Exclusive: Andrew Walker Reveals Intense ‘Pressure’ of Making ‘3 Wise Men’ Sequel

Heavy/Hallmark Exclusive interview with Andrew Walker about Hallmark Channel's "Three Wiser Men and a Boy"

From the moment the credits rolled after the November 2022 premiere of “Three Wise Men and a Baby,” fans began begging for a sequel. The holiday comedy was a massive hit for Hallmark Channel, becoming the most-watched cable movie of the year and establishing Andrew Walker, Tyler Hynes, and Paul Campbell as a trio Hallmarkies couldn’t get enough of.

After insisting for more than a year that there were no immediate plans for a second movie, the stars threw fans into a frenzy in April 2024 by revealing they’d just secretly wrapped filming the follow-up — “Three Wiser Men and a Boy,” set to premiere on November 23.

In April, Walker told Heavy that filming the new movie was “incredibly ambitious” and challenging, but couldn’t share explicit details about the production. Now, in a new interview ahead of the sequel’s premiere, the longtime Hallmark star has shared how he and his beloved castmates worked around the clock to deliver a movie that he thinks is even better than the original.

‘Three Wiser Men’ Cast Worked Closely on Perfecting Scenes,  Andrew Walker Says

HallmarkKimberley Sustad, Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes and Andrew Walker on the set of Hallmark Channel’s “Three Wiser Men and a Boy”

“Three Wise Men and a Baby,” written by Campbell and fellow Hallmark star and screenwriter Kimberley Sustad, followed the Brenner brothers’ hijinks (mixed with plenty of heartwarming moments) after Walker’s hunky firefighter character Luke was tasked with a weekend of caring for a baby left for him at the firehouse.

“Going into a sequel — especially of a movie that was the number one most watched movie on cable television in 2022 — there’s a pressure that goes with that,” Walker told Heavy. “We didn’t want to tell the same story. We wanted to do things different and yet we also didn’t want to change things too much, you know?”

In the sequel, set five years later, Luke has since adopted the baby, now an adorable little boy played by Miles Marthaller, and needs his family’s help saving his son’s Christmas pageant while the three brothers also navigate witnessing their mom, played by the returning Margaret Colin, lean into a new relationship years after their dad left the family.

With help from Russell Hainline, the screenwriter behind Lacey Chabert’s new Netflix hit “Hot Frosty” and multiple Hallmark holiday flicks including 2023’s “The Santa Summit,” Campbell and Sustad created the perfect follow-up, Walker said. He noted Sustad’s ability to write “brilliant” emotional scenes including a monologue for Colin, whose delivery of her lines made Campbell tear up on set. And after the cast wound up improvising certain scenes or dialogue, Walker said Campbell would make late-night changes to provide clarity, consistency and humor.

“Paul was going home writing scenes for the next day,” Walker told Heavy. “He was working his butt off … he hardly slept when he was doing this movie.”

“There were a lot of moving parts,” Walker continued. “A lot of dialogue changes each day, a lot of things that we were figuring out. That’s why it was tough. Paul, Tyler and myself — every single lunch hour — we sat down and we talked through our afternoon, and the next day, every morning, we did the same thing.”

Walker said there are “no egos” when the three of them collaborate because they all just want to create the best possible result for the fans.

“The funniest joke always wins,” he explained. “You know, we’re all just like, ‘What’s the funniest bit that we can do here?’ But (every joke) is grounded in reality. I think that’s the beauty of these ‘Wise Men’ movies, is that it’s not slapstick. It’s all grounded humor that moves the story forward.”

Everyone involved in the movie is eager to see how fans respond. Walker, Hynes, Campbell and Sustad were on board the second Hallmark Christmas Cruise from November 17 — 21, where fans saw an advance screening of “Three Wiser Men and a Boy.” They were thrilled when the audience responded with a standing ovation. As the movie premieres on November 23, the stars also plan to live-tweet with fans beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern time to share insights and see viewers’ reactions.

Andrew Walker Says All 3 ‘Wiser Men’ Struggle With Their Identities in Sequel

Though “Three Wiser Men and a Boy” is full of laughs, there’s also an undercurrent of uncertainty among the Brenner brothers, Walker told Heavy.

“Everyone’s evolved, but they’re all still challenged with the same things as before,” he explained.

While Campbell’s character Stephan has figured out ways to manage his social anxiety and even wrote a book about it, Walker said he still struggles at times and has entered “a different stage in his relationship” with Fiona Vroom’s character.

Meanwhile, Walker said of Hynes’ character, “Things have not gone well for Taylor at all.” But in playing that role, Hynes didn’t want Taylor to just come across as a jerk, Walker said.

“Tyler’s a complex guy,” he explained. “He’s very smart with how he approaches things, so he wanted to make sure that he layered this character and made sure that he was bringing some depth, qualities, and some reasons why people would want to root for him as well.”

As for firefighter Luke, Walker said his character has lost his sense of identity in the sequel, suddenly realizing he’s a dad with new responsibilities, a fire station chief who’s a bit disillusioned by his leadership role, and a son who used to do everything for his mom but feels pushed out by the new man in her life.

Walker told Heavy of his character, “It’s like one of those days you just wake up and you go, ‘I’m just a dad, and my back hurts and my knees hurt, and I’m not the same guy I used to be. And people don’t treat me the same way. And am I okay with that?’ I’m just questioning my self worth in a way.”

In the end, Walker said he thinks all of it makes “Three Wiser Men” even richer and funnier than the first movie. The sequel premieres on Hallmark Channel on November 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern time, with seven encore airings scheduled through Christmas Day.