‘When Calls the Heart’ Stars Get in the Holiday Spirit With New 2023 Christmas Movies
2023 will be another year without a When Calls the Heart Christmas special. But you can still celebrate the holiday with some of the past and present stars of the heartwarming Hallmark Channel series. This year, Kevin McGarry, Paul Greene, and Lori Loughlin are all headlining new Christmas movies on Hallmark, Great American Family, and more.
Kevin McGarry kicked off Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas with ‘Checkin’ It Twice’
Team Nathan fans cheered when Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) broke off her engagement to Lucas (Chris McNally) at the end of When Calls the Heart Season 10, seemingly clearing the way for a romance with Hope Valley’s resident Mountie, played by Kevin McGarry. They got another treat when McGarry starred in this year’s first Countdown to Christmas movie, the hockey-themed rom-com Checkin’ It Twice. It premiered on Oct. 20 and will air again throughout the holiday season.
Paul Greene’s ‘Bringing Christmas Home’ aired on Great American Family
Dr. Carson Shepherd left Hope Valley behind in the When Calls the Heart Season 8 finale. Fans who miss actor Paul Greene’s presence on the show can check out Bringing Christmas Home, which premiered in October 2023 on Great American Family. Greene plays the owner of an antique store who helps a professor of military history (Jill Wagner) return a WWII soldier’s personal effects to his family. Check the Great American Family schedule for repeat airings.
‘When Calls the Heart’ alum Daniel Lissing stars in ‘Christmas Keepsake’
When Calls the Heart fans were heartbroken when Elizabeth’s husband Jack (Daniel Lissing) was killed off at the end of season 5. The actor has since become a familiar face on Great American Family, reprising his role as Jack for a cameo in the 2021 When Hope Calls Christmas special and starring in several movies for the fledgling network. This year, he appears in Christmas Keepsake, where he plays a dad who stumbles into an unexpected romance when he helps his daughter track down the owner of a Christmas time capsule.
Christmas Keepsake premieres Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on Great American Family.
Lori Loughlin appears in ‘A Christmas Blessing’
Hallmark Channel cut ties with Lori Loughlin due to her involvement in the college admissions scandal, and her Abigail Stanton character was abruptly written off of When Calls the Heart. Like Lissing, she’s moved to Great American Family. In 2023, she stars in A Christmas Blessing. Loughlin plays a TV chef who quits her job to travel the world. But a last-minute visit to her late aunt’s food pantry in Milwaukee inspires her to create one more Christmas feast for those in need.
A Christmas Blessing airs Sunday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. ET on Great American Family.
Marcus Rosner stars in ‘Flipping for Christmas’ and ‘Christmas in Maple Hills’
Long-time When Calls the Heart viewers will remember Marcus Rosner, who played Elizabeth’s childhood friend Charles Kensington. Charles traveled from Hamilton to Hope Valley to confess his love to her, but she had already fallen hard for Mountie Jack. Though Rosner’s time on When Calls the Heart was brief, he’s continued to work with Hallmark Channel, including in the new 2023 holiday movie Flipping for Christmas, which premiered Nov. 3 and will air again throughout the season.
Rosner also stars in the new direct-to-DVD movie Christmas in Maple Hills, where he plays a handsome veteran who helps a woman who is fighting to save her family’s dairy farm. It’s available for purchase on DVD from Amazon or to rent or buy on Vudu.com. Plus, you can see him in Coupled Up for Christmas, where he and Sarah Canning play a couple who fake a relationship to make their previous partners jealous. It’s streaming for free on Plex.
See Lynda Boyd in UPtv’s ‘Dial S for Santa’
Virgin River and Sullivan’s Crossing actor Lynda Boyd appeared in When Calls the Heart Season 2 as Elizabeth’s mother Grace Thatcher. This year, you can also see her in Dial S for Santa, a Christmas mystery about a woman (Sarah Dugdale) who returns home for the holidays and teams up with a police detective to solve a string of burglaries. It premieres Sunday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. ET on UPtv.
Niall Matter stars in Hallmark’s ‘Holiday Hotline’
Niall Matter joined When Calls the Heart in season 4 as Shane Cantrell, a widower with a young son who was a potential love interest for Faith Carter (Andrea Brooks). Unfortunately, Matter’s time on the show was short and his character did not appear beyond that season. In 2023, Matter stars in the new Hallmark movie Holiday Hotline about a single dad who connects with a woman (Emily Tennant) manning a cooking hotline. It premieres Sunday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. ET on Hallmark Channel.
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