The Stunning Transformation Of Landman's Kayla Wallace

"Landman" fans know Kayla Wallace as the no-nonsense Rebecca Falcone, but long before she joined the Paramount+ hit, she was a big name in the Hallmark scene. It's safe to say the jump from wholesome Christmas films and "When Calls the Heart" to her grittier new gig has been quite the 180 — but the actor has undergone quite the transformation over the years, too. 

While Wallace is known primarily as an actor these days, longtime fans may know that she's a triple threat. In fact, her first professional TV job was in "Descendants" as a member of the chorus. In the late 2010s and even into the early 2020s, Wallace regularly shared videos of herself singing on Instagram, often prompting her followers to ask if she was planning on releasing her own music. 

Since joining the cast of "Landman," Wallace hasn't shared many more singing videos, though on a 2024 episode of "Kyle Meredith with ..." she shared that music remained a big part of her life. "There's been, I guess, seasons of my life where it's an everyday thing for me, and there's been seasons of my life where I haven't touched my piano in a month ... it ebbs and flows," she said, adding that she'd begun playing piano and singing as a kid. As for the possibility of releasing her own music, Wallace shared that she was open to it in the future, but hinted at not being quite ready for that shift yet. "It's such a vulnerable thing ... as an actor, you're stepping into somebody else's story ... and when it's your own story and your own songs ... just takes me a little more time to be ready to share it with the world, you know?" she said. Fair enough!

Around the time that she started sharing videos of herself singing, Kayla Wallace was also making a name for herself at Hallmark. First, there was her film, "Once Upon a Prince." Speaking to My Devotional Thoughts about that experience, Wallace gushed that it being filmed in Victoria, British Columbia felt particularly special. "I was filming on my home turf ... which was a cool milestone for me," she shared. Wallace added that being a Hallmark Christmas movie fan only added to the experience for her. "This was my first Hallmark movie! I loved it ... I had so much fun being on the set of a Hallmark movie," she said. 

Of course, "Once Upon a Prince" was just the start of Wallace's Hallmark tenure, and in 2019, she joined the cast of "When Calls the Heart." In her interview with My Devotional Thoughts, Wallace played coy, sharing, "You may see me on 'When Calls the Heart' Season 6!" Speaking of the experience filming with her new co-stars, Wallace shared that she'd been nervous at first — specifically because of how established the cast already was. However, she added, "I mean this when I say it, every single person on the show, cast and crew, is so lovely. It is just a joyful set to be on. I was welcomed with open arms."

During her time on the show, Wallace grew incredibly close with her colleagues, like Erin Krakow. However, one relationship she made thanks to the show was particularly exciting. That'd be her real life relationship with co-star Kevin McGarry. Though the "When Calls the Heart" co-stars aren't partners on the show, they met on set and stayed together, and fans of the show have been behind them from the start.

Not much is known about Kayla Wallace's pre-fame love life, but she and Kevin McGarry subtly revealed they were dating via their social media profiles in 2020. McGarry was the first to post, sharing a series of artfully arranged Polaroids on a coffee table, tagging Wallace and captioning the November 2020 Instagram post, "Photo evidence." Wallace followed up in a post of her own roughly a month later, with another black-and-white picture of the two of them together — though this time the snap had been turned into a Christmas tree ornament. 

In the years that followed, both Wallace and McGarry shared peeks into their life together via Instagram, and even worked together on the 2022 Hallmark film "Feeling Butterflies." In one appearance on Entertainment Tonight, the couple interviewed each other about the experience, and Wallace made it clear that she would be happy to work with her boyfriend again in the future (this, despite him joking, "You don't have to pretend"). Sure enough, McGarry and Wallace starred opposite each other again later that year, in "My Grown-Up Christmas List."

In December 2022, Wallace shared that she and McGarry were engaged in a sweet Instagram post captioned, "Forever." The couple wed in September 2024, with Wallace sharing a pic of their first kiss, this time captioning it, "Just McGarried." A few months later, she'd declare 2024 her "Best year yet" in an Instagram roundup of the year that was — though around a year after that, she'd share that 2025 may just have topped it (but more on that in a sec). 

Kayla Wallace remained on "When Calls the Heart" until 2024, ultimately leaving the show to focus on "Landman." Speaking of her exit, Wallace's co-star and close friend Erin Krakow told People, "Kayla had a really incredible opportunity on another TV series that films out of town ... We're excited for her."

Granted, because Kevin McGarry was still starring on the Hallmark show, Wallace was still connected to the cast, and in a People interview of her own, she shared that before her "Landman" shooting schedule began, she spent a ton of time at her old workplace. "I was literally there every other day because we were raising a puppy, so I would bring her out to the set," she recounted to the outlet. Wallace also pointed out that in addition to her connection to the show through McGarry, she was also still close with many of her former colleagues. As for a return, she mused that she would be completely open to that if things aligned. "It's never a goodbye. It's always just like — can it work out with whatever's going on in my life that year?" she said.

There's no question that "When Calls the Heart" viewers would welcome a return in any capacity. After all, speaking about the fans in an interview with Bonnie Laufer, Wallace gushed that she was blown away by the support she'd gotten from them even after leaving the show. "A lot of the Hearties have followed me onto this show and I mean, I'm so grateful. More love to 'Landman'! They're a force," she said. Some things may change, but something tells us the Hallmark fans will have Wallace's back for the foreseeable future. 

On to the detail that may just have made 2025 an even better year for Kayla Wallace than her standout 2024 had been — in November, she and Kevin McGarry shared a sweet Instagram post revealing that they were expecting their first child. "We can't wait to meet you, baby," they captioned the snap of the two of them cradling Wallace's baby bump in front of a Christmas tree. 

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight about her pregnancy, Wallace shared that she'd had yet another memorable year. "This has been such an incredible year. Last year was so amazing — I mean, I filmed Season 1 [of 'Landman'], I got married — now my husband and I are expecting our first baby, and we're celebrating Season 2 tonight. It's really a dream come true," the mom-to-be said. Two months later, she recollected her final shooting day of the season in an Instagram post, writing that while she'd been sad to say goodbye to her colleagues, she was, "Also secretly basking in the thought of heading home to my husband and just enjoying being pregnant."

Time will tell how Wallace's life changes in the years to come, but between her Hallmark devotees, "Landman" fans and her uber-supportive husband (McGarry has shared a bunch of posts in his wife's honor, hyping her up), we have no doubts that she has a bright future ahead of her.