10 Teen Actors Who Are Now Hallmark Stars

The Hallmark Channel launched a record of 41 new films in 2021 and ended the year as the highest-rated and most-watched cable network on TV. The channel has created a formula that continues to gain popularity with its heartwarming and nostalgic movies.

These feelings are enhanced by seeing familiar actors, many of who became famous in their teenage years, reappear on the screen as Hallmark stars. Seeing these actors again on TV, especially in a Hallmark movie, makes them even more endearing to fans.

Keri Russell

Kerry Russell caused a stir in the ’90s due to her starring role in Felicity when she cut her hair. It was an event that nearly ended the show. Luckily, though, Russells’ career bounced back, along with her hair.

Russell starred in a Hallmark period romance drama called About the Magic of Ordinary Days, which tells the story of a woman who is forced to marry in order to hide an unplanned pregnancy and falls in love with her new husband. It’s a movie that is definitely worth the watch.

James Van Der Beek

James Van Der Beek has grown up since his boy next door character on Dawson’s Creek and has moved on to star in Hallmark’s Mrs. Miracle in 2009, among other TV movies in recent years.

Van Der Beek plays an overwhelmed widower, Seth Webster, who hires a housekeeper, “Mrs. Miracle,” to help him with his six-year-old twin sons. “Mrs. Miracle” mysteriously appears and becomes not only a wonderful nanny but also a friend and successful matchmaker who helps Seth find love again. This is a heartwarming classic that is sure to make anyone smile from ear to ear.

Julia Stiles

Julia Stiles is best known for her roles in 10 Things I Hate About You, the Bourne movies, Dexter, and much more. The Save the Last Dance star made her Hallmark movie debut in The Makeover. A spin on the classic My Fair Lady, the movie is about a woman named Hannah who loses a run for congress and coaches a beer vendor named Elliot Doolittle for the position.

Hannah is prim and proper and Elliot is informal and spontaneous. The two clash at first and then fall in love as they learn from each other.

Adrian Grenier

Before Entourage, Adrian Grenier made his Hollywood debut in the movie Drive Me Crazy, opposite Melissa Joan Hart. He instantly won over audiences and solidified his place in the rom-com genre before moving to the hit HBO series. Grenier starred in his first Hallmark movie in 2017 with Christmas in Graceland and has since followed it up with several other movies, including Love at First Glance. 

In it, he has a chance meeting with journalist Mary Landers on the subway who finds his phone when he leaves it behind. While he is overseas and she is waiting to return the phone, he gives her permission to use it and everything in it to write an article about him and the rest is history.

Tamera Mowry-Housley

Sister, Sister star Tamera Mowry-Housley recently finished filming The Santa Stakeout. Not much is known yet about the plot or who her co-star is in the movie, but it is set to release during the Christmas season of 2022. Mowry-Housley also starred in Christmas Comes Twice and A Christmas Miracle.

After filming wrapped on her recent film, Mowry-Housley mentioned on Instagram that she would love to continue to star in future Hallmark films saying, “I’m so forever grateful for the @hallmarkchannel family who believe in me and my talent.” Her sister, Tia Mowry-Hardrict, has also recently finished a holiday film for Lifetime. It would be incredible to see these two back on screen together in a future Hallmark movie.

Half The Cast Of One Tree Hill

Hallmark has become one big One Tree Hill reunion in recent years. Similar to Hallmark movies, the series was based on small-town dreams and big romances, so it is no surprise that a number of cast members from the show have made the leap to Hallmark.

These names include Hilarie Burton, Chad Michael Murray, Bethany Joy Lenz, Jana Kramer, Shantel VanSanten, and Robert Buckley, who can be seen in such Hallmark hits as Snowed Inn Christmas, The Beach House, Love in Store, and Love Blossoms.

Jesse Metcalf

Desperate Housewives‘ favorite gardener is now a male lead in Hallmark movie classics. Jesse Metcalf has appeared in eight Hallmark movies so far and starred in four seasons of the Hallmark TV series, Chesapeake Shores.

One of his best movies,  A Country Wedding, has Metcalf playing a country singer who returns to his hometown to sell his parent’s home and prepare for his wedding. While home, he reunites with his childhood best friend and they fall in love. Metcalf shows off his singing and songwriting chops in the movie and he has an amazing voice.

Danica McKellar

Danica McKellar was every boy’s childhood crush in the ’80s from her tenure on The Wonder Years. Now she is a seasoned Hallmark actress with 16 films under her belt, all completed since 2015.

In a fan favorite Hallmark movie, A Crown For Christmas, McKeller plays Allie, an artist and maid who gets fired and reluctantly accepts a job as a governess for a royal family in Europe. No surprise here, as it’s a common Hallmark movie trope, she falls in love with the king.

Lacey Chabert

Lacy Chabert’s father invented the toaster strudel in Mean Girls and she is now a Hallmark movie legend. Chabert’s most popular movie, according to IMDb is The Christmas Waltz. 

In it, she plays a lawyer who is unexpectedly dumped by her fiance before Christmas. She had already paid for dance lessons for the wedding and is convinced by her instructor Roman to continue with them. She not only learns to dance but also learns to open her heart again. The movie ends with a beautiful Waltz performance that is swoon-worthy.

Candace Cameron Bure

With a whopping 29 Hallmark movies under her belt, the actress who played DJ Tanner in Full House, Candace Cameron Bure is the undisputed queen of Hallmark. In an interview with Yahoo! News in 2021, she mentioned her loyalty to the brand by saying, “I understand what it’s all about and who the audience is and what they’re looking for because as a producer, as well as an actress, it’s what I’m looking for in films.”

In her most popular movie, Let it Snow, she plays Stephanie Beck who visits a family lodge to transform it into an exclusive vacation resort. Instead, she falls in love with the property and son of the lodge owner. And the best part is that they kiss before the end of the movie.

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