The Hallmark Channel’s newest movie, “A Machu Picchu Proposal,” premieres on Saturday, June 28, at 8p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. The movie stars Rhiannon Fish and Alec Santos. Read on to learn all about where it was filmed and behind-the-scenes stories from the cast.
‘A Machu Picchu Proposal’ Was Filmed in Urubamba, Peru
“A Machu Picchu Proposal” was filmed on location in Peru, including Machu Picchu itself and in the Urubamba region, according to IMDb. Some specific locations, according to 4filming, include the wider Sacred Valley, the Mercado de Urubamba, the Salt Mine of Maras (also called the Maras Salt Ponds), and the Church of the Society of Jesus in Cusco.
In an interview with TV Fanatic, Santos shared that the set wasn’t closed, so they got used to lots of noise and activity while they were filming.
“It’s not a closed set,” he said. “There’s a lot of noise — dogs barking, people shouting. As you shoot, you have to get used to it… We don’t cut. If there’s a crazy noise, we wait for it to die down, and then we stop briefly and continue the scene. So it’s a different skill set.”
But filming was a dream come true, he added.
“We got to go to places where tourists don’t get to go,” Santos told TV Fanatic.
One bit of trivia he shared was that when they make a Pachamanca in one scene, it took them the entire day to do it in real life. Once they were done shooting, everyone — including the crew and the director — got to eat it.
“Everything we ate there was out of this world,” he added. “Even the empanadas we make in one scene — I got to eat those.”
IMDB’s trivia section for the movie also mentions that it was very easy to break the cacao pods on set, and they kept accidentally breaking them.
Santos shared a lot of behind-the-scenes moments on Instagram.
He wrote in one post, “The background and the actors usually take centre stage in any movie of this kind. But a movie is so much more than that. This photo album is an ode to all of the artists that contributed their heart and soul to make this film.”
He also posted video content during the trip to Peru. For one post, he wrote, “Part 1 – week1. A little behind the scenes content of A Machu Picchu proposal airing on @hallmarkchannel June 28!”
For another video he wrote, “We arrive at the site entrance a little shaken after a harrowing bus ride with hairpin turns, a road made slick by a tropical downpour and a jaw dropping elevation gain. The movie rests on this single day of shooting and it is now apparent that we are at the mercy of Mother Nature and her weather whims.”
Chris Vieria shared a post about how excited he is to be in the film. “I got cast in a Hallmark movie!” he wrote.
In another post he wrote, “Michelle, my Peruvian co-star on A Machu Picchu Proposal premiering on @hallmarkchannel this Saturday, June 28th @ 8pm EST, told me a story about how the mountain we see in the video behind the lost Inca city called Huayna Picchu (Wayna Picchu), is said to be the face of a sleeping Inca giant. This place is truly breath taking, figuratively and literally!!! 😂”
Meet the Cast
Hallmark’s synopsis for the movie reads, “Katie (Rhiannon Fish) agrees to join her brother Dan and his girlfriend Luciana on a trip to Peru. Dan plans to propose to Luciana in a grand way at Machu Picchu at the end of the week and needs Katie’s Spanish speaking skills to ask Luciana’s Peruvian father for his blessing. However, when Luciana’s friend, Chef Carlos (Alec Santos), arrives, he accidentally ruins each proposal attempt. Refusing to give up, Katie does everything in her power to make this proposal happen, until Dan calls it off. Katie must lean into Chef Carlos’ spontaneity to not only save the day and the proposal, and Carlos may just win Katie’s heart too!”
Rhiannon Fish is Katie. She’s well known among Hallmark fans for movies like “When Love Springs,” “A Picture of Her,” “Nikki & Nora: Sister Sleuths,” “Remembering Love,” “You’re Bacon Me Crazy,” and more. She starred as Ontari in “The 100” on The CW.
Alec Santos is Carlos. He’s fluent in three languages, according to his Hallmark bio, and has many credits such as “Planning on Forever,” “Virgin River,” “Firefly Lane,” “Snowpiercer,” and more.
Also starring, according to IMDb, are:
- Michelle Rosselló (Luciana)
- Christopher Vieira (Dan)
- Lucia Caravedo (Maria)
- Fernando Farfan (Luis)
- Alberto Wirz Revoredo (Cesar)
- Valentina Saba (Flores)
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Where Was ‘A Machu Picchu Proposal” Filmed? See Cast Stories & Locations