Well, today is the premiere of Holiday Hearts on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and I finally reach the pinnacle of promotional interviews for a movie that I am absolutely thrilled to see! One of the principal reasons I’m so anticipatory is due to this gentleman, Paul Campbell. I will admit that I was a bit slow to come to the “dark side” and support him unconditionally, but once I realized and appreciated the incredible artist and human being that he is, there was no stopping me. In this, our fourth interview, he exhibited even more reasons why I adore this man so much. It is my distinct honor to share our recent chat with all of my readers today.

Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brendan Meadows

RH: So very nice to chat with you again, Paul.

With Nina

PC: Always great to chat with you, Ruth.

The last time we chatted was right before The Last Bridesmaid premiered, and I wanted to say that movie was just so fantastic. My mother loved it too.

Oh, thank you. I loved it a lot too. It’s hard to go wrong with a Nina Weinman script. And I think Rachel {Boston} is one of the best actresses that Hallmark has. She is just so good and so grounded. She’s the real deal. I got really lucky with that script for sure.

I agree. And she’s not just a great actress, but she’s become an executive producer on some of these projects where she helps to develop these scripts. But The Last Bridesmaid was nice because it was so different from the typical “June Wedding” movie that Hallmark does.  

Yeah, it totally was in the best way possible.

with Rachel Boston and Michelle Vicary

And I think that was the general consensus. I don’t remember seeing any negative comments. Maybe there was, but if there were any, they were very minimal and I don’t remember them.

I don’t remember anything negative either. I may not have seen everything, but I’m on top of it. I’m on Twitter and Instagram. And the comments were pretty overwhelmingly positive on that one. But I’m going to be honest here. I get pretty overwhelmingly positive comments on most of the stuff I work on. I’m not going to take any credit there, but I think I’ve been pretty lucky with the projects I’ve worked on, especially for Hallmark.

I would agree with you on that, Paul. You’ve been pretty lucky to be cast in great things. But I would still say of all the projects you’ve done, I think that A Godwink Christmas is my favorite. 

Paul Campbell, Kimberley Sustad Credit: ©2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss

I have heard that from a lot of people. The fans really seem to love that one, and I really love that one too. That film resonated with a lot of people, and I still get plenty of feedback where people tell me that is their favorite Hallmark movie I’ve been in. I know I loved it, and it was a really sweet story that was told very well.

You know, Paul, I think you’re wonderful in comedy as well as drama, but with A Godwink Christmas, it really showed your range as an actor. We’re so used to seeing you in these light, romantic comedies, but with that one last year, it was nice to see a different side of you. 

Thank you. It was nice to play a slightly different side and be serious every once in a while.

Ashley Williams, Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brendan Meadows

Well, your new Christmas movie is coming up.  When I heard that you and Ashley Williams were making this movie together, I was like, “Oh my goodness, this is perfection!” I couldn’t think of a better duo to cast! That was a brilliant casting decision, knowing what I know about both of you.

I think we made a pretty good little movie. First of all, it was such a charming story. It was based on a book called The Christmas Wish by Barbara Ankrum. It was a really sweet story, and Ashley nailed it. The thing that was unique about this film was that Ashley and I are playing characters who are looking after our friends’ daughter for the week that he is in the hospital. We’re helping his little girl kick off this list of traditions that her mother had started her on before she passed away. It’s a really sweet, sentimental concept. What was unique is that this little girl, who is played by Payton Lepinski, is she is in seventy percent of the movie, which is a huge weight for her to carry. So a lot of the scenes we were doing were three-handers: Ashley, myself and Payton. I’ve never had an opportunity to work with a younger actor, and for someone her age to act that much in a film…she really stepped up to the challenge.  It was pretty cool to watch.

Paul Campbell, Ashley Williams Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss

That’s neat to hear. I know you all were having a blast filming it. You posted several photos from set.

Yes, we posted all sorts of funny videos. Ashley is ridiculous. She’s like the silliest person you’ve ever met.

That I can believe completely.

Yes, she’s got a lot of energy, and she’s silly. She doesn’t get embarrassed. She’s one of these people that’s really fun to be around because she’s just herself. She’s not afraid to be goofy. The two of us got along great. We just laughed the whole time.

behind-the-scenes
Holiday Hearts

That I can believe as well. I was expecting that when I heard they had cast you two in this film. I can hardly wait to see you both play off of each other on-screen because I know it’s going to be lots of fun to watch. 

I think it will translate. I hope so. I watched the clip from the preview special, and it was a much more down-tempo scene where we were building the dollhouse. We had some really nice, quiet, intimate scenes in the movie, but there’s also a lot of good comedy in the movie, especially since this is Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. I know the movies on that channel tend to be a little more dramatic. But we also got to play some really good comedy in this one.

Ashley Williams, Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss

I am so glad to hear that, Paul. I’ve been totally impressed with Ashley as I’ve gotten to know her a little bit on and off the network. I would describe Ashley as being not the typical Hallmark leading lady. I mean, traditionally–especially in the past–Hallmark leading ladies have been blonde and not as comedic as you might want them to be. I like to think of Ashley as being ahead of her time and being one of the first unique Hallmark actresses who I see as a bit of a trailblazer for the network. I’m glad that Hallmark actresses can have their own unique style instead of being cookie-cutter actresses.

I agree.

Ashley Williams, Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brendan Meadows

I think Ashley headed up that revolution, and I love the fact that she is comfortable with who she is. I have only ever heard good things about her. I love the fact that she is self-abasing too in simply the funniest way. If you don’t like her, she’s not going to be bothered because she is going to be herself.

Exactly. She’s a good find. I think she’s going to be showing up in a lot more Hallmark movies. I know she hasn’t been doing a ton. I think she’s sort of been doing one a year. But I have a feeling she’s going to become a much bigger part of their roster. I hope so. Especially because she’s just so good.

I think you’re right. I believe she and her sister have some things they are working on with the network, so in time, I think there will be more. But then she’s also a mother, so having kids makes things busier for her. 

Definitely. She’s one busy lady.

Paul’s son visits set

Which is something you would understand, Paul. I mean, not that you’re a mother. But you’ve got a child, and I know you help take care of him. And you guys always have lots of fun together.

Yeah, we do.

Man, you’re little one, he’s sure growing up. Which I know they do, but it’s always amazing how when they’re little what a difference a few weeks can make. 

Yeah, they’ll get an attitude change or they’ll pick something up from their friends that shapes who they are. Sometimes, in a short time, it can be like they become a different kid. It’s amazing and seems like it can happen overnight sometimes.

Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bob Akester

I know we’ve talked around Holiday Hearts, but why don’t you tell us about your character and how that fits into the overall story?

Sure. For the first time ever, I play a doctor on film, which is very exciting. Dr. Ben Tyler. He’s a surgical resident at the local hospital in Birch Creek. He and Peyton–Ashley’s character–they used to be really close a decade prior. Then Ben went off to do his surgical residency in California. Their friendship that might have slightly romantic undertones was broken off at that time. He’s come back to town about a year prior, and now he’s working at the hospital. He and Peyton have not reconnected or seen each other during that time.

The story picks up with our characters running into each other. Then they get news that their very good friend has injured his knee and is in the hospital for a week for surgery. He asks Ben, his closest friend, if he’d be willing to look after his daughter while he’s in the hospital and help her do all these Christmasy traditions her mom started before she passed away. His little girl has been looking forward to these traditions for months and will be very disappointed if she doesn’t get to do everything on her list.

Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss

My character, Ben, agrees, but then he enlists the help of Ashley’s character, Peyton. He doesn’t feel up to the task of making it as special as it should be. So they play “house” for the week and help this little girl do all these Christmasy things. And perhaps there’s a little bit of rekindled romance. I don’t want to give anything away, but it is a Hallmark movie after all.

{laughs} The assumption would be that we have a happy ending. Once in a while we get a slightly bittersweet ending, but mostly, happy endings are guaranteed in Hallmark. 

They shake hands. They tip their hats. They look at one another and say, “Good day,” and go on their way. {laughs} That’s how it ends. Roll the credits!

Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss

{laughs} Oh, I’m sure. Right! I notice Matt Hamilton is in this movie as well.

Hammer! He plays the character, Ford, the little girl’s father.

I kind of thought so. I know him pretty well. I’ve talked to him a few times over the years.

He’s great. I’d never worked with him before. I had never even met him actually, but he was fantastic.

You mentioned the girl who plays the little girl, Lily.

Yes, Payton Lepinski.

With Payton

I looked her up, and I see she was in a Hallmark Christmas movie last year, but I know her from Who Killed JonBenét?

Yes, she played JonBenét. She’s got a big career ahead of her. She’s really talented. She’s fearless in front of the camera. She takes direction. She’s a talented young lady.

It looks like there’s a lot of talent in this movie. I always love to see the leads return. But for me, I always look through the supporting cast and see who I recognize. 

Lisa Durupt, who is one of the most recognizable of the Hallmark supporting cast, plays Ashley’s sister in the movie.

That will make a lot of people happy because we love her. 

Fred Henderson plays my father. He was in The Last Bridesmaid and many other Hallmark movies. It’s a who’s who of Hallmark, and when we’re on set, it’s like, “Oh, I know you.”

That is something I love about Hallmark. In fact, someone asked me recently if Hallmark and Lifetime were the same company. I had to explain that they are not the same company. They often film in Canada which is why you see a lot of crossover of talent between the two networks. 

Yes, there’s a lot of truth to that.

Now, in addition to this movie, I know you’ve been involved in some huge remodeling project. 

Oh yes, it has been an ongoing project. I hate to say it, but I started it about a year ago. We moved into a new place in Vancouver, and I gutted this bathroom in January. Then I went to LA for four or five months. Then since I got back, I’ve been slowly chipping away at this project. I would keep working, but other stuff would keep coming up. As of the end of October, I was down to the tiling which is the last stage of this project. By the time this interview comes out, I will have a beautiful, finished, functional bathroom, which is very exciting. My wife is very excited.

with his wife

We have two bathrooms, so it’s not like we’ve been without a bathroom. This is the main bathroom, so when guests come over, this is the bathroom that they will use. But while this project was going on, everyone has been using the other bathroom. Condo living. You know, it’s tough to do a remodel when you live in a condo because there’s nowhere really to store your tools. I have a big construction van that I keep my tools in, but it’s a pain to keep trekking them up and down the elevator, so I keep them stored on my patio for the most part. Or in the workspace. It’s the drywall and everything that’s so dusty which is the biggest thing to control with these projects. But I do a good job, and this project is exciting. It’s been a good project for me, and I learned a lot of new stuff. New tiling techniques and integrated lighting. And even a type of accent lighting, which I’ve never done before. I keep getting better with each one of these. I consider it practice ’cause one day, we plan to own a home, which in Vancouver, is an insane idea because the housing market has gone through the roof. But one day, I will own a home, and I will have perfected all of my techniques and figured out what I like and what I don’t like. So when I build my forever home, I don’t have to do it again.

There you go. So do you have any other films or shows coming up that you can mention in addition to Holiday Hearts?

I don’t know what I’m allowed to mention. I have two projects in development with Hallmark right now. And there’s a third project in development that I am associated with. They are all at various stages.

Well, I always agree with erring on the side of caution, so we can certainly leave it at that. 

Yeah, that’s a good idea. The two projects in development are ones I’m co-writing. Then I have another two or three projects I am currently writing on my own. I will be looking at doing these with Hallmark or another production company at some point. So in my downtime, I am constantly busy creating my own content. And it seems to be working so far. Hallmark seems to be happy with what I’m bringing, so that’s an exciting new direction for me.

I know you saw that I tweeted out that you should do a mystery series. As I looked over your credits, I see you haven’t even been a part of a mystery series in any capacity.

I have not, and I would love to do it. I keep speaking to the executives at Hallmark and saying, “Hey, if you guys have a mystery series where you want a wise-cracking detective, I know a guy!” They always say, “Oh, yeah, that would be great! I would love that!” And then I don’t hear anything. The problem is there are so many really handsome, really talented leading men at Hallmark that are really detective-y. {laughs} Those roles get snapped up. Like Victor Webster, Kris Polaha–who are all excellent casting choices for those roles. And they’re desirable roles. People want these mystery series because they’re fun to do. You get to make a bunch of movies every year. You keep busy, and the fans love them. So it’s not like there’s a bunch of roles up for grabs. So I’m battling with the big guns for these roles.

When I realized you hadn’t even guest-starred on one of these series, I was thinking they should at least try you out in one of these mystery series. A lot of the actors cross over. There are some of these cast members who are cast in the Hallmark movies as well as guest-starring on practically every mystery series. I think it would be interesting to see you in a mystery series. 

I think they should cast me as a bad guy.

I think that would be kind of fun, to be perfectly honest. I don’t know if anyone would agree, but I don’t think they would suspect you. We know you as this funny, romantic lead, and they could create a character that appears to be like that, but you’re really the killer.

Yeah, I could be pretty unassuming. I get dark. I can play dark.

I believe that. We Hallmark fans haven’t seen you in those kinds of roles. I think it’s fun to switch things up. I know they are developing a lot of mystery series. So you never know. In fact, even though I appreciate the fact that they are pro-female, I think they are starting to do some where the male character is the main person, and the female can be the detective. 

with the author, Barbara Ankrum

Yes, they’ve got Jesse Metcalfe doing that. They’re still female-centric. And to be honest, I’ll happily protect that. Because in this industry, as we all know, women have sort of always been given a secondary position, secondary pay, secondary billing, secondary everything.  Hallmark is the only place, as far as I know, where women are the number one. They are paid well, celebrated, and they are what drive that network. I think if we don’t protect that, we’re kind of slipping into the status quo where women are not given the respect and the opportunities that they deserve. I would happily take second position to any female for the rest of my career on all these Hallmark movies to protect that practice because it’s so important what they’re doing.

I am right with you, and I know that will always be Hallmark’s focus. But for me, it’s nice to have the guy intermittently be the principal role. And at the end of the day, even if the guy is the focus, attention will always go back to the woman. Well, maybe they’ll give you the opportunity to do something in a mystery series at some point in the near future.

I hope so. I really hope the fans are on board with it and keep letting Hallmark know that is what they’d like to see.

Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ryan Plummer

I know they are trying to develop some mysteries that are a bit lighter because some of the mysteries are very heavy. But hey, with your comedic skills, they should see about trying you out in a mystery series. Maybe as the goofy private detective or something like that.

I agree.  Get me in there! I am asking for people to come up with an idea and pitch it. I’m always willing to come up with ideas and pitch them. Maybe it won’t be super comedic yet, but I’m ready and willing.

Well, I love that Hallmark is experimenting a bit more and stepping outside the box as well.

I agree. I mean, I’m still fighting to get a Hawaiian Christmas movie off the ground.

Oh, my goodness, that would be wonderful. I really would love to see that happen. Don’t give up on that dream yet, Paul. Well, it sounds like you’re keeping yourself busy. I was going to say you were keeping yourself out of trouble…

Keeping busy, keeping out of trouble, mostly the same thing. I’m mostly keeping myself out of trouble and mostly keeping myself busy.

Well, that’s good, Paul. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat today, and we are so excited to see the movie this weekend!

Thank you, Ruth, I appreciate you asking me back. I hope everyone enjoys Holiday Hearts. Thank you to all the fans for their continued support.

with his wife at TCA’s

The element that struck me the most about Paul this time was the fact that he highlighted so many of his co-stars. In fact, we spent a good fifteen minutes talking about Rachel, Ashley, Payton, and more. While I may have mentioned them in passing, he was unconditionally celebrating their giftedness, their beauty, and the fact that he was so fortunate to get to work with them. He is not seeking the limelight in the traditional sense, so to speak. I mean, certainly, he wants to keep working on tremendous projects, but he recognizes the fact that he is one actor in a pool of a myriad of glittering stars with skills that potentially surpass his. His monumental gratitude to Hallmark and even his unpretentious nature merely endear him to me all the more. Perhaps that is why I was elated to see Hallmark cast both him and Ashley because I had this conviction that their senses of humor would gel in a way that was authentic and entertaining. And while I have not seen the completed project as of yet, I am confident that is exactly what all the viewers will witness on the screen tonight.

I hope that everyone tunes in tonight (November 23rd) for the highly-anticipated Holiday Hearts premiere on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Network (November 24th on the W Network) and joins Paul in his promise to “tweet his buns off”. And while you’re making plans to watch his new movie, consider paying a visit to his links below and perhaps give him a follow on social media. While Paul does not always respond to every single fan comment, rest assured that he is aware of what the fans are saying online, and he always appreciates the kind support he receives from this phenomenal fanbase. While Paul Campbell may never be the most prolific leading man in the Hallmark universe (a detail that I hope is rectified in time), never doubt the fact that he is one benevolent, pragmatic, remarkable artist and human being, and I can hardly wait to see him featured on the network even more than he currently is. I will forever be in his corner doing all I can to bring his comedic perception, his dramatic capabilities, and his insightful capacity to more fans around the world, and I hope that all the Hallmarkies will join me in this worthy endeavor.

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READ MY PAST INTERVIEWS WITH PAUL

Paul Campbell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ryan Plummer

Interview With Actor Paul Campbell, “The Last Bridesmaid”

Paul Campbell Credit: Copyright 2017 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Juan Euan

Interview With Actor Paul Campbell, “A Godwink Christmas”

Briana Evigan, Paul Campbell Credit: Copyright 2015 Crown Media United States, LLC/Photographer: Marcel Williams

Interview With Actor Paul Campbell

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