Real-life couple Carlos and Alexa PenaVega chatted about their new Hallmark movie “Love in the Limelight.”
New Hallmark film
“Love in the Limelight” is the new original movie that premieres on Saturday, August 6 on the Hallmark Channel. The screenplay was written by Willie Aames, Winnie Hung, and Rich Tabach.
“We tried to make this movie before COVID, and then COVID hit, and everything got pushed back,” Carlos said. “It was God’s timing and such a blessing because when Hallmark came around to do this movie, I was in a different place musically and Big Time Rush was a different place. Everything seems to be fitting a lot better together now.”
Synopsis of the Hallmark movie
As a teenager, Summer (Alexa PenaVega) was a devoted fan of the popular boy band the Mendez Boyz, especially Nick (Carlos PenaVega), their lead singer. After receiving a sweet fan letter from Summer, Nick decides to respond with a phone call, sparking the start of a friendship that’s lasted to this day. “Honestly, I kind of played myself with Nick, it was great,” Carlos said.
When Nick’s manager books a gig for him at a small venue in Summer’s hometown of Salt Lake City where she now works in human resources at a local university, the two finally meet face-to-face. It’s clear their friendship has set the stage for romance and Summer’s abuelita (Ivonne Coll) – a hip grandma with a TikTok following – encourages her to follow her heart.
In addition, the movie’s soundtrack features six original Spanglish songs written by Carlos PenaVega: “If You Let Me,” “Someday Somewhere,” “BASIC,” “Vamos Pasar La Bien,” “Fall Again” and “Por Ti.” Carlos PenaVega is currently on a national tour as a member of the popular group Big Time Rush. “I wrote six original songs for this film and we are going to release one soon,” he said. “It was very special for me to have my music in the movie.”
“Performing original songs in the movie was amazing,” Carlos said. “Hallmark has always been really good to us about giving us a lot of creative control.”
For Alexa, the best part of playing Summer in “Love in the Limelight” was “getting to work with her husband.” “The role of Summer was super fun, Summer was amazing,,” she admitted. “We have such a fun work vibe on set when we work together, it felt like we were playing dress-up every single day together.”
“This film reminded me of the movies that we used to watch growing up, the nostalgic, feel-good rom-coms,” Alexa added.
The couple also released their new book “What If Love Is The Point?: Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World” via HarperCollins.
“What If Love Is The Point?: Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World” is available on Amazon by clicking here. It garnered a rave review, where it was praised as “heartfelt.”
To learn more about Carlos PenaVega, follow him on Instagram.
For more information on Alexa PenaVega, follow her on Instagram.
