Kris Holden-Ried Comments on if Thomas is Returning in ‘The Way Home’ Season 3

Hallmark/Heavy Thomas on "The Way Home"

Kris Holden-Ried, who portrayed Thomas on “The Way Home” season 2, quickly became a big hit among Hallmark viewers. Many fans now have lively debates about whether Kat should ultimately end up with Elliot or Thomas. But when the season 2 finale concluded, Thomas’ future on the show was unclear. In a recent interview, Holden-Ried shared what he knows about Thomas’ role in season 3.

Note: There will be spoilers for the season 2 finale in this article.

Holden-Ried Said He Believes He’s Returning as Thomas in Season 3

In an interview with the podcast Chat with Roxanne (Everything About Hallmark), Holden-Ried shared that although he hasn’t been given an official contract yet, he’s pretty sure that Thomas will be returning in season 3. The answer came around 3:40 minutes into the interview.

Season 3? [around 3:40]

“I believe so,” Holden-Ried told host Roxanne DeRenzis about returning for season 3. “I haven’t signed a contract yet, but I from what I’ve heard from the powers that be, everybody really liked what the 1814 group brought to the show. Just a different tone, sort of broadened it and gave a whole new dimension, and so they’re excited to bring them back. I don’t know in exactly what capacity, but I’m excited to come back as Thomas because he’s a lot of fun.”

Then they talked a bit about the process of joining the show. He said that when he first got the casting call for season 2, he didn’t know which show it was for. He said he imagined it might be some kind of Canadian period piece given the 1814 timeframe.

Holden-Ried has starred in a number of period pieces, including as Eyvind for 11 episodes of “Vikings” and as William Compton for seven episodes of “The Tudors.”

He said that he enjoys period pieces after doing the “Tudors” and “Vikings,” so he was interested in the opportunity.

“I didn’t know it was Hallmark, so I went into it … the way I would have done ‘Tudors’ or ‘Vikings, ‘which is a little more dramatic, a little … stakes are high,” he recalled. “And I think it took them a while to all agree that was a flavor that they wanted to bring to the show.”

He said ultimately, his screen test with Chyler Leigh (Kat) where they tested their chemistry played a big role in his being picked.

Thomas & Kat Were Originally Supposed to Kiss Earlier in the Season

Hallmark“The Way Home” Season 2

Around 13:30 into the interview, Holden-Ried also revealed that Thomas and Kat were originally going to kiss earlier in the season.

“We were supposed to kiss in an earlier episode, but I think the showrunners made a very good choice about pushing that all the way later, because we needed to earn it…” he said. “We needed to raise the stakes.”

He said he’s pretty sure the original kiss was at the beach scene when he picked her up.

“I think that’s where the kiss was originally written, I may be wrong,” he recalled.

He said they were worried about the stormy, windy weather when they filmed that day, but it ended up being perfect for the scene. In fact, he said, the sound team was able to catch about 90% of the original audio, allowing them to not have to do much extra work in ADR later.

“As soon as this gets caught in the frame and the wind is, the hair is flying, the emotions are high, we’re having to yell at each other just to hear each other over the wind… It added … another layer, another element to it, that you really can’t count on, but we were very fortunate to have it here,” he recalled.

He Thought His Character Was Going to Die

Around 26 minutes into the interview, Holden-Ried spoke about how the showrunners sometimes reveal a lot about the plot so the actors know how to play their characters, and sometimes they hold details back so the actors are genuinely surprised in certain scenes. In his case, he was led to believe that his character was really going to die and this was his last season.

“I was told that my character was going to die,” he said. “…This was episode three I think. Alex was like, ‘…I’m going to tell you something that you can’t tell other people… Thomas isn’t going to make it.’ And I was a little sad, but … hey, been doing a great job, let’s have a great season, let’s go. And so they actually pulled the fast one on me too, because you want Thomas to really feel like he is going to sacrifice himself. That’s the sort of the resonance you want the character to put out into the audience and into the world.”

You can watch the full interview here.

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