Chantel Riley, Andrew Bushell and Franco Lo Presti star in “The Love Club: Lauren’s Dream,” a new, original movie premiering Monday, May 29 (6/5c), on Hallmark Channel. We at Survived The Shows had the pleasure of chatting with Franco Lo Presti about his experience in the making of the movie and what fans can expect. Check out the full interview in the video below!
Franco, What’s the main element in Carlos character and the movie in general that fascinates you the most and drew you to join The Love Club: Lauren’s Dream?
FRANCO LO PRESTI: Well, what drew me the most playing Carlos in this film was when I read the script. I just thought it was such a fun character. Lots of fun. He has this sensuality and the sensitivity, and he’s the artist who is inspired by just love and people are his canvas and he’s just that air in the movie that brings a bit of like who is this guy? Is he trying? Is he going to get Lauren or not? Is Lauren going to fall for him or not? So that’s what drew me to him and I think like the main element of Carlos was, in the scenes especially like, when he explains what love is. I think that was really like the epitome of who he was and kind of like showed Lauren OK, well, love is everywhere.
But it like it hit her, but it also like made her realize she needed to really, really choose what she what she wanted with her life. And I just thought it was fun. He had that. He had that charm and he had that free spirit that carries them through and made it fun to play. I had a lot of fun. Great also tapping into the Spanish accent, being of Italian descent. My mother is of Italian descent but born and raised in Venezuela. This is an opportunity for me to, you know, go into the Spanish. And it was nice.
What do you think sets “The Love Club: Lauren’s Dream” apart from other romantic comedies?
In the series Lauren is going through a separation and there’s a child involved. And I think it was different in that aspect where she’s not a single woman trying to find love. There was a family involved there, right? And that struggle that is conveyed. Wasn’t any other stories. So how they come to find each other at the end is really beautiful. And that’s why I think that the difference was just the fact that there’s a family involved there and a separation and sometimes they know those movies don’t delve into those aspects and what those struggles could be like. And still find that romance. Rekindle that romance.
What’s been the biggest challenge for you in portraying Carlos?
I guess I’m gonna say the accent. Really depict an accent from Spain. I was working with the dialect coach who was really helpful. But that was the challenge. I stayed in the accent the whole time. The whole time I could not talk normally. Even in between takes on lunch. I stayed in it because I had to. I really wanted to, you know serve the accent as best as possible and that was like the only challenge. Other than that I had so much fun with the cast and the crew. It was really playful. I knew the director Jill and she was so trusting and that really, really helped for the freedom to play and then have fun.
To all the fans looking forward to watching the movie, how would you describe The Love Club: Lauren’s Dream in just 3 words?
Sweet. Temptation. Caliente.
Talking about the environment on set, how would you describe your experience while filming The Love Club: Lauren’s Dream and do you have any fun anecdotes to share?
FLP: The experience on set was great. My first time working with Chantelle, who played Lauren and she was fantastic. I know Andrew Bushel and I know Brittany Bristow. I’ve worked with Brittany before. So being around that crew of actors that we’re all familiar with each other made it so much more fun and we were all super playful and fun. It was really nice comfortable set. Also knowing Jill that I had worked with her gave it that element of just being comfortable with people and not really trying to find my footing I guess.
I think when I come into the scene where I bring the ortata, it’ll make you roar like tiger. That was just really funny because, just trying to bring that line to life. I remember I was like, oh, this is interesting. I wonder how this is going to play on the day and just kind of finding it. We were having a lot of laughs, like with the girls and it was really fun. And then I think the reactions like I kind of I found out like when I was playing Carlos. I used to have this friend of mine when I lived in Italy. He was from Tahiti and he was like this surfer guy, but he was also an artist and whenever he would see something really cool or fascinating, he would go. I don’t know.
It was just like that. And like I started incorporating that into Carlos when he would see like art, beautiful arts. He would go Carlos. And so I remembered like doing that for the first time. Everyone was like we were all having a laugh and Joe was like do that bad thing. So I mean, yeah, I think that was a little funny anecdote we we got to. We just had a lot of laughs whenever Carlos came on set it was funny.
If you could choose any other character from The Love Club: Lauren’s Dream, apart from Carlos, that you would have loved to play, which one would it be and why?
FLP: Well, if I guess it would be Lily’s character. She was really funny. Sydney. I would play Sydney. I like the way the lines she had. She was quirky and funny. She had a lot of fun with her role. That’s the role I would play. I’d be Sydney.
Finally, what can viewers expect from your character and the overall story of “The Love Club: Lauren’s Dream“, and why should they tune in to watch it?
Carlos is this bold romantics seductive, you know, very present character who comes into the movie to try and sway Lauren to fall for him. And I think the viewer should expect just a real story that this is something not so much fairy talesque. We’re dealing with a couple here who’s going through separation with kids involved and how they find their way to come back to each other through the problems that they have. It is really nice. So I think there’s real in that sense.
What can you share about your next projects?
I’m currently working on a show. Right now it’s the Chucky show. It’s in season three, so I’m currently working on that and I believe that’s on the USA Network. That’ll be coming out sometime next year, but I also have a Christmas movie coming out on December. It was fortunate enough to work with my fiancee, Emily Alatalo. So we shot that movie in January and it should come out on UpTV in December. It’s called Christmas Time Capsule. We had a lot of fun shooting I encourage you guys to look out for it. It’ll be fun. It’s our first time shooting a movie you know as a couple and we had so much fun working together.
The interview with Franco Lo Presti has been edited for lenght and clarity. Watch the full interview at the top of the article!
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Desirèe
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