Hallmark Star Andrew Walker Shares His Holiday Traditions & Behind-the-Scenes Secrets in This Tell-All Q&A!
Plus, learn which actress he loves working with the most and his favorite Christmas movie!
If you’re a Hallmark fan, chances are good you’re familiar with Andrew Walker and his body of work. The handsome actor has been a staple of the channel for over a decade, and has acted in over 20 Hallmark movies, including hit holiday fare like A Bride for Christmas, A Dream of Christmas, Merry & Bright and Three Wise Men and a Baby, to name just a few. Walker appears in multiple Hallmark movies a year, and he’s been keeping busy offscreen as well: He recently partnered with Envy Apples, and has his own line of juices, Little West, with his wife.
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Given his status as a Hallmark veteran, it’s safe to say Andrew Walker knows a thing or two about celebrating the holidays in style. He sat down with FIRST for Women to share how he and his family keep things festive and give us the scoop on what it’s really like to be in all those fabulous Hallmark movies.
FIRST for Women: How did you and your family celebrate Christmas growing up?
Andrew Walker: I’m a pretty traditional guy. I come from a very close family in Montreal, Canada, and my family would always get together a couple of times over Christmas.
My family is super musical. My aunt was an elementary school music teacher. My uncle was one of Montreal’s top trumpet players. My cousin’s an opera singer. My other cousin was on Broadway. My mom played piano all by ear, never read music. So we’d get together and it’d be a big singalong along on New Year’s Eve.
FFW: Do you have any musical talents?
Andrew Walker: I used to dabble in music. I sang in a rock band when I was around 15 to 19 years old. It’s still a big piece of me. I love music.
FFW: It sounds like you grew up with some lovely Christmas traditions. How do you celebrate now?
Andrew Walker: Having a family of my own, this is actually the first year that we’re going to be staying in Los Angeles. My wife [Cassandra Troy] and I have two little boys, a 3-year-old and 8-year-old, and we’re going to start a new tradition of staying in L.A.
My son plays piano, so we’re trying to pass the torch to him so he can play some piano for us as we sit around on Christmas and open gifts. And we’re also going to do an open-door policy on Christmas day where friends can come over to our place. Any friends, any stragglers that are hanging out in L.A., they can come over.
FFW: Do you have a favorite classic Christmas movie and song?
Andrew Walker: I love Home Alone. And “Last Christmas” by Wham!
FFW: It’s like Christmas all year long with all the Hallmark movies you star in. What’s it like behind the scenes?
Andrew Walker: I’ve been working with them for 10 years now. I used to get a script and get a call on a Wednesday to leave on a Friday to start shooting on a Monday. It would just happen that fast, on a 15-day turnaround!
I have a contract with Hallmark, so I know how many movies I’ll be doing in the year, which is a real blessing for an actor, especially now that I’m a dad. I’ve never really had that kind of consistency before.
Before the movie shoots they want to hear my feedback on the script. I haven’t really turned down any Hallmark movie — just one due to scheduling. The beauty of it is with the place that I’m at now with my career in Hallmark, I’m able to give my input.
FFW: What do you think sets Hallmark apart from other channels?
Andrew Walker: It’s not your typical network — it really is like a family. I feel like I’ve really found my home. It’s such positive content in a time that we need it so much. And Hallmark is run by some really incredible women. They’ve taken the reins and brought all of the actors together more as well. We’re all great friends now and we support each other. There’s no competition. We all have work and there’s space for all of us to do our thing.
FFW: You’ve starred alongside so many different leading ladies. Who’s your favorite actress you’ve worked with?
Andrew Walker: I love working with Nikki DeLoach. I’ve done seven movies with her now. We do the Curious Caterer mystery series. We did a movie called A Dream for Christmas and that was really special to me because of the subject matter. I was a new dad, she was a new mom and we were able to share stories on that movie and we were kind of in the trenches being new parents, and that’s what the movie was about.
FFW: It’s probably hard to pick just one, but do you have a favorite Hallmark movie you’ve acted in?
Andrew Walker: They’re all my little babies! I have to say Three Wise Men and a Baby. I got to work with two really good friends of mine and we had so many laughs. It was just a unique experience because usually I’m paired up with a female lead, but in that movie, the love story was these brothers coming together. They had a fractured relationship and found their love again as a family unit.
I also got to work with my cousin-in-law Tyler Hynes, who I’ve known for 20-plus years since I’ve known my wife. He’s a super talented actor. And Paul Campbell is a comedic genius. Working with them and having Paul, who’s the writer of the movie, be in the movie was great. He really knew it inside and out. He and his writing partner, Kimberley Sustad, have singlehandedly changed the landscape of Hallmark recently. And we really pushed the envelope a lot with the comedy in this movie. We were really allowed to go for a broader type of comedy.
Related: Paul Campbell’s Best Movies, Ranked: Get To Know the Hallmark Channel Charmer
FFW: You have such a confident, positive persona onscreen. What advice would you give your fans?
I think feeling good about yourself is really about a consistent routine. In my day-to-day life, I’m always in bed by 10:30 p.m. and I’m up by 6:30 a.m. I do a workout in the morning and get the kids to school and then just eat healthy throughout the day. It’s important to have that consistency. And of course, I eat an Envy Apple a day!
You’ve got to sweat each day, put healthy food in your body, get your proper sleep and stay hydrated. And I’m biased, but watching Hallmark movies is also a really great way to stay happy!
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