Hallmark Lucas and Little Jack on "When Calls the Heart"
With such a major storyline shift in “When Calls the Heart” season 10, many Hallmark viewers are wondering if Chris McNally (who portrays Lucas) is leaving the show. The good news is that he’s not going anywhere. The showrunner for “When Calls the Heart” recently revealed the show’s plans for McNally’s future in season 11, and McNally himself commented on future plans too.
McNally Will be a Lead Actor in Season 11, the Showrunner Shared
Showrunner Lindsay Sturman, in an interview with Heart to Hearties, quickly put rumors to rest when asked if McNally would be part of the principal cast in season 11, or if Lucas would be leaving the show.
“Yes… Lucas is one of our leads and he always will be and he’s an incredible actor,” Sturman said. “…His journey is incredibly exciting in season 11. And I think that … we we get to see a side of him that we didn’t know… We went back and kind of mined what did we know about him, and then … carry those stories through because … there’s so much richness to the stories that we inherited. And then just growing them from there.”
Lucas Will Have a Bigger Story in Season 11
The Edify After Show hosted an interview with Sturman and co-creator Brian Bird, along with key cast members, after season 10 episode 11. During the interview, they clarified a few details about Lucas’ future on the next season of the show.
Sturman talked about how she and the writers felt like Elizabeth and Lucas’ paths were diverging, and they had to lean into it. She described their heartbreak as a “Casablanca” type storyline. But according to Sturman, Lucas will still have a big role in season 11 next year .
“Chris is such an incredible actor and he’s such a wonderful character, so we get to really follow a bigger story for him into season 11,” Sturman shared.
Sturman added later in the interview: “We figured out … a lot about season 11 before we wrapped up 10, because we wanted to make sure that … we were really setting it up.”
Bird shared that they wanted to do a hero’s story for Lucas in season 10, since both Nathan and Bill had a lot of scenes in previous seasons where they did heroic acts.
“He’s drafted by circumstances, by the world,” Bird said at about 10 minutes into the interview. “…It’s out of his control, it’s out of Elizabeth’s control, it’s out of the whole town’s control. He’s been drafted by circumstances and he must … at least run for governor. And we’ll see what happens … in episode 12, but what choice does he have? What choice does Elizabeth have in all this? What choice do any of these people have? Lucas must go on this path or the town is … in deep trouble. And so that to me was such a powerful thing. It was showing a brand new side of Lucas that we had not seen before.”
McNally Said He’s Excited About His Future on the Show
About 20 minutes into the Edify After Show interview, McNally shared that he’s really excited about his future on the show.
“I’m excited for … the direction that Lucas is going in,” McNally said. “And I think that it is a different avenue of storytelling or different stories that can come in for Hope Valley. It’s a town that is alive and it has a pulse and things shift and change and evolve, and I think it’s great. I’m very optimistic about it.”
About 31 minutes into the interview, Kavan Smith, who portrays Lee, also said the changes will open the door for new storylines in the coming season.
“It does open the field for some landscape changes and … based on where we are this season, I think what they were planning then works,” he said. “And I think that … it’s gonna bear fruit as we move forward for sure.”
Smith added that if he were McNally, he’d be excited about his future on the show.
“It could have tied itself up and we could have been done, but all of a sudden things just sort of fit … because his character is sort of pre-made for this,” Smith said. “…He’s very ambitious and he’s got some aspirations, and it gives us somewhere to go with that character for sure. Creatively if I was Chris I’d be super excited.”
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