Jessica Camacho Reveals The Challenges Of Filming Christmas Movies - Exclusive
Jessica Camacho is a familiar face to television viewers, thanks to an impressive roster of screen credits extending from the mid-2000s to the present. Along the way, Camacho has appeared in numerous series, including "Sleepy Hollow," "Dexter," "Nikita," "The Flash," "Gossip Girl" and many more. Most recently, Camacho was seen in HBO's "Watchmen," and was a series regular on "All Rise," playing attorney Emily Lopez in the CBS legal drama.
Her latest project is the recently aired TV movie "A Christmas Proposal," in which she plays a Seattle chef in need of cash who agrees to meet the family of a high-flying attorney (portrayed by "CSI: Miami" and "Criminal Minds" star Adam Rodriguez) over the holidays, masquerading as his girlfriend as he attempts to convince his father that he's settled down and responsible enough to take over the family-run law firm.
Speaking exclusively with The List, Camacho delves into some of the challenges of recreating Christmas onscreen while filming in the middle of summer.
Jessica Camacho admits it's no picnic recreating Christmas in the heat of the summer
It's no secret that Christmas movies are a big hit with television viewers, which is why more and more of them continue to be made each year; in fact, the Hallmark Channel alone churned out 41 new holiday movies in 2021 (via Entertainment Weekly).
"I definitely grew up loving holiday movies and even the Lifetime and Hallmark movies every year," said "A Christmas Proposal" star Jessica Camacho. "It's just something about the magic of the season. In the twinkling lights, and how cozy and warm the cocoa looks in their cups, and the scarves, and the snowmen ... to be finally offered the opportunity to play inside of that world, it's like stepping into a snow globe. That's what it felt like for me. It was just like everywhere I looked was magical, and it was like a dream ... it was just beautiful."
What some viewers may not realize is that these movies are usually shot during the summertime, with "A Christmas Proposal" filming in Vancouver during an uncharacteristically hot summer. "That was a bit of a challenge, and it was funny to be on set with everyone, and they're like, 'Yeah, welcome to it.' I felt like I was paying my dues," said Camacho. "They were like, 'This is how it goes.' ... Thank god for the amazing makeup team who's wiping sweat off of your brow and your nose and stuff because it is a very real experience when you are wearing layers of clothes and it's sunny and hot."
Jessica Camacho reveals the snow you see in Christmas movies is actually soap
Bringing Christmas to life in the middle of summertime is no easy feat, and that's especially true when creating the on-screen illusion that snow is gently falling. As Camacho explained, "the snow is made of soap, so the snow that ... we never know until it lands on your tongue or your lip, and you're like, 'Is that soap?' Yeah, yep, yep, that's soap," she said.
"And it doesn't dissipate, so if it lands on your eyelash during a scene, we were shooting a really climactic scene, and a dramatic scene, and a piece of it, some of the soap snow landed on my eyelash, and it doesn't dissipate," she added. "So you kind of have it where you try and make it natural to look like you're wiping your brow in a dramatic movement, but it's really, you got to get the soap off, or it's going to be there throughout the whole scene and ruin the thing. So, just little things like that, that posed its own silly challenges. It was really fun."