When Arielle Kebbel arrived at the Westin Bear Mountain for a wedding brunch, she didn’t realize she would be following in the footsteps of some familiar bachelorettes.
“That is so funny,” said the Florida-born actor, surprised to learn the hotel was featured in Bachelor Canada, a bouquet’s throw from the main action in the mansion once owned by Len Barrie.
“It’s crazy, because Un-Real is based on The Bachelor,” said Kebbel, who played Courtney, a high-maintenance contestant on the dating show in the satirical Lifetime series.
It was one of many surprises Kebbel has encountered here. Others include an unexpected deer, whose photo she tweeted, and meeting the Canadian rugby team.
Kebbel, 29, is in town to shoot Bridal Wave, a romantic comedy for Hallmark Channel directed by Michael Scott from a screenplay by Neal and Tippi Dobrofsky.
Kebbel plays Georgie Dwyer, who is engaged to marry Phillip Hamilton (David Haydn-Jones), a prominent plastic surgeon, at a Pacific Northwest resort Scott describes as “a conveyer belt of weddings.” Jaclyn Smith of Charlie’s Angels fame plays Felice Hamilton, Phillip’s domineering, class-conscious mother who thinks her only son is marrying down.
Complications arise when Luke (Andrew Walker), a dreamy architect who lives in a cottage next to the resort, catches Georgie’s attention.
Oak Bay Beach Hotel and Westin Bear Mountain are being passed off as the resort, matched with footage shot at the Grouse Nest Resort in Sooke to depict Luke’s property.
“Georgie’s like the monkey in the middle,” said Kebbel, who was a full-time model before making her screen acting debut at 17 as Lindsay Lister on the hit TV series Gilmore Girls.
“She’s trying to please Phillip, his mother and, ultimately, herself.”
Kebbel, who will soon start shooting Chris Carter’s series The After, was recently seen in Brooklyn Brothers and has a recurring role as Lexi on The Vampire Diaries. Her other credits include I Melt With You, Think Like a Man, The Uninvited, Grudge 2 and John Tucker Must Die.
Bridal Wave reunites the Maxim and FHM model with Walker, who co-starred in another marriage-minded Hallmark film, A Bride for Christmas.
Kebbel said it was the script that attracted her.
“I love the banter and the great timing,” she said. “It also pulled on my heartstrings just enough.”
During a break from shooting in Bella Montagna restaurant, Haydn-Jones said he has been as charmed by Victoria as by the script.
“I’m a very high-functioning, powerful plastic surgeon whose specialty is nose jobs,” the Los Angeles-based actor says. “I do what’s known as ‘the Hamilton nose.’ ”
The former Calgarian who studied architecture at McGill University, laughed and expressed surprise when reminded how media mogul Moses Znaimer once said his girlfriend described Haydn-Jones as being the only man in Canada more charming than Znaimer.
“Apparently it didn’t work,” the actor said, recalling the City TV founder’s purchase of the English-language rights to the Quebec series that inspired Rumours, his short-lived CBC comedy.
“I really like Moses and he was terribly kind to me, but that’s the nature of TV.”
The actor, whose credits include roles in White House Down, Melrose Place and Zach Braff’s The Last Kiss said he’s tickled getting to play opposite Smith, the show’s Houston-born star. “I was a huge fan as a kid. I adore Jaclyn,” Haydn-Jones said. “She’s a kind, generous, classic Southern belle. An absolute doll.”
Tearing himself away from two video monitors he and his longtime director of photography Adam Sliwinski had been glued to, Scott concurred.
“Jaclyn’s terrific to work with, a complete trooper and she gets this character right away,” said Scott, who also directed Smith in Before He Wakes, a 1998 CBS movie. “At this stage of her career she doesn’t have to do these movies, but this is a little gem.”
Scott was elated at being able to bring his friend, legendary Hollywood producer Walter Mirisch (In the Heat of the Night, The Magnificent Seven) into the development process two years ago.
“He’s a living icon and this is very much in the genre of romantic comedies he’s done,” Scott said. “It really has his stamp on it.”
Bridal Wave is the third Hallmark project Scott has filmed here. He directed Andie MacDowell in the pilot for Cedar Cove and helmed Freshman Father four years ago.
“This gives you what you’d expect from a feature film,” Scott said. “It’s funny and heartfelt and the script has been developed and finessed.”
While Scott is used to directing light-hearted fare, he got his start in documentaries and even directed episodes of Unsolved Mysteries. “I’ve been in more prisons and death rows and emergency rooms and ride-alongs with cops,” he said, smiling. “Just because I do rom-coms doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate dark dramas. “I love Breaking Bad.”