Hallmark Hunk Reveals He Works as a Substitute Teacher When He’s Not Filming

Brazilian-born Alec Santos is a quickly rising Hallmark star, having just headlined two Hallmark Channel rom-coms on back-to-back weekends — “A Machu Picchu Proposal” opposite Rhiannon Fish on June 28, 2025, and “Unwrapping Christmas: Tina’s Miracle,” which premiered the following weekend.

His ability to speak three languages and his worldly upbringing — including moving with his family to Chile at 13 and then to Florida for high school, per Hollywood North Magazine — not play a wide variety of characters but, he says, in the classroom as a substitute teacher. It’s a job he says he continues to do, even as his fame keeps rising.

Hallmark Actor Alec Santos Says He Can Teach ‘Anywhere in the World’

Santos told Woman’s World on July 7 that his first teaching job was in northern India, “in a place where the Dalai Lama lives,” where he “taught science and English to Tibetan students.”

But working on Hallmark movie sets or TV shows like “Virgin River” for weeks at a time doesn’t align well with a full-time teaching gig, so Santos now works as a substitute teacher whenever — and wherever — he can.

“I still work as a substitute teacher because anywhere in the world, they always need teachers,” he explained. “I’ll probably keep doing that forever because I love it. I love being in front of a classroom and I have such a passion for science and science education, so I get really excited. Just last week, I did a squid dissection for a biology class!”

“Everyone’s always surprised that I have a background in science,” Santos continued, “but these are my two passions, and they sometimes meld together. I think some teachers would benefit from a theater class, because you’re performing in front of students, and they’re the hardest audience in the world.”

“Teenagers can be apathetic,” he told Woman’s World, “but if you can make them laugh and get them interested in the material, they’ll remember your class, and performance certainly helps. I do believe acting comes in handy in the classroom.”

Alec Santos Hasn’t Been Able to Land a Role Playing a Teacher

On the “Heart Full of Hallmark” podcast in early June, Santos said he “always loved school” when he was growing up, noting that “some of the most influential people in my life have always been teachers.” One — his 10th grade Spanish literature teacher — has even become his best friend later in life, he said.

Santos said he thought he would see if he could find any success with acting, his other passion “for a few years” and if it didn’t work, he’d go back to teaching full-time. not

“I feel even as the ball is rolling now (with acting), I still I think I’ll just substitute (teach) forever,” he said on the podcast.

Ironically, though, Santos said on “Heart Full of Hallmark” that he hasn’t been successful at landing any acting roles as a teacher.

He laughed, “You know, the funny thing is I’ve auditioned for teacher roles many times, and like, (they say), ‘No you don’t look like a teacher. I don’t buy it.'”