Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 04/09/25

Life’s a journey for Erin Cahill. Since launching her career in 2001 as the Pink Ranger in Power Rangers: Time Force, the busy actress has amassed more than 100 credits starring in numerous television and film projects for Amazon, Netflix, all the major broadcast networks, as well as eleven original Hallmark Channel movies. The latest turn in her eclectic career path ended up being quite personal. Filming Journey to You (debuting Saturday, April 19th on Hallmark Channel) brought the in-demand performer to Spain’s Camino de Santiago (aka the Way of St. James), the famed walk taken by pilgrims seeking peace and spiritual growth.

JWK: I enjoyed the film.

Erin Cahill: Thank you.

JWK: What drew you to this story of a woman walking the Camino de Santiago? 

EC: I got so fortunate to have this presented to me as an offer. I say that because…I’m very, very big on the divine. This just came to me at exactly the perfect time in life. What drew me to the project is a myriad of things. Truthfully, the pilgrimage and the Camino trail. I had done, not necessarily a pilgrimage, but a big kind of life-altering hike. It was eleven days in New Zealand, on the islands. I had a similar experience of being connected to the divine in nature in a way that you can’t be distracted by the western world and the modern world. So, that was so enticing to me to get to tell that story because I know my own version of this story.

Overall, what really drew me to it was the beautiful story. The title has so many meanings. Being connected to love is something I think a lot of us want. Then, also, being connect to you – yourself being connected to you the divine. To get to tell this beautiful story about connection, growth and the literal physical, emotional, spiritual and mental journey was such a gift. So, basically, the whole thing drew me to it.

JWK: I gather the movie was filmed on location. It was, right?

EC: Oh, yeah!

JWK: What was it like being there?

EC: That’s definitely part of it. Filming in Madrid was huge…We filmed on location on the Camino trail in Madrid, Spain – and outside Madrid, in Galicia and a couple of different other little villages. To say it was dreamy would be the understatement of the century. It was exactly what you would want it to be and more. There’s an idea you have of something and then there’s reality. Sometimes they don’t always meet up. Sometimes it’s not always wonderful but, in this case, it truly was. It was truly awe-inspiring to be in these spectacular places with, incidentally, actual pilgrims around us – which was so interesting (to be among) people actually doing the Camino trail. We’d be setting up a shot and going “Is that one of ours or, nope, that’s an actual pilgrim.” So, yeah, it was spectacular. It was everything you could have wished. The people of Spain are so kind, so loving and so community driven. It was a really spectacular experience.

JWK: You know, fairly or not, some people feel that Hallmark movies in recent years have sort of leaned away from faith – even the Christmas movies which some feel don’t really reflect the meaning Christmas has for Christians. I would say this movie, rather unambiguously and approvingly, leans toward religious faith as playing a role in the story. Do you have thoughts on that?

EC: Personally, I don’t think Hallmark has leaned away from anything. If anything, in my opinion, I think when you lean into love you just get more expansive and inclusive. The walls come down. So, to me, Hallmark has leaned into love and including people. So many more of my friends are feeling seen on the network. I love that. What I love about this film is, yes, it’s more in a secular fashion but it’s also, I think, very relatable because it’s about faith.

JWK: I wouldn’t even say it was all that secular. I mean I think it’s a broad-based movie. Anybody could enjoy it. My point is that this movie is unambiguously approving of faith.

EC: Yeah, which I think is so beautiful because, for me, a big part of my journey is being connected to the divine. I think it can look really different for different people. I mean I think mine probably looks different than a lot of people. I think it’s individual…and that’s also part of what drew me to it because, for me, I think that relationship and that connection is so individual, unique and special. It’s like a relationship to anything, right? It’s like your relationship to your work, your relationship to your family, your relationship to your partner if you have one, your relationship to anything. That’s what that is. Your faith is you your own individual thing. I love that it addressed that. I love that it addressed being disconnected at first and then being connected. That’s what relationships are, right? They go (on crooked paths). That’s, naturally, I think what people’s faith does as well. So, any chance to you have to get reconnected or (have your faith) deepened I think is such an opportunity.

JWK: I think that theme was definitely there. There are a lot of interesting themes in the movie.

EC: Thank you.

JWK: Among them, I think, are the importance of balance, enjoying the journey, that “the opposite of faith isn’t doubt but certainty” and how “wisdom has a tendency to find people on its own.” Do you want to talk about any of those?

EC: (laughs) Did you just quote movie, John?!

JWK: I quoted it a couple of times; yes, I did.

EC: Yes you did!

JWK: So, do you have any thoughts on any of those ideas and how they fit into your own perspective on life?

EC: Oh, gosh. Everything you just said. By the way, thank you – and thank you for watching it…I think, for me, balance is always a challenge. I think that’s kinda what it is for a lot of people. It’s very hard to be balanced – with all of the responsibilities we all have and how quickly life moves nowadays, to try and find that balance and having time to be present and look around and have gratitude and, instead of reaching for something, just be where you are right now. I mean I  know that’s a big struggle…

(At this point in the conversation, Erin’s dog barks.)

EC:  So, that’s my dog.

JWK: That’s okay. We have a dog to who may start barking at any moment.

EC: Oh, you have a dog too! What kind?

JWK: She’s a Shih Poo – half Shih Tzu, half  Poodle.

EC: So, she’s too cute is what you’re telling me.

JWK: She is too cute. What kind of dog to you have?

EC: She is a Terrier-Chihuahua mix. So, she’s got all the opinions about everything.

JWK: So, she’s made her way into the interview!

EC: (laughs) She did! She’s made her way into a few now.

JWK: You know, another theme of this movie is how we can sometimes find ourselves caught in the middle of the views and opinions of those around us and trying to please everybody.

EC: I love that.

JWK: Do you think that can be extrapolated to the culture as well? I think a lot of people feel like they’re being pulled apart, through the media, by different factions of our culture when all most people want to do is to get along with mutual respect.

EC: Yeah, I think that’s true. I think we live in a time that is, obviously, completely unprecedented. There is just a lot happening in the world – and then having such access to all of it and people being able to very loudly speak their opinion. It’s a wild time. That’s why I think that stories of love, hope and connection are so important right now – to remind us that we are all on the same team, that we are all connected and that we all come from the same source, the same universal energy or same divinity or however you want to put it for you. What I love about Hallmark is that they say the bottom line is love. I think if we were to work from that more often nowadays then the world would be a much different place.

JWK: At one point in the movie, your character Monica is asked to identify herself not by her job and what she does but by who she is. You, of course, are a talented and successful actress who is also a producer, right? I believe you’ve produced three movies for Hallmark.

EC: I produced two for Hallmark. Thank you so much for knowing that. I’m working on (producing) more.

JWK: I’m wondering how you would answer the question of who you are – beyond what you do.

EC: That is such a thoughtful question. I have not ever been asked that. I’ve actually thought about this a lot and worked on it a lot because, in my industry, it gets very easy to define yourself by your job. “I’m an actor,” “I’m a storyteller” and I’m all these things but…in my experience it wasn’t healthy to define myself by my job because that’s so temporary and fleeting and it’s outside myself.

So, I think who I am, in certain ways, is an ever-evolving thing. I think that’s who we are all are. I think, at my core, who I am, who I try to be and who I think I was put here to be is to be a source of unconditional love. I think that’s part of the reason I’m meant to be here and doing what I’m doing. At least I’ve assigned hope and meaning to that for me.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.