Heavy/Hallmark "When Calls The Heart" actor Jack Wagner
Longtime Hallmark star Jack Wagner just spilled the beans about a “life-changing” plot twist coming for his character, straight-laced Bill Avery, in the upcoming 10th season of “When Calls The Heart.”
Many viewers worried Bill would be written off the series, set in the early 1900s, due to a mystery illness he was suffering from in season 9. Hearties can breathe a sigh of relief knowing Bill is back with a rich storyline, including a new romance and miraculous healing, when the show returns on July 30, 2023.
Here’s what you need to know:
Jack Wagner Teases ‘Life Changing’ Plot Twists in Season 10 of ‘When Calls The Heart’
Wagner shared the big news about his character during a Facebook Live session with co-stars Erin Krakow, Pascale Hutton and Kevin McGarry. The conversation was recorded before the SAG-AFTRA strike began but Hallmark didn’t share it until July 28.
Bill’s rigidity as a lawman — with roles over the years as an investigator, interim mayor, judge and sheriff in Hope Valley — has made it hard at times to show his vulnerable side, which Wagner recently told Digital Journal has been fun to play.
“It has been nice to play this character who is rigid and by the book,” he said. “Bill has been a sheriff, a judge, and has showed no weaknesses.”
But big changes are coming for Bill, Wagner teased during the Facebook Live session with his co-stars, including an amazing healing that occurs when some of Hope Valley’s children discover a “wellness spring” just outside of town.
At the start of season 10, Wagner said, “it doesn’t look very good” for his character health-wise, and then after trying the wellness spring — in an old time bathing suit that’s already become its own meme — he “sort of hides that this is a healing process for him.”
“Erin and I have a scene actually at the spring where, you know, it’s life changing,” Wagner revealed. “And that’s kind of what it represents, and it opens up this whole, you know, sort of new life for Bill.”
Wagner also told Digital Journal, “It has been nice to have some scenes with Erin Krakow, who plays Elizabeth, where my character shows some vulnerability. I love how by the book my character is, and I also like the comedy that he brings to the series.”
Wagner said Bill even posts a sign saying that no one else is allowed in the spring because he thinks “he’s got this little gold mine of health for himself, that eventually he gets busted on and it’s pretty funny.”
The spring becomes a tourist attraction, he said, which creates lots of new economic opportunity for Hope Valley and the chance to bring in new characters — which is where Bill’s new romance comes in.
Jack Wagner Says Bill Avery’s Romance in Season 10 is ‘Mysterious’ and ‘Dangerous’
HallmarkStefanie von Pfetten and Jack Wagner in “When Calls The Heart” season 10
It’s been a long time since Bill — Hope Valley’s jack of all trades — has been in a romantic relationship. Early on in the series, he was smitten with Lori Loughlin’s character Abigail Stanton and divorced Nora, his estranged wife played by Kristina Wagner, in season 2. He and Abigail wound up as friends. At one point, Bill also courted widow Dottie Ramsey, played by Erica Carroll, and in season 5 he shared a kiss with AJ Foster, played by guest star Josie Bissett.
When Entertainment Tonight reporter Deidre Behar, who served as moderator for the “When Calls The Heart” Facebook Live, asked Wagner whether there was be any romance for his character in season 10, he confirmed there will be.
“It happens,” he exclaimed. “It happens! There’s a smokin’ hot blonde that comes to town and he goes for it. What can I say?”
As his co-stars laughed and Behar asked for more details, he said, “I love the way that they’ve written it. It has a lot of different layers to it. I get advice from Kevin’s character, from Erin.”
He continued, “So Bill, we’ve seen him a bit verklempt in this season and at a crossroads in terms of, you know, is he really going to change his life. He’s a bachelor and the way this character and, actually, her son … has got a lot of mystery to it, which I think is the best part. It’s mysterious, it’s a bit dangerous, but yet we see him open his heart and actually feel romance for the first time in quite a while.”
Based on multiple Hallmark press photos, it’s likely that Bill’s romance is with a newcomer played by Stefanie von Pfetten, a Canadian actress whose mainly been seen in science-fiction shows and films including “Day of the Dead” and an episode of “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” according to her IMDb profile. Her character and her son, played by John JJ Miller, arrive in town during the third episode.
Season 10 of “When Calls The Heart” premieres on July 30 at 9 p.m. Eastern time.