Heavy Movie set
On the heels of Hallmark‘s exciting announcement about Erin Krakow and Daniel Lissing’s upcoming onscreen reunion in a Christmas movie on the network, Heavy has learned another “When Calls the Heart” (WCTH) couple will co-star in a new Hallmark movie, too.
Natasha Burnett and Viv Leacock, who play Joseph and Minnie Canfield on WCTH, have wrapped filming in Vancouver on a rom-com called “The Hunt for Love,” according to Leading Distribution Partners (LDP). And though the network has kept the news under wraps for now, the movie will star many familiar faces to Hallmark fans.
Here’s what you need to know:
‘The Hunt for Love’ Will Feature Many Familiar Faces for Hallmarkies
Leacock and Burnett joined the cast of WCTH in 2020, along with Leacock’s real-life children, Vienna and Elias Leacock, to play the Canfields — Hope Valley’s first Black family, according to Parade.
Before being cast in WCTH, Leacock and Burnett had both appeared in many Hallmark projects. Hallmarkies first met Leacock, who was born in Montreal, per IMDb, when he co-starred with Kellie Martin in the “Hailey Dean Mystery” franchise from 2016 to 2019. Burnett’s IMDb profile says she lived in the UK and Australia before moving to Canada, and has appeared in Hallmark’s “The Bridge” movies in 2015 and 2016 and, most recently, in 2022’s “The Journey Ahead” with Holly Robinson Peete.
Though they’ve filmed more than 30 episodes of WCTH together, Leacock and Burnett had never filmed a movie together — until now.
In “The Hunt for Love,” per LDP, Burnett will play London-based antiques expert Amelia Scott, who “catches the trail of the long-lost antique locket associated with a famous love story” and “rushes across the pond to small town Massachusetts where she bumps up against local Sheriff Marcus Forrest,” played by Leacock.
“Together they find the locket and the truth of the past, and with that Amelia finds the inspiration to follow her heart, both in life and love,” the synopsis reads.
According to IMDb, the supporting cast is full of actors familiar to Hallmarkies, including Kevin O’Grady, who played Detective Frank Lynwood in the “Garage Sale Mysteries” franchise from 2014 to 2020, and Samantha Cole, who’s appeared in multiple Hallmark movies — most recently in December’s “Friends and Family Christmas.”
Hallmark staple Beverly Elliott, who recently appeared in “World Record Christmas,” also has a role in “The Hunt for Love,” as does Hrothgar Mathews, who has played Ned Yost on WCTH since 2014, per IMDb.
According to Canadian actors’ union UBCP/ACTRA, “The Hunt for Love” was filmed in Vancouver from November 23 to December 14. The movie was directed by Kevin Fair for Hallmark, per LPD, who has helmed lots of movies for the network including, in 2023 alone, “A Season for Family,” “Checkin’ It Twice” and the surprise hit “3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost,” according to his IMDb profile.
Hallmark has not officially announced “The Hunt for Love” or a premiere date, but Leacock and Burnett are likely hoping the vast WCTH audience will tune in when it is official, given all the ways Hearties are known for cheering on the show’s cast.
“The fanbase for the show is fierce,” Leacock told Entertainment Tonight in 2021. “Everybody, they’re up on all the information, they know every storyline, every nuance, anything that’s ever happened and so welcoming, so warm, so giving and just supportive.”
Former WCTH Couple Erin Krakow & Daniel Lissing Have Been Filming Their New Movie, Too
Meanwhile, most Hearties were thrilled when Variety reported on February 6 that Krakow and Lissing will reunite in a new Christmas movie called “Santa Tell Me.”
The next day, Krakow posted behind-the-scenes video of them filming the movie in Vancouver and wrote, “I’m so happy to be working alongside my dear friend @daniellissing on @hallmarkchannel’s Christmas movie #SantaTellMe!!! 🎅🏼❤️🎬”
Krakow and Lissing’s characters were married on WCTH until he decided to leave the show and his character was killed off in 2018.
Krakow tearfully told “Entertainment Tonight” at the time, “I was just sad that Dan was leaving. That’s the bottom line: We were all really sad about it, and that’s hard. Dan, in many ways, has been my partner in crime for five years, and one of my greatest scene partners ever, and I’m just really gonna miss him.”
Hallmark has not announced an exact premiere date for “Santa Tell Me,” but it’s slated to be part of the 2024 Countdown to Christmas lineup, per Variety.