Erin Cahill stars in Hallmark’s ‘Journey to You’

It usually takes up to a month, weather permitting, for travelers to hike at least a section of El Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. This famous and historic pilgrimage path has for its goal, of course, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain’s region of Galicia.

By contrast, it took the makers of “Journey to You,” the faith-based Hallmark Channel movie debuting April 19, just two efficient weeks in February to film one fictional American woman’s trek of the Camino. And, in lieu of Galicia, they based themselves in the center of the country, around Madrid.

For one of the film’s stars, Hallmark stalwart Erin Cahill, the hectic pace was familiar. This is, after all, the 12th production for the outlet in which she has appeared over the course of nine years.

“It’s such a gift to be part of the family,” Cahill told OSV News. She describes the channel as “built around love. We need love now more than ever.”

Unsurprisingly, the picture doesn’t delve deeply either into Christianity in general or Catholic practices more specifically. Cahill herself takes an equally nondenominational stance.

She recalls that her “incredible” parents saw to it that she was raised amid many faith traditions. She also remembers them asking her such questions as “Do you think there’s something bigger?”

Now 45, the Virginia native has been acting professionally since she was 19. Perhaps best-known for her role as Jen Scotts on the Fox Kids’ series “Power Rangers Time Force,” Cahill is also a sitcom veteran and has done voice work for video games as well.

Cahill has been married to Welsh musician Paul Freeman since 2016. Together the couple is active in buildOn, a charity primarily dedicated to constructing schools.

In “Journey to You,” Cahill plays emergency room nurse-practitioner Monica. Responding to Monica’s concern that both her personal life and her career seem to have stalled, her mother Dot (Pamela Field) suggests that she undertake the same pilgrimage her father had once made. “It will change your life,” Dot advises her daughter.

That Monica already has some religious faith is shown by the fact that she regularly consults a devotional journal she inherited from Dad. But, this being a Hallmark project, the volume isn’t just a prop, it’s merchandise as well.

Through a partnership with DaySpring, a publisher of inspirational material, the collection of daily Scripture verses — soothingly entitled “No Worries” — is available for purchase.

Monica joins a group of four other wayfarers, among whom is her eventual love interest, Luis (Erik Valdez). On the rebound from a divorce, Luis is traveling with both his father and his teen son.

A spirituality-tinged friendship springs up between Monica and Luis that eventually burgeons into romance, albeit at a very deliberate pace. That, Cahill enthusiastically notes, distinguishes the film’s plot from those of many other Hallmark presentations.

“Normally, the romance has happened a little more quickly,” she observes. “I love that they gave our characters enough time and space to know each other.”

“Part of the reason this felt so divine,” Cahill added, “is that I knew exactly what Monica is going through.”

The Camino is an ancient network of at least 500 miles of roads and paths that crisscross Portugal, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and even southern England. The imposing cathedral toward which all these routes lead contains, according to tradition, the relics of St. James the Great.

As recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, James — one of a trio of core Apostles among the 12, along with his brother John and St. Peter — was slain on the orders of “King Herod” (probably Herod Agrippa). The first of the Apostles to be martyred, he likely died about A.D. 44.

Most of those who undertake the journey to Compostela follow a single roadway of about 200 miles, covering roughly 15 miles a day for two weeks. Those in search of a challenge can include a crossing of the Pyrenees in their itinerary.

The high season for the expedition comes in the months from April to June, with September and October being the next most popular periods. As Monica and her companions do in the movie, registered pilgrims can obtain a credential that is then stamped at various points. Some hostels require this document for admittance.

Pilgrimages in the strict sense date back to the 9th century. In the 1950s, the Spanish government began promoting a more loosely defined version of the trip as a draw for tourists.

The best-known American drama about the pilgrimage is 2011’s “The Way,” in which Martin Sheen plays a grieving father completing the journey for his son, who died en route. For her part, Cahill summed up the experience of the Camino by observing, “It’s impossible to be there and not feel moved by it.”

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