Naman Shrestha
With Tailiah Breon occupying the director’s chair, Lifetime’s ‘Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love’ highlights the unexpectedness of love through the eyes of Ava and Luke. Alternately titled ‘Tempted by Love: A Terry McMillan Presentation,’ the romantic drama movie acquaints us with an established culinary expert named Ava, who resides and works in Europe. When her elderly aunt meets with an unfortunate accident, the celebrated chef flies all the way to South Carolina to take care of her. At the airport, she finds a charming driver named Luke waiting for her to pick her up.
The drive to the house allows the two to bond and form a passionate connection despite the latter being 20 years younger than her. Ava and Luke stay in touch and find out that they share mutual interests in terms of food and family, allowing for their chemistry to get stronger. However, she realizes he still has a lot to experience in life and instead of getting distracted by love, she must focus on what’s best for her career. Interestingly, the chemistry between the couple makes even the dullest of backdrops come to life, leaving the viewers with queries regarding the actual shooting sites utilized.
Where Was Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love Filmed?
Shooting for ‘Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love’ was reportedly carried out in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Commencing in late April 2024, the principal photography lasted for a few weeks before getting wrapped up in May of the same year. Expressing her joy of working with Garcelle, Lela Rochon Fuqua took to social media, writing, “On set having so much fun with @garcelle playing besties❤️ our first time working together after all these years.”
Atlanta, Georgia
The production team traveled to the Deep South and set up camp in the city of Atlanta, which is situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, to lens many pivotal sequences for ‘Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love.’ The cast and crew members were spotted taping crucial scenes in different streets and neighborhoods of the capital city of Georgia, against suitable backdrops. From the looks of it, they even took over a few establishments to shoot some indoor portions. In an interview with TV Insider, Garcelle Beauvais was asked about her experience working with Vaughn W. Hebron and shooting intimate scenes in the Tailiah Breon directorial. Opening up, she said, “Well, it wasn’t a hard day at work. I’ll tell you that. It was great.”
Garcelle continued, “For us, when we were casting this what was important was that Luke had to be young enough that you believed there was a big age gap. He also had to be man enough so you believed he would get a woman like that. I think that is what Vaughn brought to the project. It was believable, we had great chemistry when we had our table read. It felt right. Luckily, we didn’t have to struggle with chemistry. It was there, so that helped. Our director Tamara was also great at setting the tone when it came to the intimate scenes and made sure we felt comfortable and safe. That was really helpful.” All in all, it can be said with certainty that the shooting experience was quite delightful for the cast as well as crew members.
Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love Cast
Haitian actress Garcelle Beauvais headlines the cast as Ava, the chef who finds herself in a predicament after heading back to her hometown for a family emergency. She is best known for her portrayal of Francesca “Fancy” Monroe in ‘The Jamie Foxx Show,’ A.D.A. Valerie Heywood in ‘NYPD Blue,’ Henrietta in ‘Grimm,’ Doris Toomes in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and Lisa in ‘A Girl Like Grace.’ The actress also has titles such as ‘Flight,’ ‘Franklin & Bash,’ ‘Siren,’ ‘Merry Happy Whatever,’ and ‘Tell Me a Story.’ Garcelle also became the first black member to grace the cast of ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ when she joined the cast in season 10.
The Lifetime production features Vaughn W. Hebron as Ava’s love interest, Luke. You may recognize him from his performance as Fudge Pop in ‘TiTi Do You Love Me,’ Jamison Fields in Mara Brock Akil’s ‘The Game,’ and Barry Hallsen in ‘The Oval.’ He can also be seen in ‘The Devil You Know’ and ‘King Richard.’ Meanwhile, Mary Ann Hagan steps into the role of Karen. The supporting cast of ‘Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love’ also stars Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon, as well as Donna Biscoe.
Read More: Lifetime’s My Son’s Deception: Filming Locations and Cast Details
