Alison Sweeney and Ashley Williams Bring Heart, Humor, and Homemade Charm to Hallmark’s ‘To Barcelona’ Films — and the DIY Podcast Fans Didn’t Know They Neededx
In To Barcelona, With Love, Hallmark favorites Alison Sweeney and Ashley Williams team up for a story that feels both classically romantic and refreshingly modern.
The movie follows Erica, an American translator who secretly revises a novel set in Barcelona.
When bookstore owner Nico invites the credited author, Anna, to the city for a signing, everything begins to unravel — just as something else takes root: an unexpected, life-changing friendship between two women who were never meant to meet.
If it sounds like Cyrano de Bergerac, that’s intentional. But instead of a love triangle driven by romantic longing, this modern twist uses the mistaken identity setup to explore vulnerability, self-doubt, and the type of connection that so rarely gets center stage in TV movies — female friendship.
“Ali and I have been friends for years,” Williams said, “and every interaction between us always wraps up with, ‘When are we going to work together?’ So getting to do this — it’s really rare.”
Sweeney added, “Most of the time when we do a Hallmark movie, we’re opposite a really handsome, charismatic gentleman.
“So getting to make a female-forward story and have a lead who’s also a lead female acting the opposite — it was really different and really fun for us.”
That enthusiasm is felt throughout the film, where their real-life chemistry spills into every scene. The two characters begin somewhat at odds but gradually find understanding — and even kinship — through honesty, insecurity, and laughter.
It’s a dynamic that feels more emotionally authentic than some romantic storylines because it mirrors the way real friendships form.
“Ultimately, what really bonds Erica and Anna is their insecurities and their vulnerabilities,” Williams said.
“That’s really where their relationship goes to a whole new level… The doorway is these romantic relationships, but ultimately where their best friendship is born and able to grow is from connecting about, ‘What if I’m not good enough?’”
That line of questioning becomes the emotional throughline of the movie.
At one point, Anna admits, “I want to stop being the writer I think I should be and be the writer I am.” It’s a deceptively simple statement that captures something far more universal.
“That’s Julie Sherman Wolfe,” Williams said of the screenwriter. “That was her line. I love that line… her coming to terms with who she actually is as a writer is the key to unlocking her future — not just as a writer, but in love and in her own identity.”
Sweeney sees something similar in her own character.
“Erica is someone who is just like, ‘You know what? I guess it just worked out. This is who I am and I’m stuck with it.’ She’s not willing to take a chance. She’s just going to be the friend. She’s just going to be a translator of other people’s writing. She’s not going to take the risk.”
But when Anna enters her life, everything shifts.
“Becoming friends with someone like that helps you see, ‘There’s risks I want to take too,’” Sweeney said. “When you tell a story that’s specific and you get into those details, it allows the audience to really put themselves in your shoes and relate it to their own lives.”
And that specificity is what fuels not only the movie’s heart but its longevity. Because unlike many one-and-done TV romances, To Barcelona, With Love has a sequel — To Barcelona, Forever — that builds off the emotional growth of the first film rather than simply repeating it.
“The big thing about sequels that I can’t stand is when it’s trying to regurgitate the same story but different,” Sweeney said. “We didn’t want to do that.”
“Exactly,” Williams added. “The second movie would not go down the way that it does without the events of the first movie… It’s a different experience. It feels like almost a different genre.
“There’s love and there’s friendship and there’s family. There’s this big family element that we don’t have in the first movie that is actually very comedic.”
That evolution was intentional from the start. It’s not just a continuation — it’s a character-driven follow-up, with a new tone, new challenges, and deeper emotional stakes.
Still, it all started from a moment of self-doubt.
“I was kind of having a low point self-esteem-wise,” Williams recalled.
“I was in a Hudson News in an airport one day, and I just thought, ‘The only way I’d ever write a successful book is if I wrote a book and somebody who’s actually a good writer translated it into a different language and actually made it into a good book.’”
She pitched the kernel of the idea to Julie Sherman Wolfe that very night at 1 a.m. in a bar. When Wolfe said they’d need another actress who spoke a different language, Williams turned to Sweeney, who happened to be walking by.
“I said, ‘Hey, Ali, do you speak a different language?’ And she said, ‘Spanish.’ I turned to Julie and said, ‘So it’s set in Barcelona.’”
As spontaneous as that moment was, what followed was anything but thrown together. These two movies are a labor of love, crafted with care — and a bit of Scotch tape and paper clips, at least when it came to their behind-the-scenes companion podcast.
That’s right. Amid filming on location, Sweeney and Williams also launched Mi Amor, with Ali Sweeney + Ashley Williams, a low-fi, wine-fueled podcast where the actresses share stories, jokes, and the kind of warm, unfiltered banter that rarely makes it into press junkets.
“It’s very homemade,” Williams said. “It’s DIY. It’s put together with Scotch tape and paper clips… Often with a glass of wine in our hands.”
“It’s not a highly produced podcast,” Sweeney added. “It’s just us on Zoom on our computers, gabbing.”
It’s in that space that we see an even more vulnerable and relatable side to both women. From Ashley’s struggles to sleep in a bra on a plane to her on-air self-corrections when she gets a film title wrong, the podcast is pure personality. Not polished — just real.
“There’s some pretty humiliating stories that I tell on the podcast,” Williams laughed. “And you can only get those stories there… My mistakes are your entertainment. And that makes me happy.”
The stories are silly, yes — but never trivial. Because the magic of the podcast is the same as the magic in the movies: two women showing up as their full, flawed, funny selves and inviting the rest of us to do the same.
“To put those feelings on film and let people share that journey with you is brilliant,” Sweeney said. “Everyone has those insecurities. Everyone has those feelings.”
And in a world where Hallmark often centers love stories, To Barcelona reminds us that friendship — the real, soul-affirming kind — deserves the spotlight too.
“If people take to these characters,” Williams said, “I think anything’s possible.”
For now, we have two movies, a charming podcast, and a reminder that being yourself, flaws and all, might just be the start of something beautiful.
To Barcelona, With Love premieres on Saturday, June 7 at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel, and To Barcelona, Forever, premieres on Saturday, June 14 at 8/7.
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