With the cast of Hallmark‘s long-running series “When Calls The Heart” back in Langley, British Columbia, to film season 14, Hearties are eager for any bit of inside info they can get on what to expect when the show returns in 2027.
So far, very little has been leaked about the storylines (though everyone’s hoping for a wedding between now-engaged Elizabeth and Nathan, played by series leads Erin Krakow and Kevin McGarry). But as Chris McNally promotes his upcoming rom-com, “Love Finds You,” he has spilled a few juicy details about Lucas Brouchard, the beloved character he’s played since 2019.
Chris McNally Says Lucas Will Start Season 14 Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ & Unmoored
In the season 13 finale, Lucas gave up his governorship and offered to follow his new love interest (attorney Edie Martell, played by Miranda MacDougal) from Hope Valley to New York. During an appearance on the Heart to Hearties podcast released on August 19, 2026, McNally said those decisions have left Lucas feeling a bit “lost at sea” as season 14 begins.
“It’s nice to be back in Hope Valley and see everybody,” McNally said of returning to the set. “It’s been very hot, but it’s good. It’s always a nice reunion, you know, catching up with everyone that you haven’t seen for, I guess since just before the holidays.”
The cast was last together in December at the Hallmark Christmas Experience in Kansas City, where McNally revealed he and his longtime love, Hallmark actress Julie Gonzalo, were expecting their second baby. The couple, who also have a four-year-old daughter, announced in June that their new baby girl arrived in the spring.
Having filmed “Love Finds You” after their baby’s birth and now filming WCTH, McNally admitted life’s “been a bit of a blur,” but he’s getting back into the groove of playing Lucas, who’s having a bit of an identity crisis as the new season begins.
“I legitimately don’t know the trajectory of this season,” McNally told the Hearts to Hearties hosts. “I received the next two scripts, which I have not yet read, so I don’t even know what happens in them. But in (episodes) one and two, what I kind of gather and where this is going is that Lucas needs to find something. He is uncomfortable, antsy without a goal in mind and something that he’s really working towards and throwing himself after.”
McNally continued, “So we get to see him … a bit disombobulated and thinking, ‘Where am I going? What is happening? I need to focus on something.'”
Chris McNally Teases Deepening Romance for Lucas in Season 14 of ‘When Calls The Heart’
HallmarkAll is not lost for Lucas, though. McNally said on the “Hearts to Hearties” podcast that there’s a “series of events that fall into place that allow him to, perhaps, find what he thinks he wants to head towards next.”
McNally said viewers will likely see Lucas developing a new sense of purpose and finding a new career, and hinted that his relationship with Edie will flourish.
“Lucas and Edie have had a really lovely time in New York, and I think are really enjoying each others’ company,” he said, noting that while Lucas may feel “lost at sea” career-wise, he’s “found an anchor” in Edie — someone he “can come to and say, ‘I need some help figuring out (things).”
McNally said the character of Edie is “really good” at dropping hints and pearls of wisdom for Lucas, “but also reading him really well” and “being there for him.”
In an August 19 appearance on the “Everything About Hallmark” podcast, McNally reflected on why Lucas is so smitten with Edie, explaining, “I think being a successful lawyer as a woman in 1920s is very attractive to him. That she’s willing to forge through this male dominant field … and she’s really good at it, you know? And I think she’s also very clever. There’s a lot of banter between the two of them. They’re able to sort of riff off each other or sort of play with one another.”
McNally noted that Lucas also appreciates Edie’s “family values” and then cutely acknowledged, “She’s also very pretty. So, there’s that, too. I’m sure Lucas doesn’t mind that either.”
Season 14 of WCTH is expected to continue filming through November 25, per Hollywood North Buzz, and premiere on Hallmark Channel in early 2027. Can’t wait that long to see McNally on your screen? You can catch him with Aimee Teagarden in Hallmark Channel’s “Love Finds You” on August 22 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. The movie will also be available to stream the next day via Hallmark+.
