Three of Hallmark’s hottest stars – Andrew Walker, Tyler Hynes, and Paul Campbell – are opening up about what brought them to the network in the first place.
The guys starred in the fan-fave movie Three Wise Men and a Baby in 2022 and they’re hoping to make a sequel to their film.
They got together recently to chat with Vulture about their work for their network, including appearances in the annual Christmas love stories. During the interview, they were asked about where they were in their careers when they decided to associate with Hallmark.
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Andrew said: “Mine was a little bit of a roundabout. I had started a juice company with my wife. I was going to take six months off acting and start the business, and about a year and a half later I was underwater. We were trying to figure out how to get our lives back. I had become very resentful toward my business because it had taken me away from my acting. I thought, Oh yeah, I’ll take some time off. I do a lot of work for ABC and whatnot. I’ll get it back in no time. I was wrong. But out of the blue, I got a call from my manager, and he said, “Hey, you got an offer to do a Hallmark movie. They want you to come up to Vancouver and shoot it.” And I was like, “A Hallmark movie? Don’t they make greeting cards?” I read the script and it was cute, so I jumped on an airplane and did my first movie and had a great time.”
Paul said: “I’d been living down in Los Angeles for about eight years, and in 2012, I moved back home to Vancouver. I wish I could say it wasn’t because I was broke, but I had gone broke living in L.A. despite a good role in Battlestar Galactica. I got an audition for a Hallmark movie. I never auditioned for one before because my representation unequivocally said from day one, ‘You’re not going to do Hallmark movies.’ So my agent in Vancouver was going to pass on it, but I said, ‘Let me read it at least, I’m broke, come on.’ So I read it and was like, ‘This is one of the most fun scripts I’ve ever read. Why would I not want to do this?’ That was Winter Wonderland in 2013. After that, I said, ‘I’ll do as many as the channel throws out.’”
Tyler said: “I’ve been doing this for about five years now. I’d gotten the call a few days before a film was going to start shooting, called It’s Christmas, Eve. As far as I know, LeAnn Rimes, for whatever reason, recommended me as her co-star. I don’t know how I ended up on that list or why. I don’t think Hallmark would have ever been stoked to hire me… Listen, I love romantic comedies. Notting Hill is one of my favorite movies ever. I think Hugh Grant is the most underrated actor of all time. If Hugh Grant and Meg Ryan ended up in a Hallmark movie, I’d be the happiest dude ever. I started to go, ‘I’m going to make these movies from where I want to make them.’ That was yielding a reaction from the people I’m working with and the executives. There’s a large turnaround and a lot of moving parts; you don’t assume somebody would be that thoughtful or specific in their observations on something you’re doing. This is when I started to go, ‘Okay, this is an interesting place to explore and push the boundaries of what we can handle.’”
The three guys also shared their thoughts on Candace Cameron Bure‘s controversial exit from the network and how they feel about competition from Great American Family.