Hallmark Stars Who Live Mostly Normal Lives Off-Camera

It's no secret that Hallmark stars are in a class all their own. "Our faces have become synonymous with the idea of Christmas," Hallmark mainstay Paul Campbell told Vulture in December 2023. "If you want that feeling, and if you want us, you have to go to Hallmark." 

One way Hallmark films offer such escapism is by seeking out ordinary, salt of the earth actors to portray their characters. T. Makana Chock, a research professor of media psychology at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications, explained this appeal to The Washington Post in 2021. "They are essentially stories about other people with small-scale dramas that are not big, going to war kind of stuff," Chock said. "They're romantic dramas, they're family stories. We want to know how other people are engaging, and it really appeals to our basic drives." 

As it turns out, it really does take a special kind of actor to do a Hallmark movie justice. Here's a rundown of Hallmark stars that really do live mostly normal lives off-camera.

Andrew Walker's journey to the role of Hallmark star has been anything but straightforward. The story goes that he had initially put a six-month pause on his acting career to start a juice company with his wife, Cassandra Troy. Sadly, the couple fell on hard times, and Walker needed to begin taking acting jobs again as soon as possible. "Out of the blue, I got a call from my manager, and he said, 'Hey, you got an offer to do a Hallmark movie. They want you to come up to Vancouver and shoot it,'" he recalled to Vulture about the big break. And the rest is simply history.

Still, Walker maintains a sense of normalcy throughout his success with the channel and his long and growing list of Hallmark credits. When he's not working, Walker prefers to spend time with his wife and their two sons, West and Wolf. "Having a family of my own, this is actually the first year that we're going to be staying in Los Angeles. My wife and I have two little boys, a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and we're going to start a new tradition of staying in L.A.," Walker told First For Women about his family's modest Christmas plans in 2023.

Autumn Reeser has starred in a whopping 19 Hallmark movies. "I really love it," Reeser told Parade about acting for Hallmark. "I think I've gotten married now on Hallmark seven times even though it's just been three movies — because one of the movies was called 'I Do I Do I Do,' and it was about a girl living her wedding day over and over and over again," she explained. 

But even with all of Reeser's Hallmark acting credits, if you met her on the street and didn't immediately recognize her, you'd probably never know she has achieved so much success. When she's not working, she enjoys a minimalist life as a single mom to two boys. "Even though I've been scared every step of the way, I started speaking more honestly, exited toxic relationships, downsized my entire life, and made way more space in my schedule to just be with myself," she told Green Child Magazine in 2019. 

Reeser's ideal vacation takes place at "a campground in the woods, near a lake." She also makes it a priority to get her sons out in nature as often as she can. Perhaps that could be the premise for her next movie? A single mom of two takes off camping in the woods and finds love by way of a handsome lumberjack. Hallmark, call us.