Daniel Lissing and Lori Loughlin FaceTimed Erin Krakow from the set of When Hope Calls
When Daniel Lissing and Lori Loughlin reunited on the set of When Hope Calls, it was a bittersweet moment.
“I walked on set and Lori saw me and she got emotional,” Lissing said during a recent ET Online interview. “I got emotional about it.”
The two former stars of the series When Calls the Heart were happy they got to work together, but sad because they knew someone was missing.
“We FaceTimed Erin [Krakow],” he said. “The three of us had a moment together.”
Krakow, who recently finished filming Season 9 of When Calls the Heart, was thrilled that her former co-stars got to work together again, even without her.
Season 2 of When Hope Calls will premiere on Saturday, December 18 at 8/7c on GAC Family. The series, about two sisters who start an orphanage in a small Canadian town, had a successful first season on Hallmark in 2019.
But the network made no plans to release a second season, so the show’s creators turned to GAC Family, which was started by former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott in June.
Co-creator Brian Bird has been making social media posts from the set since October. Last week, he put a photo on Instagram with the caption, “Now that the red serge is out of the bag, #Hearties… I was so pleased to be reunited with my old mate, @DLissing, for his appearance on #WhenHopeCalls.”
Jack is back (for like, a minute anyway)
Lissing, Loughlin, and Krakow originally appeared together on When Calls the Heart, which premiered on Hallmark Channel in 2014. Based on a series of books by Canadian author Janette Oke, the show followed a wealthy young woman, Elizabeth (played by Krakow), who moved to a small mining town to teach school.
Among the people she meets are widow Abigail Stanton (played by Loughlin) and Jack Thornton (played by Lissing), a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Elizabeth and Jack eventually fell in love, and in Season 5, they married. Soon after, Australian-born Lissing left the series citing personal reasons.
The show’s writers had Jack killed off, not that it stopped fans from asking Lissing to return to the series.
“These fans are just the most loyal fans in the world,” he said.
Lissing said he has always been open to reprising the character of Jack as long as his appearance “made sense.”
The characters for When Hope Calls initially appeared on When Calls the Heart during Season 6. The spinoff series then had its premiere in August 2019.
When GAC Family began working on a second season, Bird approached Loughlin about appearing on the series as her When Calls the Herat character Abigail Stanton.
Loughlin was written off When Calls the Heart in the middle of Season 6 when news broke of her involvement in a college admissions bribery scandal.
But in a June interview, Bird said he would be open to having Loughlin back.
“If anyone should return to Hope Valley, it should be Abigail,” he said.
He got his wish. Sort of. Instead of appearing in Hope Valley, Abigail will make an appearance in Brookfield.
According to Lissing, Loughlin began calling him about appearing on the show several months ago. When he read the script, he thought it was perfect.
“I felt like it was a really nice, poignant way to say goodbye to this character,” he said.
Though he couldn’t say whether Jack appears to Abigail in a flashback or in a more supernatural form, he said being back was an emotional experience.
“I definitely had glassy eyes at one point,” he said.
It was also physically painful.
“I forgot how hard the boots were to put on,” he said.
When Hope Calls Christmas will premiere on Saturday, December 18 on GAC Family at 8/7c.
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