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Hallmark movies are comfort food with a heavy dose of nostalgia, so it makes sense that many formerly beloved celebs find their way back to the spotlight via the Hallmark Channel. Lacy Shabar may be best known as Regina George's sidekick Gretchen Weiners in 2004's Mean Girls and as the youngest sister Claudia in Party of Five, but at Hallmark, she's a main character. Shapar got her start at the network in 2010's Elevator Girl about a workingclass woman who falls for a lawyer. Since then, she's gone on to star in over 40 Hallmark movies, including the fan favorite Christmas film Hot Frosty. Clearly, you've been doing your push-ups. You know what?
You keep it. In an appearance on Sherry, Shabar reflected, "I never knew that when I did the first one, I would have the chance and the opportunity to tell 40 of these sweet, heartwarming stories." She even went to Iceland in 2024 to shoot A Christmas Quest, telling The Talk, "I was there for about a month, and it was just incredible. I mean, we were filming on ice glaciers and inside lava caves and in places I probably never would have gone in my life. That's one of my favorite parts of my job. I always bring my family if I can." So, you're reconnecting with three of your exes on a quest to find love.
Most recently, Shabar starred in Hallmark's adaptation of Jen McKinley's novel, Paris is Always a Good Idea. The Hallmark leading man should have it all. Shabar's fellow Mean Girl star, Jonathan Bennett, has followed in her footsteps. Since 2015, he starred in over a dozen Hallmark films. He's also co-created and hosted the channel's first reality competition series, Finding Mr. Christmas, A Search for Hallmark's Next Leading Man. On the Kelly Clarkson show, he explained, "We're actually letting the audience in on the process of us finding the next Hallmark hunk. One by one, they get eliminated and then the guy that's left
standing is crowned Mr. Christmas and he gets a role in a Hallmark Christmas movie. Bennett went on to explain the origin of the idea. I created the show so that way we can literally help people like help actors have their dream come true. On a more personal note, Bennett partnered with Hallmark to produce, write, and star in the network's first LGBTQ plusled film, 2022's The Holiday Sitter. Zach and I almost kissed last night. He almost kissed you or you almost kissed him. He also starred in the Groomsman Second Chances, which featured Hallmark's first onscreen gay wedding, Telling Them magazine. I'm just so proud
to be a part of a place that is doing inclusive programming because it's so important as a gay man myself to see what my love looks like on screen next to everybody else. One actor who's not thrilled with Hallmark's inclusiveness is Candace Cameron Beret. She was best known for playing the oldest sister DJ on Full House before starring in over two dozen Hallmark films, including 18 installments of the Aura Tea Garden franchise. Problem with a suspicious mind is probably wrong a lot. In 2022, Beret left Hallmark to become the chief creative officer at the cable network Great American Family. The new channel is led by Hallmark's former CEO, Bill Abbott, who left Hallmark after
refusing to air commercials featuring same-sex kissing. Well, that's right. The true reason for Christmas is husband. So this has been a winter boyfriend for holiday Christmas. Beret agreed with Abbott's stance against LGBTQ plus representation, stating that Great American Family was more aligned with her beliefs. She told the Wall Street Journal, "I knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment." Beret's former Full House co-star Lorie Lachland starred in several films for Hallmark and appeared in six seasons of
the network's original series When Calls the Heart. In 2019, she was sentenced to two months in prison after being found guilty of paying bribes to get her daughters into USC. We may have well he may have embellished lied a bit on our application. At the time, Hallmark released a statement saying, "We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations. We are no longer working with Lorie Lachland and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lorie Lachlan." Recently though, it was announced that Lachlan would return to Wen Calls the Heart for season 14 airing in 2027. Lachlan made a surprise appearance at a December 2025
panel for the show where she took the opportunity to express her gratitude, saying, "I just want to thank everyone at Hallmark for being so loving and so welcoming. And thank you to the fans for championing my coming back because they heard you and I appreciate that." In the 2000s, Jesse Metaf was known as Playboy John Tucker in John Tucker Must Die and as the gardener John in Desperate Housewives. Didn't you think it was strange that you had the only lawn on Wisteria Lane that needed to be mowed three times a week? He was picked up by Hallmark in 2015, making his leading man debut in a country wedding, then starring in several installments of a Marthur's Vineyard Mystery Series. But the
Hallmark project Metv seems most proud of is the original series Chesapeake Shores, which ran from 2016 to 2021. In a segment of build series, he explained why, saying, "That's the great thing about working with this network is that they're very collaborative and really give you a lot of creative leeway to create and come up with storylines and character and a character that you really relate to." Metaf is also a musician and appreciated that three of his original songs made it into the show's first eight episodes, telling the PC principal, "The fact that they wanted to bring a music element into the series which wasn't in
the books was very appealing to me because it was an opportunity for me to show people another side of me and to bring one of my other passions to the screen." A disappointed Metaf left Chesapeake Shores before season 5, citing differences with the series new showrunner. He told Entertainment Tonight that creative relationship was not really established this time around. From 1988 to 1993, audiences fell in love with Danica Mckeler as Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years. Though McKel appeared in a number of small films and TV shows, including a stint on How I Met Your Mother, she mostly stepped back from acting for many years to pursue a career in mathematics.
Um, math actually sort of saved me from the whole child star thing. In 2015, she found a new home on Hallmark when she starred in Perfect Match. She ended up being the face of over a dozen Hallmark films, including three installments of Matchmaker Mysteries. In 2021, McKeler followed Candace Cameron Beret to Great American Family. In an appearance on Cheryl Burke's Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast, she explained, "Great American Family Channel was started by the man who ran Hallmark Channel for 20 years. Bill Abbott is his name. I credit him with reviving my career. When he left to start his own network and he asked me to come along, I was like, "Yeah." She added that Great American gave her multiple picture deals and got her involved in the creative process, "We
belong where we decide we belong. We belong where God puts us." Even so, McKeler has nothing but good things to say about Hallmark, telling Insider, "I've done 16 movies for the Hallmark Channel, and I loved my time there. If you look at most movies, it's mostly guys. I've been in the business for over 30 years and to have gotten to tell these stories and not be the girlfriend of or the wife of or the daughter of, it's been wonderful. Rachel Lee Cook is best known for starring as the geek turned prom queen candidate Laney Bogs in 1999's She's All That. After making some teen focused films in the early 2000s, she was scooped up by the Hallmark Channel in 2016 for a lead role in Summer Love. Cook has voiced enthusiasm about where the romcom is
heading and Hallmark's role in pushing the genre forward, telling Decider, "I think we're at a place where people need and love romcoms unapologetically more than ever. I don't think that people are going to max out on wanting to see love be found and experienced, and I think that the future of the romcom is bright." On the Hallmark podcast, Cook spoke about her legacy as a romcom icon, saying, "It's exactly what I would like to be known as having left behind." Chad Michael Murray became a teen heartthrob after leading 2000's favorites like Freaky Friday, A Cinderella Story, and One Tree Hill. By the 2010s, his star had faded, but he since enjoyed a career resurgence on Hallmark with half a dozen films under
his belt. What Murray likes best about the network was its relatable, appropriate material. He told Culturist, "I just feel like the world needs more and more good-hearted family content, right? And so when these stories come across my table, I just try to find something where I know that I can identify with the character so I can bring his best foot forward. Since 2021, Murray seems to have left Hallmark for Great American Family. He hasn't publicly commented on the move, but his faith may have inspired the change. He told Pure Flick, "I stick to things I believe in. Let's just say a piece of material were to come across my desk, which has happened plenty of times over the last 22 years that I don't necessarily feel
is what I believe or what I'm selling, then that's not for me. Murray now stars in CTV's Sullivan Crossing and appeared in 2025's Freakier Friday, so his future at Hallmark and Great American Family is unclear. Alexa Penga starred as Carmen Cortez in four spy kids films as a teenager in the early 2000s. She had a recurring role on Nashville and made an appearance on Dancing with the Stars in 2015 before finding her way to Hallmark. From 2016 to 2023, she led a dozen Hallmark movies, several of which also featured her husband, Carlos Penga. Although the Penega started working with Great American Family in 2024 and have considered quitting Hollywood altogether, they've sung Hallmark's praises. Alexa told All Mom does, "If I had to work for one company
for the rest of my life, I would choose Hallmark. Hallmark has been the best to our family. Christmas is our favorite time of year, and being able to make a feel-good Christmas movie is the best way to end each year. Luke McFarland made a name for himself on five seasons of ABC's Brothers and Sisters. Over on the Hallmark Channel, he's become a fan favorite leading man, starting with 2014's The Memory Book and continuing across more than 15 films. He says that one of the perks of the network is the work life balance it offers. Telling TV goodness, I love making Hallmark movies. So when they do call and they say come play with us, I say yes because it's always one of the most joyful kinds of experiences I get to have as an actor.
Do you two know each other? We don't. Oh, we're getting to know each other though. McFarland has been able to move into development and creative production with Hallmark. He told Variety that he's working on an LGBTQ Christmas film, hoping to provide a rest bite from political attacks on the community. He explained, "I think what's interesting with Hallmark is their brand is so intact, and part of their brand has never been to be overtly political, at least all the time that I've worked there. For them, it's just continuing to tell stories that really resonate with people that can still be an escape from the difficulties of our current situation."
Tamara Mory Hsley is best known for her work with her twin sister Tia in the9s WB sitcom Sister and the 2011 to 2013 reality series Tia and Tamara. She's come into her own in Hallmark having starred in 11 films as of May 2026. In 2024's Scouting for Christmas, she played busy single mom Angela telling the Nocturnal, "I resonate with Angela on a cellular level. I am one of those moms that still to this day struggle with balance. That's the message that I want this movie to give moms and single moms. Single moms, they're rock stars. She went on to express her affection for the network, saying, "I love Hallmark. I love everything they stand for. I feel like being in a Hallmark film is magical, but most importantly, I love that Hallmark films bring
magic to the people.
