I wonder if that's just their way of saying that they're losing more actors / actresses to GAC......
It also might not be GAC that Hallmark is losing actors/actresses to. I noticed what seems to be a pattern a couple of months ago and made a list. But, I wasn't sure of what to make of it, so I didn't post about it.
But, Hallmark may have shot themselves in the foot when they announced to the lead actors & actresses that they were "making changes" and none of them had any job security any longer, when they were used to filming 2-3 Hallmark projects per year.
I noticed in interviews, one with Jesse Metcalfe about his
Martha's Vineyard mystery series, and having no idea what Hallmark is planning to do. And a Zoom interview with Eric Mabius, when asked whether the
Signed, Sealed, Delivered series may continue, he was being extremely careful to talk slowly and watch his words, saying that the actors don't know what Hallmark is planning. He said they basically have to wait to see what shakes out and what they decide to keep.
Probably, when Danica McKeller was told she could no longer rely on her 3-ish movies a year and her mystery series, that's when she snapped up the exclusive contract with GAC,
guaranteeing her a number of projects.
Jen Lilley did the same. An adoption she and her husband had been working on with a child they had been fostering for quite some time, had finally come through. (She has been avidly trying to change the foster-to-adoption laws to make it easier, quicker, and more of a priority for foster parents to be able to adopt a child whose been fostering with that same family for a length of time.) Plus, she found out she was pregnant. In an interview, she mentioned she needed the career and financial security that
the previous Hallmark CEO - now head of GAC was offering her.
I think some of the other actors and actresses immediately got on the phone with their agents and said to start booking them on other projects. Doesn't matter if it's GAC or something else. Get them anything. Work is better than no work. Especially after so much stuff was put on hold or cancelled during the height of the pandemic.
This is a list of actors/actresses I've noticed (via their IMDb.com resumes) who used to do almost all of their projects the last few years with Hallmark, are now booking
other projects instead.
Jesse Metcalfe made it clear he wanted to leave
Chesapeake Shores to do more mainstream films & TV. He said he's been hoping to land a really meaty TV series with one of the major networks. (Remember, he shot to instant fame being on
Desperate Housewives.) He landed a movie trilogy playing Bruce Willis's son. So, he got in a movie with a Hollywood heavy-hitter. (The movie bombed, but now we know it's because Bruce has a growing medical condition, aphasia.) Jesse already filmed the second movie in the trilogy, and the third one probably will be cancelled now. Yet, he filmed two other movies,
one with Dennis Quaid.
Plus the GAC movie back in February with Jessica Lowndes. While Hallmark said in a recent tweet that they want to work with Jessie, he doesn't need Hallmark.
Lacey Chabert: She's been doing voices on some movies for years. But, for the first time since 2015, Lacey is
doing a
non-Hallmark movie. It's with well known, older stars: James Caan, Armand Assante and Lance Henriksen and seems to be a darker drama. Last month, Lacey did sign an exclusive Hallmark contract. So this other movie may have been a negotiating tactic, showing she can still get cast in other movies with well known actors, so Hallmark had better cough up the bucks if they want her. OR she could have thought she might not have
steady upcoming work with Hallmark being so vague on what they are planning to do.
Kelli Martin's
Hailey Dean Mysteries series got cancelled back in November. She's now in talks with NBC to produce a sequel series to
Life Goes On, which she will also be producing.
Cameron Mathison: Once his
Home & Family hosting gig ended, he hit the ground running. He immediately started acting on
General Hospital the following week. He
then hosted a Christmas special on GAC, along with a GAC Christmas movie. Now, he has been cast in a
TV pilot, which may become a series if picked up.
Eric Mabius: may also be starring in his own new
TV series.
Kristen Booth: is now recurring on series,
The Boys.
Jill Wagner: is in the process to get a drama series she is producing made at Paramount+ called
Lioness, starring Zoe Saldana (and possibly Nicole Kidman.) She also hopes to be acting in it.
Kristoffer Polaha: has a role in the upcoming
Jurassic Park Dominion movie. He has
three more projects in post-production and just announced he's starring and directing a comedy movie.
Alicia Witt: didn't do a Hallmark Christmas film for the first time since 2013. She normally does other projects too, but she only had 2 projects. So, it doesn't seem like she didn't have the time. I have to wonder if Hallmark didn't have a good script for her that she liked, so she didn't do one. (This was
before she learned of her parents deaths weeks before last Christmas. I can't imagine now, that she will ever want to do a Christmas movie again, without associating such bad memories to Christmas now.
) She's now filming a thriller. That might be all she's emotionally able to do right now.
There may be more Hallmark actors doing other projects. These were the only ones I thought of, off-hand.
Even if Hallmark now wants any of the above now, they may be too busy to do another movie with them (or GAC.)
Hallmark may have inadvertently done them a favor, kicked them in their comfortable, complacent, financially safe butts career-wise. Forcing these actors/actresses to look for work elsewhere made them realize they can actually get BETTER levels of work than just starring in Hallmark/GAC level movies.
Anybody have any other thoughts or guesses?
movie from last night, but as expected gave up after about 5 minutes. I really just don’t like the Royal ones in general. 
Sure, they hit one here and there out of the park with these new movies, like Just One Kiss. But, that's like one out of every six movies? That's not a good batting average. 
He also does movies for Lifetime too. So, he's somehow able to float between all the networks. Probably the only actor to really do that.
And the male lead looks to be a cutie with a real Aussie accent.
