We’re about to head into the dog days of summer, and for many of us that might mean snow cones, swimming pools and fun in the sun. Over on the Hallmark Channel, however, it’s something completely different — Christmas in July. The upcoming Hallmark movies that will premiere on the 2025 TV schedule may look frosty, but several actors have spoken about how hot it gets filming holiday movies in summer months. It turns out the opposite may be actually worse.
I had the chance to speak to Alec Santos, who will star in the Hallmark original A Machu Picchu Proposal on June 28 before kicking off Christmas in July a week later in Unwrapping Christmas: Tina’s Miracle. And yes, he confirms that things got steamy while shooting the latter, saying:
We were in Ottawa, and it was 95 degrees, and I had a leather jacket on. The shop where [the Unwrapping Christmas movies are set], it was so, so hot in there. Every time they yelled cut, it would be, like, taking off clothes, there would be people fanning you, you know, ice packs behind your neck, or sometimes we would shoot with an ice pack on our back.
That certainly doesn’t sound very pleasant, and I can understand why Hallmark star Alison Sweeney said shooting Christmas movies in the summer is never her favorite. However, Alec Santos told CinemaBlend he much preferred that to what he experienced with A Machu Picchu Proposal. He continued:
But I didn't mind it as much, actually. The other way around, this movie, A Machu Picchu Proposal, there’s a pool scene in the movie, and we shot, you know, this is a summer movie, but it was actually winter in Peru, and it was about, you know, 50 degrees that night when we did that pool scene. So being cold in a summer movie is worse than being hot. Because when you're cold, it's hard to hide the goosebumps.
This actually makes a lot of sense, and Alec Santos laughed as he recalled just how frigid things got while filming the movie on location in Peru:
We had to cut because all of a sudden, the director is like, ‘Alec, your mouth is chattering.’ I’m like, ‘I can’t control that!’ you know? Like, ‘They didn’t teach me this in acting school!’ At least with hot, someone can come in and dab you to make sure you're not sweating, or at least pretend it's snow that melted on your face. But when you're cold, it is really, really hard to get warm again.
I actually love the idea of Hallmark trying to pass off sweat as snow residue.
Another Hallmark favorite, Jonathan Bennett, shared a similar view about why filming in the summer is easier. Despite his previous complaints about the heat, the Mean Girls alum said movies filmed in the summer are more efficient, because everyone moves a little slower when they’re cold.
Luckily for us, we’ll get to experience both situations alongside Alec Santos (from the hopefully climate-controlled comfort of our own homes). Be sure to watch out for that pool scene and the actor’s chattering teeth when A Machu Picchu Proposal airs at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, June 28, on Hallmark. Then tune in for Unwrapping Christmas: Tina’s Miracle at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, July 5.
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