‘When Calls the Heart’: Brooke Shields on Charlotte’s ‘Emotional’ Return to Honor Jack

Charlotte Thornton (Brooke Shields) made her way back to Hope Valley for the first time since before her son Jack’s (Daniel Lissing) death. At the start of the season, Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) and Nathan (Kevin McGarry) were in Cape Fullerton with Charlotte as they figured out Little Jack’s (Hyland Goodrich) diabetes diagnosis. In the March 1 episode of When Calls the Heart, Charlotte returned to Hope Valley for a very special reason. (Warning: Spoilers for When Calls the Heart Season 13 Episode 9 ahead!)

As Little Jack went on a memory hunt to learn more about his late father, Nathan made a special call to Charlotte. The Thornton matriarch was thrilled to spend more one-on-one time with her grandson and to tell him more about his father. She even read a letter from Jack where he talked about being a dad one day.

“It was an emotional episode,” Shields admitted to TV Insider. “It does a bit of a number on you, but it felt like there was a lot of closure. It felt like there was a fresh new beginning in certain areas, and it felt very respectful of the past. I thought that they kind of encapsulated it all together in very interesting ways.”

Hallmark Media / Jeff Weddell

Charlotte hasn’t been back to Hope Valley since before her son tragically died, and Shields noted that the visit was healing for her character. “She’s such a survivor that I think she was probably even surprised at the emotion that she felt, and probably really needed it,” Shields said.

Shields was thrilled to spend more time with her When Calls the Heart family again. “First of all, Erin, as the lead of the show, she sets the tone, and she’s the most professional and lovely and funny,” the actress gushed. She also pointed out how “impressed” she was by the younger actors.

Hallmark Media / Jeff Weddell

Stepping into Elizabeth’s home, Charlotte witnessed firsthand the second chance at love and happiness that Elizabeth has with Nathan after Jack’s death. For Charlotte, this realization is “bittersweet.”

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“I think Nathan is a reminder of her loss, and yet you’ve got little Jack, and he’s the unifying entity in all of this, but [he] must be dealt with care,” Shields explained. “I think she’s enough of a mom and a person to want Elizabeth to be happy and not make it about her and her loss. But it takes a bigger person, and I think both she and Elizabeth are those women, definitely. I think that’s what Elizabeth appreciates, and that’s what Charlotte has probably always seen in Elizabeth, and why she was so happy. I think there’s a kinship there of strength and how taking care of other people and being a bigger person and moving forward for Little Jack and for Elizabeth’s future.”

When Calls the Heart, Season 13, Sundays, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel