Chaley Rose and Nathan Witte Talk My Best Friend’s Bouquet [Exclusive] 

[Warning: General spoilers ahead].

Saturday night, Hallmark Channel merges Fall Harvest with wedding season for the premiere of My Best Friend’s Bouquet. Featuring an ensemble cast led by Chaley Rose and Nathan Witte, the film follows longtime friends whose easy, familiar vibe is thrown off kilter by a random bouquet toss after one of them gets married.

Rose plays Josie, whose long-held idea that the wedding bouquet chooses its recipient is tested when she ends up catching it. She’s romantically unattached but feels like it’s a nudge from the universe to maybe start looking. What she’s blissfully unaware of is that another BFF in their tribe, Alex (Witte) is seriously holding a torch for her. Their mutual pal, Emma (Luisa d’Oliveira)–the bride responsible for the bouquet toss–figures it out but waits for Alex to act. Unfortunately, his time is running out on a few fronts.

I had a chance to chat with Rose and Witte about the project, which filmed this summer in British Columbia after the pandemic restrictions were lifted. Both were thrilled to get back to work, and say the “pod” aspect of keeping the cast together helped create that familial vibe we see onscreen.

“The first week we were shooting in Vancouver, so everybody was going home to their own homes, but the second two weeks we were all in the same hotel and spent all of our time together, which was actually really, really nice. The last movie I did, everybody went home at the end of the day and in this situation, we got to know each other really well,” says Rose.

“We ate our lunches together in the lobby of the hotel. At the end of the day, we would go get dinner. We took a boat out on the lake. We had this great chemistry and had so much fun together and we liked each other and they’re actually going to get together in Vancouver and I’m going to Zoom in so we can all watch together.”

Witte agrees that it had a positive impact. “We were all out on location in our own little bubble at the resort. In essence, we were confined to one another and we had to get to know each other to a certain degree…and through that, we established this relationship very quickly that was able to translate onscreen,” he says. 

“It really helps when you’ve got a crew of actors that are down to earth and that can laugh at themselves and not take things too seriously. And that’s the entirety of the cast ..it makes it very easy to get on set and to have fun and poke jokes at each other. And then once the cameras are rolling, [it’s] there.” 

Witte says he worked to find the balance in playing Alex’s unrequited love. “I wanted to really bring a maturity to Alex and the relationship. I didn’t want it to become petty or childish, especially if they have these years of friendship that he valued so much,” he explains.

The film, written by Love, Guaranteed‘s Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy from a story Brittni Brown and Jenna Palermo is the first Hallmark projected directed by multi-hyphenate Jessica Harmon, and both actors were excited to work with her. “I loved working with Jess. I think one of my favorite things about her is that she finds humor in a lot of things and she let me play with that,” says Rose.

“I think she’s a great director and she’s a great actor’s director, probably because she’s also a great actress. I would encourage all directors to take a couple of acting classes, because sometimes you get notes that you kind of have to translate and she gave just really very clear, succinct, emotional notes. [I’d work for her] anytime she calls me.” 

“This was my first lead role in a Hallmark movie. That got me a little extra excited,” shares Witte. I really trust the casting director, Jackie Lind, and she’s super supportive,” says Witte. “[Since] the project was coming from her, I knew it was going to be something that I could be proud to be a part of and then finding out that Chaley [was involved] and Jessica Harmon was director made it all more exciting.”

Both actors have other projects you can check out now/soon. Rose appears in the “Detective Amenadiel” episode of the latest season of Lucifer, out now on Netflix, and had a ball stretching out of her comfort zone to play a dancer. “That was one of the most fun days I’ve ever had on set. I was there for one day, all day,” she recalls.

“When you’re a guest star, you don’t really engage a lot necessarily, but the people were so lovely and warm and really fun. There’s a lot of positive energy and they like each other and they’re there to have fun. And that was such a great day. [The choreography] involves me being flipped upside down in the air, [and when they showed it to me, I told them,] ‘Alright…you have a lot of faith in me.'”

Jaime M. Callica co-stars in this film, and he and Witte had previously co-starred in The Perfect Pickup, now streaming, and will co-star again in an upcoming Lifetime Christmas film. “When you come to set and you see some familiar faces [that’s a] cool thing. Jaime and I were on that project, and then right after that we [and] Thomas [Cadrot, also in this film] jumped onto Kelly Rowland’s A Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding [coming November 28th]. And for our demographic, it’s very rare, if non-nonexistent for all of us to actually be in the same project together.” 

“We’ve been auditioning for the last 10 to 13 years together and always seeing each other in the room. So we’re essentially each other’s competition to a certain degree. And the likelihood of us working together was few and far between. So to actually be on set with people that I’m going up against was super cool. And it made the project that much more special in my eyes.”

My Best Friend’s Bouquet premieres Saturday at 9 pm/8c on Hallmark Channel in the US, and next Saturday, the 17th, on W Network in Canada. Here’s a sneak peek.

Photos and Video Courtesy of Crown Media.