Andrew Walker has starred in more than three dozen Hallmark Channel films since first appearing in 2012’s “A Bride for Christmas.”
Clearly among Hallmark’s most popular personalities, Walker was among the many fan-favorite actors who appeared on a star-studded Hallmark Channel panel hosted by the Television Critics Association earlier this week.
Made in Canada
During the panel, at one point the conversation referenced how the majority of Hallmark’s productions are shot in Canada, and just how many Canadian actors appear in them. That led to a question about how much influence that Canadian-ness has in the way that Hallmark’s stories are told.
The first person to pipe up was Ashley WIlliams, who had a joking comment to offer.
“I would just like to say that Canadian boys are really good kissers,” she shared, causing her fellow Hallmark stars to erupt in laughter, “which has been really helpful in the production process.”
Walker’s fellow Canadian Kimberley Sustad agreed. “It’s definitely something in the water,” she quipped.
American Alison Sweeney also concurred. “Can confirm,” she added.
‘Very Rigorous Kissing Training’
That led Walker to share his thoughts on the topic.
“Look, Canada is a very rich place in, you know, in geography,” he began. “It doesn’t hurt that we have great tax credits up there, the exchange rates, so, you know, it stretches your dollar,” he said of why U.S. productions can save on production costs by filming in Canada.
Then, Walker continued by joking about the stereotypes that some Americans hold about Canadians.
“And yeah, we go through very rigorous kissing training in our early adolescent years to keep us warm up there in our igloos,” Walker quipped.
Just Like Coming Home
For Walker’s fellow panelist Holly Robinson Peete, coming to Vancouver to shoot a Hallmark movie feels like coming home, given that it was the city where her career really began.
“I started working in Canada in 1986 on ’21 Jump Street,’” she said during the panel, recalling the hit Fox cop show in which she co-starred with a young Johnny Depp.
“Nobody was shooting up there then,” she said.
“And I couldn’t believe it because I was like, ‘This is amazing.’ Like, the crews were amazing. The actor talent was ripe. And it just was a brilliant move on the part of [’21 Jump Street’ creator] Stephen J. Cannell, who was really one of the pioneers of shooting up there,” she continued.
“And so years later, fast forward, doing Hallmark productions, coming back to Vancouver, you know, 20 years later, it really felt like home,” she added. “There’s just something very conducive to the Canadian filmmaking community that just lends itself to great productions, and I’m so glad that’s where we shoot the majority of our work.”
Someone Has to Do It
Over the course of all those Hallmark movies, Walker has kissed a plethora of his Hallmark co-stars.
Among those is Nikki DeLoach, who’s shared the screen with Walker in the “Curious Caterer” franchise and various other assorted films.
When the co-stars spoke with Decider, Walker conceded that there were few female Hallmark actors he hadn’t kissed onscreen.
“I’ve kind of worked with almost every girl here,” he said, with DeLoach exclaiming, “You’ve kissed us all! It’s not weird at all!”
He replied: “Um, someone had to do it, so don’t hate me.”
