Jungles and Wild Animals Made This Hallmark Movie Scary to Create

In 2024, the Hallmark Channel continued its tradition of travel-themed movies with “A Costa Rican Wedding.” Rhiannon Fish and Christopher Russell portray Emily and Christopher, the maid of honor and best man at a wedding, who must track down missing wedding rings without alerting anyone to their mission. In an interview with Us Weekly from August 2024, Fish and Russell discussed their experiences making the movie and its action scenes. Fish mentioned, “A lot of it was really high stakes, stressful situations that we were put in.” She believed this bonded them in real life and aided their portrayal as love interests.

The actors also talked about their wild co-stars — the various animals they shared the screen with during the movie’s jungle scenes. Fish recounted a particularly nerve-wracking moment when she had to have a spider on her, saying, “I was so scared. It was just truly the bravest thing I have ever done in my life.” Russell and Fish noted that it seemed like the animals they filmed with were not professionally trained. Fish assured she knew the filming environment was safe, but added, “They were all real, and they were all scary.”

Russell discussed working with a local alligator, monkeys, and a tamed snake. “They brought in a theoretically trained snake,” Russell explained, skeptically despite the presence of snake handlers. He even questioned the professionalism of the tarantula, remarking, “I don’t know how well you can train a spider, but sure.”

In addition to their experiences with animals, the actors spoke to Us Weekly about the hot and humid conditions in Costa Rica. Christopher Russell compared it to a sauna at a thousand times its usual intensity. Despite this, Rhiannon Fish, who has also co-starred in a Hallmark movie with the network’s heartthrob Tyler Hynes, expressed her excitement about filming in Costa Rica. In a solo interview with “Survived the Shows,” Fish highlighted that working in Costa Rica was a major draw for her in accepting the role of Emily. She said, “And then because parts of the movie, it’s so often our characters are exploring, so it’s like we get to for our job go and explore these incredible places, and by far Costa Rica was my favorite. It is the most magical place I have ever been.”

Fish felt that Costa Rica’s setting was one of the movie’s most special aspects, admitting that the movie might not fully capture its beauty. Later in the interview, when asked about her character Emily’s journey, Fish reiterated her encounters with the real animals. Laughing, she added, “And honestly, a lot of my reactions were very real as well! So I’m excited for the audience to see them.”

During a livestream interview for the Hallmark Channel, Rhiannon Fish and Christopher Russell shared more about their time in Costa Rica. “Filming in Costa Rica was one of the hottest, sweatiest, rashiest, most grueling experiences I’ve ever had. And also the best,” said Russell. He highlighted Punta Leone as his favorite filming location, explaining that many beach and jungle scenes took place there.

Fish, who has a background in Australian television before joining Hallmark, mentioned that she preferred the jungle scenes, which were filmed first. She compared those to less wild filming locations, stating, “I mean, that was where you were at your sweatiest, but it was also easily my favorite location.” Russell agreed but took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Yeah. It was definitely a location that could…” he said, laughing with Fish before finishing, “…make it easy not to act. Yeah. You just had to just show up because the jungle did the rest.”

For more tropical adventures from the comfort of home, Hallmark’s movie “Aloha Heart” is another great option.