Alvina August and Nathan Witte Talk Friendship, Chemistry, and Romance In Falling Into Place
The romance at the center of Hallmark Channel’s new film Falling Into Place isn’t exactly love at first sight, it’s love that has been there all along. When workaholic Kaia returns to her hometown in time for its annual fall festival, she reunites with her childhood best friend James to complete the bucket list they made as kids. Speaking with Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado, Alvina August and Nathan Witte talk building their chemistry, fall traditions, and future Hallmark movie goals.
The shared history between them was something Witte and August wanted to make feel authentic on screen. “I would say, I would attribute a lot of that to Alvina,” Witte told me. “Just really setting the tone, being warm and welcoming, and her and I just like chalking it up in between takes and figuring out how we can bring some some real richness to this. We do have to have 20 years essentially of friendship, whether it was long distance or not. Having those times together really allowed for that.”
“And Ansley [Gordon] wrote a really awesome script,” he continued. “She is doing things in the romance world that is expanding it a little bit more in the Hallmark world that I really appreciate. That's what really drew me to the script.”
That established friendship also makes the characters’ eventual romance all the more satisfying. So who falls first? According to August, the answer is… both of them. “His confession came first, but… that's a hard question!” she shared. “There's always been something there that they've not really admitted necessarily was there. Stuff gets in the way, life gets in the way, responsibilities get in the way, distance gets in the way. But I think ultimately it just happens simultaneously for both of them in some some weird ways.”
“It's that classic thing where everyone else sees it, but they don't necessarily see for themselves and everyone's like, ‘It's so obvious. What are you guys doing?’” explained August. “So I think it just sort of happens so beautifully and so easily and so naturally.”
As a perfect kick off to fall, the stars of Falling Into Place have their own seasonal traditions. For Witte, who lives in British Columbia, the rainy weather makes getting cozy an easy way to embrace the season. “Putting on the comfy clothes and figuring out the movie list,” he said. “I like to watch a lot of scary movies throughout the month and I have to do them alone because my girlfriend doesn't like them. So it's even scarier that way. I'm a 28 Days Later fan from from the jump. That's one of my go-to.”
While August isn’t into the horror, she embraces the more traditional fall activities. “I definitely skip the scary movies. I'm not into that. I will do everything else. I will do the Halloween costumes. We'll go to door to door and meet the neighbors. We'll get the candy out. And what else?” she said. “Oh, the pumpkins! I kind of want to implement more pumpkin stuff this season.”
After seeing August’s singing abilities in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, there’s one obvious question: Could fans eventually see her break into song in a Hallmark project? “Putting it out there,” she enthused. “I think I think it's coming. I think it's coming.”
She’s already started dropping hints in her holiday movies. “I found the moment that, even when it wasn't scripted and I'm in a Christmas movie, I'm just humming,” August said. “I'm just hoping if I just put it out there, it'll come to me somehow. I think I'm close to manifesting it.”
“We just got to clear all the Christmas [music]. I would I'm totally down,” added August.
Catch August and Witte in Falling Into Place airing September 12 on Hallmark Channel and streaming the next day on Hallmark+.
