Once Manuel Saldaña had Happy Belated's story laid out, the only person he had in mind to play the lead role was Samantha Rae Bass as he had worked with her once before in his 2019 romantic film, "CO-WORKERS". Originally Samantha auditioned for the lead role of Emma in that film but got a smaller role or Stephanie instead. But in that small role, she impressed director Saldaña so much with her performance, that he wanted to work with her again but in a bigger role. Hence he wrote "Happy Belated" with Samantha in mind as the lead.
Director Manuel Saldaña wanted to begin filming "Happy Belated" in July 2021. But his lead actress Samantha Rae Bass was going to be in Tennessee the entire month of July as she had a prior commitment. Manuel did not want to recast her as he wrote the part for her. So instead he delayed the shoot to the first weekend of August 2021 so that Samantha can play the role. The rest is history.