As ‘When Calls the Heart’ Returns, What Are Its Former Stars Up To?
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When Calls the Heart is coming back with a promise of “a new start, romance, community, and reunion” in its 11th season, Hallmark Channel says.
In the new episodes — which kick off on Sunday, April 7 — schoolteacher Elizabeth Thornton (Erin Krakow) and Nathan Grant (Kevin McGarry) are navigating romantic feelings — and, in her case, a style makeover — while facing parenting obstacles.
Meanwhile, Governor Lucas Bouchard (Chris McNally) is reckoning with his past as he leads Hope Valley into the future, and ex-Mountie Bill Avery (Jack Wagner) and reporter Rosemary Coulter (Pascale Hutton) are investigating a mystery that puts the town at risk. “This season explores renewal, redemption, and, of course, romance, as Hope Valley enters the 1920s,” Hallmark adds in a press release.
But before you Hearties tune into the new season, though, check in with several of the show’s former stars in the photo gallery below.
When Calls the Heart, Season 11 Premiere, Sunday, April 7, 9/8c
Daniel Lissing (Jack Thornton)
Jack Thornton died in an off-screen landslide in Season 5, but Lissing’s screen career lives on. He starred in three recent holiday-themed TV movies, for example: 2021’s A Christmas Star, 2022’s Catering Christmas, and 2023’s Christmas Keepsake.
Lori Loughlin (Abigail Stanton)
Loughlin lost her job on the show amid the college admissions bribery scandal, and Abigail left town in Season 6 to care for her ailing mother. But Loughlin has returned to screen recently — reprising Abigail in the spinoff When Hope Calls in 2021 and playing herself in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm this year.
Eva Bourne (Clara Stanton Flynn)
Both Bourne and costar Aren Buchholz (below) exited When Calls the Heart after Season 8; the Season 9 premiere revealed that the Flynns left Hope Valley to homestead in Montana. Bourne recently recurred in the miniseries Devil in Ohio and starred in the TV movie Make Me a Match.
Aren Buchholz (Jesse Flynn)
After When Calls the Heart, Buchholz appeared in the TV movie Disappearance in Yellowstone, guest-starred in the series Family Law, and took a supporting role in the series Reginald the Vampire. And just last year, he starred in the TV movie Why Can’t My Life Be a Rom-Com?
Paul Greene (Carson Shepherd)
Dr. Carson left Faith (Andrea Brooks) for an opportunity at Johns Hopkins in Season 8. Like Lissing, he has devoted himself to Christmas TV movies lately: 2021’s Christmas CEO, 2022’s I’m Glad It’s Christmas and Fit for Christmas, and 2023’s Bringing Christmas Home.
Genéa Charpentier (Laura Campbell)
Laura dropped off the When Calls the Heart canvas in Season 9, and a Season 10 line revealed that she was headed for teacher’s college. But Charpentier appeared in the TV movie Cruel Instruction in 2022 and in episodes of So Help Me Todd and Fire Country last year.
Erica Carroll (Dottie Ramsey)
Carroll hasn’t been on screen much since her WCTH run — Dottie is now living in Union City, as far as we know. But in February, Carroll launched a podcast called Alchemy of Healing, saying she’ll interview “experts in diverse fields of self-care, practitioners, biohackers, healers, and folks like you who are the true experts of their own bodies.”
Chelah Horsdal (Cat Montgomery)
Horsdal starred in the first season of When Calls the Heart, but her character disappeared in Season 2. Luckily, Horsdall hasn’t disappeared from TV screens. She recently played Federation President Laira Rillak in Star Trek: Discovery and Margie in Firefly Lane.
Mark Humphrey (Frank Hogan)
In Season 5, Frank left Hope Valley — and Abigail — to work at a children’s hospital in Cape Fullerton. Since then, Humphrey has appeared in his fair share of Christmas television movies (Christmas Bells Are Ringing, When I Think of Christmas, Dial S for Santa). And earlier this year, TV viewers saw him in the movie Gilded Newport Mysteries: Murder at the Breakers.
