Rachel Boston on Becca’s Chance at a ‘True Love Story’ in ‘The Last Bridesmaid’
Q&A
Rachel Boston‘s new Hallmark character may seem to be the perfect example of “always a bridesmaid, never a bride,” but that doesn’t bother her.
Boston stars in The Last Bridesmaid as Becca Foster, an unapologetic romantic and maid of honor extraordinaire who gets her own chance to live out a love story when she meets a videographer, Kyle (Paul Campbell), at her cousin’s wedding.
“I’m just so thankful to be part of uplifting entertainment right now,” Boston said to TV Insider. “I was at the grocery store yesterday, and the sweetest woman came up to me and just said how happy these films make her. This movie was definitely one of the most fun films I’ve ever worked on, so we hope that translates and brings a lot of joy this weekend.”
Read on to see what Boston had to say about The Last Bridesmaid, her past romantic comedies, and what she’d like to do next with Hallmark.
(Ryan Plummer/Crown Media)
Let’s start with who Becca is and where her professional and personal lives are at the beginning of the movie. What’s been her main focus?
Rachel Boston: Becca is a career woman who has been working with her family business. She has always been dreaming of starting a business of her own, and she’s put all of her energy there. She happens to be an extraordinary maid of honor, so she becomes the maid of honor in all of her friends’ weddings, and she gets a chance at her cousin’s wedding to have a true love story of her own.
And can you talk about the same for Kyle? Where is he professionally and personally and what has his focus has been?
Kyle has also had some challenges in his love life, and he is single and he is a wedding videographer. He’s also a documentarian and has other dreams as well, but he’s made a living putting together these beautiful, beautiful wedding videos. He also hasn’t had his own love story.
He’s a little more guarded towards love, whereas Becca feels it’s more society’s pressure, that society puts the pressure on women to be married and she’s perfectly happy in her life where she is right now. But the two of them come together and really inspire each other and open each other up to chase after their dreams in a deeper way.
(Ryan Plummer/Crown Media)
But Kyle’s not the only possibility for Becca. Can you talk about Aidan and what he might be able to offer that might tempt her?
Aidan is incredibly grounded. He is incredibly focused on his work. He’s a wonderful choice, but he doesn’t spark her to pursue her dreams. She’s already been on a path knowing that there’s something else out there for her.
Somehow the chemistry with Kyle, he just opens her eyes to a world she knew existed but couldn’t quite get through the door. So I think that relationship and the reason there is this electricity is that they’re walking in the same direction as far as having the courage to face exactly what they’ve been hoping to go after.
Can you talk about some of the other characters in Becca and Kyle’s lives and what they think of their romance?
Not everybody is aware of it at first, because we do spend a lot of time on our own. We end up getting sent to these different locations for the wedding, but my friends and my family definitely want to see me with a partner, so they’re just excited to see Becca connecting and talking and hopefully opening up to the idea of love.
You’re also an executive producer on the movie, and I saw in a featurette that you talked about the movie being relatable. Can you talk about the story you wanted to tell and any specific moments you wanted to include for Becca’s journey?
Yes, Nina Weinman, the screenwriter, and I met on a movie called Stop the Wedding, and we wanted to work together again. After my brother’s wedding, I was the maid of honor, and everyone was asking when I was getting married and “Oh, you’re next,” and all the comments that a lot of single people get at weddings, and I was sitting on the plane, and I just started laughing and I thought, “This is so relatable. This is my next romantic comedy, and if we could turn this into a wedding movie, how fun would that be?”
(Ryan Plummer/Crown Media)
So Nina and I started brainstorming. We actually sold two wedding movies to Hallmark. We both love romantic comedies, and we’re so happy we got to bring it to life.
You’ve been in a number of other Hallmark movies, including that wedding one and a few Christmas ones. When you look back on those roles, is there anything from those characters or their experiences that you think would help Becca?
There’s a hopefulness to all of the characters, an optimism that I’ve played throughout the films. That’s something I definitely relate to and enjoy exploring. There’s a faith to them knowing that even with the challenges and difficulties they’ve gone through in life that things are going to work out in the end. I think Becca [is] just embracing the idea that her career and her love life — maybe the timing isn’t what her family thinks is right or society deems acceptable — but she knows it’s all going to work out.
Do you have any other Hallmark movies coming up, rom-coms or on Movies & Mysteries?
I am developing a few right now, working on a few ideas. I just got a Christmas script.
Would you be interested in doing a mystery series like they have over on Movies & Mysteries?
I would love to do a mystery series. I love being part of a series where you can grow and expand as a character, and I am loving these mystery series that I’m watching now. I think that would be so much fun. I’m a very curious person. I played a detective on a show called In Plain Sight on USA years ago, and the more I watch these mysteries, I do keep thinking, “I want to make one of those.”
A Gift of Miracles (Bettina Strauss/Crown Media)
Do you have any ideas on the kind of character you’d like to play?
One we talked about, because I love romantic comedies, [is] someone that has an intuitive gift to understand people on a deeper… something that has to do with intuition. That’s what I’ve played with. I know they’ve got one that’s a matchmaker, but something in the vein of someone that just intuitively knows people that need to connect and is somehow able to put the pieces together. I love that there’s a quirky edge to some of [Hallmark’s] mysteries, so that’s what I would like to do.
Which of your past Hallmark characters do you think would do best in a mystery series?
Maybe A Gift of Miracles. I did that film with Rita Moreno. It’s a little different, but she was putting the pieces together of her mother. I played a character who lost her mom at a very young age, and she was putting the pieces together to figure out how her mom was contacting her. Rita Moreno’s character keeps me open to that idea, that there are these little miracles along the way, that connect the dots. And she’s a scientist, so she’s super-smart.
And which character do you think would be completely fish out of water, with no idea how to solve a crime?
I’m going to say A Ring by Spring. I played a woman who a psychic told me that I was going to meet my partner by spring or I would never get married, and I wasn’t as open to that, so maybe I wouldn’t follow the clues as well.
The Last Bridesmaid, Movie Premiere, Saturday, June 22, 9/8c, Hallmark Channel
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