Cindy Busby Talks Chasing Waterfalls [Exclusive] 

[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]

Hallmark Channel’s second Spring Fling film this season brings back the trifecta behind last year’s Love in the Forecast as Cindy Busby and Christopher Russell reunite for director Christie Will Saturday night in Chasing Waterfalls, written by Will, Jason Bourque, and Tamara Junkin. Busby plays Amy, a budding photographer who puts her name in the hat at work for a photojournalism assignment and gets it, which takes her way out of her comfort zone to a wilderness resort to shoot an elusive waterfall. Russell is Mark, single dad to Kyra (Cassidy Nugent) and resident tour guide. When Amy strikes up a friendship with both of them, they all learn a little bit about seizing on new opportunities.

Last week, I jumped on the phone with Busby to chat about the new project, falling back into an easy rhythm with friends, making new ones, and checking out some of the most beautiful areas in British Columbia. “We just have the best time. It’s an entirely different story than Love in the Forecast, but I love the idea that we’re kind of like this Tom Hanks and and Meg Ryan sort of thing where we show up in these different stories together, and people love us together, so it’s easy for people to want to watch it,” she shares.

“It was so much fun and I absolutely adore Christie. I look up to her so much. She’s just such a bad ass in the industry, and she’s this young mom director, writer, creator, [and] such an inspiration. She just made it happen for herself. And I think that’s such a beautiful thing.”

Bubsy also loved working with Nugent, who we last saw on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries in The Angel Tree. The actresses share several scenes as Amy helps Kyra navigate new friendships just as she herself is navigating a new friendship with Mark. “She’s just such a talented young woman who was so kind, so intelligent, and down to earth and she just fit right in. She and Christopher and I got along so well,” she shares.

“It was really cool to watch her blossom. I just love supporting people and watching people grow. It’s the thing that feeds me, above and beyond what I get to do. It’s my calling. I just adore it.”

“I’ve always been a huge advocate for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with younger generations and people. I really love helping people. And so I really loved the relationship between Amy and Kyra. I think it’s really important to be role models to the next generation and be positive and help guide them.”

“At the end of the day, they’re going to do what they’re going to do and [you’ll] be there as their cheerleaders, supporting them and knowing that they have someone there no matter what happens. And I think that that’s a really beautiful story. I just think that’s a beautiful thing to be able to share in the stories. Sometimes people that aren’t necessarily your family can be just as important.”

Busby is no stranger to the Vancouver area, a regular location for many Hallmark movies, but she especially loved returning and heading out of town to soak in the beauty just beyond the city. “Getting to shoot in British Columbia on a regular day is incredible, but to shoot a true outdoors-y movie where you’re hiking and you’re really seeing mother nature…this movie really showcases what BC has to offer, which I think is a really beautiful gift in and of itself. If we weren’t in shape before we started this movie, we certainly were in shape when we finished,” she laughs.

“There were some aspects where we had to walk like 15, 20 minutes into the forest before we even got to the set. And we had to use ropes and had water safety experts and climbing experts, as well. That scene where we go under the waterfall and we go swimming, let me tell you. That water was probably about 40 degrees or so but in the end it looks beautiful.”

“Chris and I [agreed], ‘We’re not going to think about it. We’re just going to do it.’ We have some pretty fun pictures of us covered in blankets and towels on our heads…the real glamour, you know. Chris and I get along so well that we’re able to laugh at it and just kind of tease each other.” 

“In a movie like this, the lead character is mother nature in a lot of ways. I know certainly Stirling Bancroft, who’s the director of photography on this, and Christie, really wanted to create a movie that was kind of different for Hallmark movies, where it really showcases nature. And similarly to my character, Amy, who assigns personalities to the waterfalls, nature has its own persona.”

“[We filmed] at a real camp for kids with cancer called Camp Good Times, which we were only able to use because it was closed] due to COVID. It was such a beautiful place and it had that really good energy. [We were] in the same location, for the most part, for a week and a half and nobody had cell service. So that was kind of fun too. Nobody was on their phones and we were just together. It was kind of nice to just really connect with [each other], which probably made the experience that much better.”

Busby’s become a regular fixture for the one-off movies, which she loves, and if a mystery franchise came her way, she’d love to play in that space, too. “I would totally [do that]. If the opportunity came around, I would definitely be interested in that. Working for Hallmark and having that formula that people love and look forward to is so great,” she explains.

“I would love getting to work on them at any opportunity. [With a franchise], you get to know each other and you get to grow together as the stories unravel. And the audience becomes attached to the characters and the actors. That would be a really, really great thing. Being part of a series of any kind would be ultimately my dream. That would be awesome.”

Chasing Waterfalls premieres Saturday at 9 pm/8c Saturday on Hallmark Channel. You can also catch Busby Friday night in A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love on Hallmark Channel at 9 pm/8c and W Network in Canada (where it repeats again overnight Saturday night and Sunday afternoon). Two of Busby’s titles, Love in the Forecast, and Romance in the Air, are available streaming on Hallmark Movies Now.

Photos and Video Courtesy of Crown Media.