Kat Harlton
Media: Corus Entertainment
Chantel Riley, Camille Stopps, Lily Gao, and Brittany Bristow star in “The Love Club” a W Network Original that will air as a four-part movie special event on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT beginning February 10 on W Network and STACKTV.
You can follow the lives of The Love Club by watching the four-part movie event sequentially or as stand-alone movies, in which each woman is the lead in her own romantic journey, helped by the rest of her friends to find their one true love.
At a New Year’s Eve college party, four women – Nicole (Bristow), Sydney (Gao), Lauren (Riley), and Tara (Stopps) – each dealing with their own dating disaster, take a vow to call on one another if they are ever in romantic crisis again. This vow has them resurrecting their “Love Club” ten years later as each of them search for their unique happily ever after.
Chantel stars in “The Love Club: Lauren“, for years Lauren put her dreams of opening an art gallery on hold while her husband Peter moved up in his career. Her resentments eventually overshadowed the love they once shared bringing them to the brink of divorce. Faced with divorce papers, Lauren recruits The Love Club to help her move on. But when her friends sense that things may not officially be over between Lauren and Peter, they recruit Lauren’s young daughter to help them remind them why they fell in love in the first place. This is easier said than done when Lauren mistakenly concludes Peter is dating prompting her to test the dating waters where she meets an irresistible Spaniard.
As Lauren tries to realize her dream of opening her art gallery while navigating her mixed emotions, The Love Club create a plan to keep Lauren and Peter together.
Filmed in the Hamilton, ON area, The Love Club also stars Canadians Marcus Rosner, Jesse Hutch, Andrew Bushell, and Brett Donahue.
I had the opportunity to chat with Chantel about her role, what she hopes the audience connects with and what’s next.
Kat: You’re in an exciting new W Network Original Movie “The Love Club”, how did you prepare for the role? Did you find any similarities between yourself and your character?
Chantel: To prepare for the role I first read through the script and took some notes that stood out to me about my character Lauren. Out of all the women, Lauren was the only one who was both married and had a child. I thought that was very interesting. It allowed me to tap into a more nurturing side of the character towards her child but also for her friends. I feel that when it came to the “Mother Figure” I related to Lauren a lot. Although I personally don’t have children of my own, I do have nieces and nephews that I spend a lot of time with that allows me to tap into that motherly role.
Lauren is what you call your “Ride or Die” friend. If you are a friend of hers, she will have your back and protect you at all costs. I believe I can also relate to that. I loved filming with Lily, Brittany and Camille! While working with them, it was easy to connect and create a bond on set. I made sure I was available to be an ear, a shoulder and a voice if they every needed me to.
Kat: Was there anything about your role that was particularly challenging?
Chantel: Does not indulging all day at craft services count? Those chocolate covered almonds were dangerous! LOL! All jokes aside, every production goes through their trials, but we were lucky enough to work with some amazing crew and staff to make sure we would capture these exciting stories for the world.
Kat: What were some of your favorite scenes to shoot and why?
Chantel: Any scene that allowed the four of us to be together was always my favorite. It meant I was always guaranteed a good laugh amongst us.
Kat: Feel-good movies are more popular now than ever, what message do youhope fans take away from these types of movies?
Chantel: I hope what fans can take away from these types of movies is that despite living in a world where it seems like all we hear is bad news, there is still joy and happiness to be had. Love is out there and available to us all and it has the capability to lift our spirits.
Kat: What’s next?
Chantel: This year I will be releasing my second children’s book! I had such a wonderful time and inspiring feedback from my first book, I AM: PRECIOUS AFFIRMATIONS FOR CHILDREN, that I had to do it again. I cannot wait until it is completed.
Premiere Dates:
- The Love Club: Nicole airs Friday, February 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on W Network and STACKTV
- The Love Club: Sydney airs Friday, February 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on W Network and STACKTV
- The Love Club: Lauren airs Friday, February 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on W Network and STACKTV
- The Love Club: Tara airs Friday, March 3 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on W Network and STACKTV
Connect with Chantel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantel_riley