Summer Rivera and Nick Mendez are two longtime pen pals on the Ron Oliver-directed Hallmark romantic drama Love in the Limelight. Ever since she was a teenager, Summer has admired Nick, who is currently the lead singer of a popular band. Now that he’s the object of desire for every other lady in town, it’s harder for her to communicate her feelings. When Nick travels to Summer’s Town for a return concert, the pen pals finally get a chance to meet up.
Summer finally gets a chance to express her feelings, and their meeting paves the way for their friendship to grow into something bigger. Grandma Rivera, her maternal grandmother, also urges her to follow her intuition and take calculated risks. The love story has a few humorous aspects here and there that keep the audience entertained throughout. Additionally, the inventive use of settings will surely make you think about the real-life filming locations of the Hallmark movie. Allow us to give you all the information you need in this case!
Locations where Love in the Limelight was filmed
The entire state of Utah, specifically Salt Lake City and Wasatch County, was used in the film Love in the Spotlight. Principal photography on the romantic film began in May 2022 and was completed at the end of the same month. Since Summer is from Salt Lake City, and where most of the action takes place, it makes sense that the production team would be based there. Without further ado, let’s explore each and every area mentioned in the film.
Utah’s Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, the capital and most populous city of Utah and the county seat of Salt Lake County, served as the filming location for most of the pivotal scenes for Love in the Spotlight. In order to shoot several interior sequences, the romance drama production team stayed at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City at 555 South Main Street. The five-star hotel has hundreds of rooms with modern amenities and other opulent features.
Additional segments were also captured at Salt Lake City International Airport on Salt Lake City’s West Terminal Drive. Aside from this romantic drama, Salt Lake City has served as the location for a number of other films and television shows over the years. “Hereditary”, “Dumb and Dumber”, “The Night Clerk” and “Big Love” are some of the most prominent.
Utah’s Wasatch County
Rumors have it that the cast and crew of ‘Love in the Limelight’ reportedly used Wasatch County, Utah locations to shoot some additional scenes. The county is home to a number of lakes and protected areas including Witts Lake, Witts Lake Wildlife Management Area, Strawberry Reservoir, Deer Creek State Park, Soldier Creek Recreational Area, and Currant Creek Reservoir. Wasatch County has served as the backdrop for a number of films and television programs, including Yellowstone, Friends & Lovers, Love, Fall & Order, and A Home of Our Own.
Cast of Love Spotlight
Alexa PenaVega plays the role of Summer Rivera in the Hallmark film. She may look familiar to you because she was Shilo Wallace in “Repo! The Genetic Opera and Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids series. She is also known for a number of other films including Taking A Shot at Love, Ms. Matched, Nashville, and The Tomorrow People. Summer’s potential suitor, Nick Mendez, is portrayed in the love story by Carlos PenaVega, Alexa’s real-life partner.
Carlos is recognized for his performance as Carlos Garcia on the TV series Big Time Rush. He also appears in the films “Killing Hasselhoff” and “Spare Parts”. Ivonne Coll (Grandma Rivera), Chase Ramsey (Toby), René Rivera (Antonio Rivera), Angela Cole (Ashley), Karin Argoud (Maria), René Rivera (Antonio Rivera) and BZ Cullins are other cast members who have had significant roles in “Love in the Spotlight” (Dewey).