Hallmark’s newest movie, “Texas Two-Step,” premieres on Saturday, June 13, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. (Encores will air throughout the summer season.) The movie stars Heather Hemmens and Brendan Penny. Read on to get the inside scoop on the movie, including where it was filmed and behind-the-scenes cast stories.
‘Texas Two-Step’ Was Filmed in Canada, Not Texas
“Texas Two-Step” was not filmed in Texas. Instead, it was filmed in the British Columbia, Canada, region, according to Creative BC.
One of the main filming locations was the OK Corral, a bar in Kelowna, Canada, director Eva Tavares told TV Goodness. She said that before they started filming, the cast went to the bar for a line dancing night.
“It’s a really cool place,” she said. “We could not have done it anywhere else. It was perfect for our needs.”
According to the OK Corral’s website, it’s Kelowna’s “only true country nightlife venue.” (Kelowna is a city in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada.) On Thursday nights, OK Corral hosts beginner line dance lessons and mechanical bull riding. On Saturdays, it hosts beginner two step lessons.
According to a post by Jessica Lockert, who did makeup and hair, filming for the movie wrapped in mid-April.
Tavares also said they were careful to make sure everything used in the movie went to good use after filming. For example, a lot of dog toys and treats used in a veterinarian’s office scene were later donated to the Humane Society. The food used on the general store set was later donated.
In an interview with TV Goodness, Tavares said that she started directing films for Hallmark through the Make Her Mark program in 2024.
She said, “Everything I’ve done thus far has brought me to this moment. I’m an opera singer. The kind of prep and technique that you need to do that instills a lot of work ethic within me that I think I carry over into my prep. I’m a dancer, so I move the camera like it’s choreography. I’m an actor, so I understand how to speak to actors… (Directing the movie) feels like the meeting of all of those different parts of myself.”
She said some of her favorite moments on set were when they were doing dance or montage sequences.
Meet the Cast
Hallmark’s synopsis for the movie reads: “Olivia returns to Texas to help her aunt with her country music bar that’s fallen on hard times and reconnects with Luke, her childhood sweetheart turned cowboy, and her passion for dancing.”
Heather Hemmens is Olivia. She’s known for numerous productions like “Roswell, New Mexico,” “Yellowstone,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Hellcats,” and more. She’s also starred in numerous Hallmark movies, like “Caribbean Summer,” “Love Take Two,” “Christmas in My Heart,” “A Pinch of Portugal,” and more.
Brendan Penny is perhaps best known among Hallmark fans for his role on “Chesapeake Shores.” However, he also has a long list of other Hallmark productions to his name, like “Family Practice Mysteries,” “The Wedding Cottage,” “Love on the Danube,” “Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas,” “A Little Christmas Charm,” and more.
Greta the Pup was a special puppy that the character Mason was caring for and about to adopt out. Penny ended up adopting Greta in real life when filming wrapped, TV Goodness reported.
Also starring, according to IMDb, are:
- Ayla Alger (Young Olivia)
- Zachary Joseph Fiorida (Hot guy model)
- David Fung (Travis)
- Damon Gregory (Kenny)
- Loretta Walsh (Meryl James)
- Sawyer Watters (Young Luke)
- Nathan Witte (Mason)
- Johnny V. Wright (Dr. Bill)
- Wayne Corbeil (Townsfolk)
Eva Tavares directed the film.
