Heavy/Hallmark Hallmark actress Kayla Wallace
Actress Kayla Wallace, who has played Fiona Miller on Hallmark‘s longstanding series “When Calls the Heart” since its sixth season, says she’s “still pinching myself” over getting cast in “Landman,” the highly-anticipated Paramount+ series from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan.
After Variety broke the news on January 29, 2024, that Wallace will be a series regular alongside Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton, her “WCTH” colleagues, including fiancé Kevin McGarry, sang her praises on social media.
Here’s what you need to know:
Kayla Wallace Says She’s ‘Thrilled’ to Join Cast of ‘Landman’
Wallace’s new show will be quite a departure from the quaint setting and traditional values of WCTH’s Hope Valley. Based on the popular “Boomtown” podcast, “Landman” is set in the world of oil rigs in West Texas.
According to TV Line, the series is described as “a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs” and “an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.”
Variety reported that Wallace will play Rebecca Savage, “an extremely capable and intimidating liability attorney sent to West Texas to clean up a mess.” Thornton, meanwhile, will play Tommy Norris, a crisis manager for an oil company, per Town & Country.
In addition to Wallace and Thornton, others who have officially joined the cast, per Variety, include “The Rookie” alum Ali Larter, “1923” co-star Michelle Randolph, “Maze Runner” alum Jacob Lofland, “Yellowstone” actor James Jordan, “Nashville” alum Mark Collie, and Paulina Chávez from the upcoming feature film “The Long Game.”
Shortly after Variety announced Wallace’s casting in “Landman,” she shared the news on Instagram, captioning a screenshot of the article with, “THRILLED. So grateful. Let’s GO!”
In her Instagram Stories, she also wrote, “Still pinching myself.”
Hallmark Stars & Fans Celebrate Kayla Wallace’s New Gig
Kevin McGarry and Kayla Wallace co-starred in the Hallmark movie “My Grown-Up Christmas List”
Wallace received messages of congratulations from lots of Hearties and Hallmark colleagues, including from McGarry, who plays Nathan Grant on “WCTH.” The couple has been engaged since late 2022.
He commented on her post, “So proud of you darling! You’re a ⭐️”
Erin Krakow, who plays “WCTH” lead character Elizabeth Thornton and is one of Wallace’s closest friends, wrote, “Finally we can scream it from the rooftops, superstar!!! 🎉 🎉 🎉”
Meanwhile, Andrea Brooks, who plays town nurse Faith Carter, left a round of applause in Wallace’s comment section: “👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏”
Proud fiancé McGarry, who has co-starred with Wallace in two Hallmark movies beyond “WCTH,” posted the same Variety screenshot on Instagram as she did and wrote, “@imkaylawallace is a ⭐️. This show will be amazing x”
Wallace’s rise to fame has been remarkably quick, given that she was still working in 2019 as a “server” when she got the call that she’d landed a recurring role on “WCTH,” she told Edify the following year.
“I told myself I would not leave my serving job until I got something recurring on a TV show,” she said, adding that she was “buzzing” with excitement after auditioning for “WCTH.”
When she got the part, she told Edify, “I was over the moon because that was a big milestone for me.”
Though she alerted her boss that she was leaving in order to go work on a TV show, Wallace said that she forgot to send in her official letter of resignation — until she pulled into the parking lot at the “WCTH” set and sent the email from her car.
“It was a really cool moment to send that email and then walk into my trailer on the first day,” she recalled. “It was like a really ‘movie’ moment.”
Timing for filming and releasing “Landman” has not been announced. The 11th season of “WCTH” is scheduled to premiere on April 7, with Wallace included in the cast, and future plans for that series have not been revealed either.