\n Alexa PenaVega.<\/span> Gabriel Hennessey\/Hallmark Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Switching it up! Alexa PenaVega<\/strong><\/a> revealed how working away from her family actually helped her transform into her A Paris Proposal<\/em> character \u2014 despite missing them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was really cool about this specific project \u2026 I left my family to go make this movie. And I never do that,\u201d PenaVega, 34, exclusively told Us Weekly<\/em> on Thursday, February 9, while promoting the Hallmark film. \u201cWe have, like, a very strict two-week rule [about working away]. But because this was filming out of the country and between Bulgaria and Paris \u2026 it just made more sense to allow the family to stay behind on that.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spy Kids<\/em><\/a> actress \u2014 who shares children Ocean, 6, Kingston, 3, and Rio, 21 months<\/a>, with husband Carlos PenaVega<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 admitted that it was \u201ctough\u201d and \u201creally hard at first\u201d to be apart from her loved ones for so long.<\/p>\n That distance, however, ultimately led to Alexa being able to better connect with her costar Nick Bishop<\/strong> and the story they were telling for Hallmark.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really gave me an opportunity to super dive in [and] think [about] this role, which was fun,\u201d the Christmas Made to Order<\/em> star told Us<\/em>. \u201cWhen we were done with set the cast would literally go out to dinner together and we\u2019d literally go over our lines for the next day. We\u2019d talk about the scene and what we could add to it to kind of like make it a little bit more special or maybe a little more unique than Hallmark used to seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexa continued: \u201cI think that\u2019s where it really shined. We were able to just do our homework.\u201d<\/p>\n The Florida native<\/a> also pointed to the all-European cast whom she worked alongside while in Paris and Bulgaria. \u201cThey are all, like, trained actors, not just people who like acting. They\u2019ve all been to school for acting,\u201d she explained. \u201cThey are highly trained in it, and you can tell because they really brought it.\u201d<\/p>\n A Paris Proposal<\/em> follows two advertising executives<\/a>, Anna (Alexa) and Sebastian (Bishop), who travel to Paris to try and land the Durand Diamonds account. Along the way, the twosome \u201cend up in a tricky situation when the client mistakes them for a happy couple,\u201d the official logline reads.<\/p>\n Since the characters had such a seemingly conflicting dynamic \u2014 being adversaries but also potentially falling for one another \u2014 Alexa said that her chemistry with Bishop was key to a successful movie.<\/p>\n The Taking a Shot at Love<\/em> actress<\/a> explained to Us<\/em> on Thursday that the costars\u2019 ease with one another was evident by their ability to fight, ad-lib and bounce back and forth in every scene.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know what I love? For me, the bickering scenes \u2026 when we don\u2019t get along, those are the most fun to me,\u201d Alexa shared. \u201cBecause a lot of times I do get along with my costars and I am having such a great time that to be able to, I don\u2019t know, be at each other\u2019s throats is just such a fun thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tomorrow People<\/em> alum<\/a> noted that \u201cwhen you find somebody that really is willing to kind of go there with you and play not just with what\u2019s on paper but, like, ad-lib and kind of add more to it\u2019s amazing what kind of blossoms out of that.\u201d<\/p>\n She recalled doing that \u201ca lot\u201d with Bishop, which led to one of her favorite lines in the movie.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s this one moment where I\u2019m walking away from Sebastian and Nick randomly threw out, \u2018I loved you and Legally Blonde<\/em><\/a> by the way.\u2019 And we all died laughing because that wasn\u2019t on paper,\u201d Alexa revealed. \u201cIt was just like a random thing that he shouted out at me. We do that kind of stuff all the time and we laugh so hard. \u2026 I kind of like that angst between them.\u201d<\/p>\n A Paris Proposal<\/em> airs on Hallmark Channel Saturday, February 11, at 8 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n![\"Alexa](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Alexa-PenaVega-Shares-How-Leaving-Her-Family-Behind-Helped-Her-to-%E2%80%98Dive-In-Filming-Hallmarks-%E2%80%98A-Paris-Proposal-675.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Alexa PenaVega, Nicholas Bishop.<\/span> Eric Caro\/Hallmark Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n