourne, who plays Vivi in the movie, is from British Columbia, according to her bio. After completing high school, Bourne initially pursued a Dental Assisting career. However, she soon discovered her true passion for acting and journeyed to Vancouver to pursue her career. She’s well known for her role on “When Calls the Heart” as Clara, and for her role on “Garage Sale Mysteries” as Hannah. She’s also starred on “Caprica,” “Psych,” “Falling Skies,” “Devil in Ohio,” “Once Upon a Time,” and more.
Rushi Kota is Boom in the movie. According to his bio, he is known for portraying the character of Prashant in the popular Netflix series “Never Have I Ever,” as well as portraying Dr. Vik Roy in “Grey’s Anatomy.” Before breaking into the entertainment industry, he studied Automotive Engineering at SUNY Farmingdale, and double majored in Industrial Management Technology and Business Administration. However, the financial crisis of 2008 put things into perspective and he decided to focus on acting.
Also starring in the movie, according to Hallmark’s press statement, are:
- Rekha Sharma (Raina)
- Rahat Saini (Nella)
- Lynda Boyd (Janice)
- Garwin Sanford (Walter)
- Sean Yves Lessard (Adam Yantzy)
- Patch May (Kenny)
- Kyle Toy (Dom)
- Alex Pychtin (Paul)
- Nitin Prasad (Leonard)
- Darien Martin (Tristan)
- Iain Craighead (Suitor)
- Wonita Joy (Mom)
- Nipun Joshi (Arvind the Astrologer)
- Nimet Kanji (Palmist)
- Janelle Beadall (Fangirl)
- Arianna Bent (Party Guest)
- Patience Dossen (Testimonial Person #1)
- Terrick Harley (Testimonial Person #2)
- Suresh Patel (Older Indian Man)
- Angelique Maingot (Eatery Server)
- Devinder S. Dillon (Hindu Vadhiyar)
- Moheb Jindran (Venky)
- Sophia Biling (Kid)
- Neema Rose Vincent (Engagement Dancer #1)
- Karanvir Singh (Engagement Dancer #2)
- Bhushan Patil (Engagement Dancer #3)
- Manasi Harshit Shah (Engagement Dancer #4)
- Niki Patel (Wedding Dancer #1)
- Vishakha R. Patil (Wedding Dancer #2)
- Shilpa Patel (Wedding Dancer #3)
- Janhvi Vora (Wedding Dancer #4)
- Chad Sayn (Stunt Coordinator)
- Niki Patel (Choreographer)
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