Hallmark Pairs Rachel Boston And Andrew Walker For The First Time—And Fans Are Delighted

Once again Hallmark is ushering us into cozy season with a lineup of brand-new Fall Into Love flicks, including one that has gone to the birds. Adventures in Love and Birding, based on the book Birding With Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb stars Rachel Boston and Andrew Walker.

Celeste (Boston) is a single mom on the cusp of an empty nest as her daughter prepares to go to college when her friend ropes her into filling in at the last minute as the partner of a handsome stranger in a birding competition. That stranger is John (Walker), whose very recent ex-girlfriend is competing with her new boyfriend. Celeste misunderstands the arrangement and tells everyone that she is John’s new girlfriend, a ruse he agrees with and both hilarity and romance ensue.

Much of the movie takes place during the birding competition and that meant that Boston and Walker spent a great deal of time filming outdoors, an assignment they both welcomed as they explained in a recent conversation with Southern Living.

“We called each other, and he [said], ‘You know, I’m actually living in a bird sanctuary right now.’ And I’m like, ‘That is so weird. I live in a bird sanctuary right now.’ So that was our early preparation,” Boston said with a laugh.

A member of the film crew is what the pair of stars described as an “avid birder,” and she taught them a lot of the lingo and made sure they didn’t miss all of the natural splendor of their surroundings. Walker said they saw hummingbirds, red-wing black birds, and even an owl.

While this story is a romantic comedy, Walker and Boston both agree that it’s also a really good reminder to slow down.

“People are searching for a lot more peace in their life with it being such a fast paced world, I think I think it’s just perfect timing and that’s what this movie is. [It]represents a beautiful love story, and patience and finding the little moments,” Walker said.

It’s also a story of second chances. Both lead characters are taking a second chance at love after pretty devastating break ups. “I think it’s gonna inspire a lot of people that, you know, are just keeping their hearts open and they keep moving through very challenging times,” Boston said.

She added that it was also about other kinds of second chances. “And taking on a new hobby later [in life] it’s it’s quite brave just to say yes to a hobby she doesn’t know anything about… Best case scenario for, throwing yourself into a new activity and just saying yes to something, not knowing what you’re getting into. And then it becomes one of the most meaningful experiences of your life.”

While this marks the first time the actors have worked together for Hallmark, it is not the first time they have shared the screen, and that is obvious in their on-screen chemistry.

“Rachel and I have done this a couple times. We’ve made out a few times in the past,” Walker joked.

“It was just so nice to have the experience with Rachel and have the history that we have together. We’ve known each other for 17 years now. We originally met by a casting director on ER, John Wells, he made us do a chemistry read together because he thought that we had good chemistry. So, I guess, 17 years later, here we are doing this movie and it was exactly the person that I would want to be doing this movie with. So the journey was great,” he said.

Boston added, “We had a few moments, too, [because] our storyline on ER was very heavy, and there were moments where we were like, ‘and now we’re looking for birds.’”

The duo actually also worked on a Christmas movie for Lifetime in between these two projects and they say they’re already coming up with ideas for what will be next. But for now, Adventures in Love and Birding proves that, as Boston put it, “third time is the charm!”

Catch it when it premieres on Hallmark Channel September 27 or streaming next day on Hallmark +.

Read the original article on Southern Living