Tori Spelling says she originally turned down the lead role in her latest film, Lifetime’s Abducted in the Everglades.

“I was offered this movie, but it didn’t line up because I was doing Dancing with the Stars, and I was committed to that.

You never know how long you’re going to be on for,” the actress, 51, tells PEOPLE exclusively of her stint on the reality show’s season 33, during which she was voted off early on.

“I didn’t expect to be eliminated the second show, and I was like, ‘Oh, goodness,’ but the silver lining, the Everglade lining, was this movie was still there, and they were like, ‘Oh, we really wanted Tori to star in it,’ and I was available,” she continues. “So I went right after being eliminated [from DWTS] and dove right into the movie.”

“I believe there [are] no coincidences in life, and everything happens when it’s supposed to happen, and it’s your journey,” the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum adds.

 

Abducted in the Everglades follows Indiana mom Beverly, who travels to Florida “when her college-aged daughter goes missing while on Spring Break down in Miami,” according to a plot synopsis.

There, she teams up with “rugged boatman Ray as they search the vast Everglades,” the synopsis continues.

According to Spelling, this role was perfect for her because “I love a good woman in peril movie, and it’s nice to know that I can still be, like, kicking butt and doing my jam on a Lifetime movie. I loved it.”

“I was actually in the Everglades! I was actually in the swamp surrounded by alligators,” she continues. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But it was such a beautiful backdrop.”

Spelling tells PEOPLE that she would “send pictures to my kids daily, and it looked like movie magic.” (She shares five children — Liam, Stella, Hattie, Finn and Beau — with Dean McDermott.)

“I think 70% of the entire movie we filmed actually in the Everglades. I did all my own stunts. I got to drive an airboat. It was amazing,” she adds.

Spelling says the movie also “spoke” to her as a mom, explaining, “What this mother goes through in this movie is every mother’s worst nightmare.”

“It was a great script, and everyone connected to it,” the star adds. “We all became instant friends. It was just like one of those projects where you’re like, ‘Gosh, I’m so glad this worked out. This is exactly what I needed.’ It was just like a magic of a production.”