Daniel Lissing on Jack’s ‘Sweet’ Return to ‘When Hope Calls Christmas’ With Lori Loughlin
Q&A
When Hope Calls, the When Calls the Heart spinoff, rings in its second season with an emotional two-parter featuring two notable guests: original Heart stars Lori Loughlin and Daniel Lissing. As the residents of Brookfield are busy trying to earn the title of America’s No. 1 Country Christmas Town from a national magazine in 1917, Loughlin’s Abigail Stanton arrives on a stagecoach escorting a boy to the orphanage.
Creator Alfonso Moreno won’t spoil how Loughlin comes to share a scene with Lissing—aka late Mountie Jack Thornton—but, he says, “If the audience is like me, they will need to keep tissues close.”
Find out more from Lissing in his chat with TV Insider.
When I heard this was happening, my first question was like, “Well, how was that going to work?” What was your first question?
Daniel Lissing: I asked, “How is this going to work?” [laughs] I mean, it’s a career highlight for me to play Jack Thornton on When Calls the Heart for five seasons. I’m just so grateful for that and I’m never going to forget that experience for as long as I live, hopefully. When I got a phone call asking, “Listen, would you like to reprise this role for one special scene with Lori?” I was like, “Well, let me call Lori.” And I spoke to Lori about it and the idea of working with my friend again, it was really a no-brainer.
GAC Family
I know you can’t say exactly what happens, but what was your reaction when reading the script?
When I heard how we’re going to pull it off, I thought it was a beautiful idea. But I wasn’t a hundred percent sold until I actually read the scene that I was going to be doing. And as soon as I read it, I actually got emotional because I thought that it was really relevant to the story that was happening there in When Hope Calls, but also something that the fans of Jack and Elizabeth and When Calls the Heart would love. Let’s just say it’s a sweet, sweet message. And puts a little bit of a final bow in the story of Jack.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler that you do wear the Mountie uniform again. How did it feel to put that back on?
It’s just such an iconic uniform and synonymous with his character. It made sense for him to wear it for this particular scene. And for me, it was really nostalgic. I didn’t like putting the boots on again. [Laughs] That’s one thing I don’t miss is they’re a mission to take on and off. But even when I was doing it this time, I had a big smile on my face. I was just grateful to be able to revisit this character one more time. And I know that the fans are really going to get their kick out of seeing this character on screen again in a new way.
Between A Christmas Star (which aired December 12 on GAC) and then this scene in When Hope Calls, it sounds like a great Christmas present to the TV viewers and your fans out there. How does that make you feel?
I appreciate that a lot. For me, I’ve got such a great fan base, especially in this world of this family programming. They’re just really, really enthusiastic. And so enthusiastic about A Christmas Star and about Jack Thornton coming back for this scene. And I’m grateful, mate. I’m grateful.
When Hope Calls Christmas, Saturday, December 18, 8/7c, GAC Family
