Jocelyn Hudon and Jake Manley star in “Love in the Maldives,” a new, original movie premiering Saturday, April 1 (8 p.m. ET/PT), on Hallmark Channel. We at Survived The Shows had the pleasure of chatting with director Colin Theys about his experience in the making of the movie and what fans can expect. Check out the full interview below!
What’s the main element in Rae’s and Jae’s characters and the movie in general that fascinates you the most and drew you to join Love in the Maldives?
This is very much a story about exploration and self discovery. Initially, I joined the project for the location. I heard there was a movie in the Maldives and I was immediately in! We spent a lot of time trying to get the story right. And ultimately, I found that Rae and Jared represent opposite sides of the same coin. Rae doubts herself. She wants to be a good writer, but she has very much fallen into a habit of trying to out-adventure herself. She’s doing bigger and bigger versions of the same thing without taking the time to stop and ask herself if it’s really what she wants to be doing. She’s going ahead so fast that she doesn’t stop to look at the path and where it leads.
It’s something I can understand and relate to: getting so caught up in the journey that you lose sight of the destination. She doesn’t want to slow down because she doesn’t want to face the questions that are lurking in the back of her mind. Jared, on the other hand, has found that he has built his whole world around comfort and self-examination, but is too afraid to take the step out of his comfort zone that will allow him to see the world grow his program. They each have life lessons to learn from the other.
Where are you and the characters of this movie most similar and where most different as human beings?
I am very much more a Rae than a Jared. I don’t want to meditate. I want to grab a camera, jump on a plane, and make stuff. I can relate to the idea of wanting to focus on the work rather than face the greater implications of where it leads. She defines herself through her job and through her writing, while Jared really puts himself first and has a job and a life that enable his lifestyle. I guess Jared sort of represents what I know I should do, but don’t. 😉
What’s been the biggest challenge for you in directing this movie?
The location. I give credit to Tim and Joe at Johnson production group. They essentially said “what if we make a movie by sending a tiny team to an awesome place” and then we worked with what we found there. It was absolutely an adventure and a learning experience. Every day, we faced a new challenge and new discoveries, but everywhere you look is fantastically beautiful and full of things to see and shoot. It’s a very different process than shooting a normal movie back home. The group was very small and we were limited in what we could do, so we really had to adapt the movie to fit what was there.
To all the fans looking forward to watching the movie, how would you describe ‘Love in the Maldives’ in just three words?
Beautiful romantic adventure
What can you tease about Rae’s and Jae’s journey throughout the movie?
The main setting is a fabulous resort with underwater rooms, incredible beaches, and structures over open ocean. But I’ve seen resort movies. I wanted them to get off the island and experience the country, meet locals, and see the Maldives from other angles. They really see some awesome stuff.
Talking about the environment on set, how would you describe your experience while filming ‘Love in the Maldives’ and do you have any fun anecdotes to share?
It’s such a beautiful place. Some of the islands are so small you can walk from one side to the other in just a few minutes. The sand roads blend into the sand beaches and the highest point on the island is only a few feet above sea level. The water truly is turquoise and it’s 88 degrees, so you can just walk into the ocean and walk back out and never get cold. It’s amazing. But it’s also a very challenging place to shoot!
One day, we were all about to load up onto a boat to go shoot on a remote island when we learned that one of our cast members had been irrevocably detained and would not be showing up. We had about 5 minutes to solve it, so we handed a copy of the script to another actor to see how well he could handle the English. He took it like a champ, so we re-cast the role, got on the boat, and took off! The poor guy had only a few hours to learn all of the dialog in a second language. It worked out fine!
If you could choose a character from ‘Love in the Maldives’ that you would have loved to play, which one would it be and why?
I think I’m in the right place behind the camera! But they’re all fun for different reasons and everyone gets to see and do cool stuff!
Did you take anything from set, any prop or piece of costume, to remember your experience?
I actually ended up with a whole bag of props left over in case we needed to do any inserts after we got back! But more than that, what I took home from this shoot was a memory of the place and of the people we met there. From the smart and generous manager of the hotel to the kind, retired naval general who let us sleep on his boat, we met incredible people who helped us navigate and work across the sea from home!
We are fans of Justin Hartley and Barrett Doss. What can you share about your experience on the movie “Noel Diary”?
I’m not sure if people know, but we shot that movie entirely during the summer. It was essentially a road movie about driving through New England in the winter, so virtually everything that we looked at had to be augmented with VFX. Justin and Barrett were both super professional and great to work with.
What can you tease about your next project?
I’m actually about to set out to shoot a thriller in Greece with the same producers! It’s a super fun script and definitely has some surprises up its sleeves. We’re going to apply what we learned in the Maldives to make a killer movie!
Love in the Maldives, starring Jocelyn Hudon and Jake Manley, premieres April 1 on Hallmark Channel. Get a preview here below!
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Chiara
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