In Luke Macfarlane‘s new Hallmark Channel movie, “My Christmas Cowboy,” he plays a famous TV personality who’s under fire for accidentally knocking Santa off a stage (along with a myriad of other public missteps). To stay out of the news for a while, he leaves Hollywood and returns home to Texas, where he reconnects with his roots, family, and sweet holiday traditions.
In real life, Macfarlane is far from being canceled like his character; in addition to his latest Hallmark rom-com, the busy actor will soon return for an upcoming third season of AppleTV’s “Platonic” and just starred in Lifetime’s October premiere of “A Doctor to Die For: The Sarah Harris Story.”
But like his character, Macfarlane has left Los Angeles, too, after two decades — moving cross-country with his family just as he began filming his new Christmas movie.
Luke Macfarlane Closed On His New Home the Same Day He Started Filming ‘My Christmas Cowboy’
Macfarlane, a native Canadian who grew up in London, Ontario, moved to New York to pursue his acting career in 1999, per Us Weekly, and then relocated to L.A. in 2006. But after 20 years, his life looks very different after settling down with his partner, Hig Roberts, and welcoming their now three-year-old daughter, Tess.
Roberts, a former Olympic alpine skier, began a new job in early 2026 handling business development for the NHL’s Players’ Association, based in New York. As their family found a new home there, Macfarlane was in Vancouver to begin filming “My Christmas Cowboy.”
“In fact, I think my first day filming that movie, we closed on our house in New York, in Brooklyn,” he told EntertainmentNow. And while it’s wild that he was leaving L.A. while portraying a character doing the same thing, he quipped, “Leaving Hollywood for Texas is a little different than leaving Hollywood for New York City!”
Even so, Macfarlane said he leaned on his “My Christmas Cowboy” co-star, Amy Acker, for tips on things like finding good childcare, since she raised her own kids there.
He and Roberts have also been getting to know their neighbors and enjoying their first holidays in their new home, including trick-or-treating on Halloween. Tess dressed up as Sailor Moon, which he admitted was a “deep cut” but a character she became “obsessed” with in recent months.
“We’re still in the aftereffects of a magical Halloween,” he laughed. “You know, the holidays have a very broad time span (with little kids), so we haven’t really made the transition over to Christmas. We’re still watching our neighbors take skeletons down.”
Luke Macfarlane Will Welcome His Whole Family for Christmas in His Family’s New Home
When the family does start getting into the holiday spirit, Macfarlane said he’s looking forward to bringing old traditions into their new place.
“You know, for me, it really always has been the sensation of bringing a live Christmas tree into the house,” he told EntertainmentNow. “I know (Tess) is gonna be very excited by that. We’re in New York City now, so it’s gonna be a little bit different. We’re probably not gonna be able to go cut anything down, but that feeling and the way the sort of whole house changes with that smell.”
“It’s a nice reminder that little kids’ noses are so good,” he continued. “When I think back, as a child, (getting a live Christmas tree) was such a profound feeling for me. I hope she feels that … with a fresh-cut tree in the house.”
“We’re also probably starting a lot of traditions in our new neighborhood,” Macfarlane said. “We’ve been looking into some caroling opportunities. It’s kind of a famous caroling sort of situation here. The Brooklyn Youth Conservatory is very close by, and they’re famous for their caroling.”
The trio will also host Macfarlane’s “whole family from Canada” for their first Christmas in the new house, which he joked will likely be “insane.”
While he’s sure there will be magical moments, he admitted he’s a tad leery about hosting everyone, laughing, “There’s going to be a lot of like, ‘Where are we sleeping? I need fresh towels. The dryer isn’t working!’ All that.”
Macfarlane and Acker’s “My Cowboy Christmas” is available to stream via Hallmark+ and will re-air several times this season on Hallmark Channel. He told EntertainmentNow he’s also developing a new Hallmark movie about hockey coaches, but additional details are under wraps for now.
Luke Macfarlane Has Left Hollywood, Just Like His Christmas Movie Character (Exclusive)