Hallmark’s original show, Good Witch, which is currently in its sixth season with the network, always holds a treasured place in my heart. From the pilot episode through the current season, there is one character that has always caught my eye–Stephanie. I don’t know if it was her comedic timing, he eagerness to please, or her overall spunkiness, but for whatever reason, she won me over the moment she set foot on the screen. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview the dynamic actress who has breathed life into Stephanie the past six years, Kylee Evans. I had longed to interview her for some time, and once we chatted, well, you’ll see…

RH: Kylee, it’s so great to get to talk with you. 

KE: Ruth, thank you for having me. How are you doing?

I’m doing okay. How about you?

My husband is cleaning the kitchen, so life is good!

Oh, that’s the way to do it! Well, I have been a fan of yours since the first season of Good Witch. I have loved your character–Stephanie. I came in having never watched the movies, so it was all new to me. It was Stephanie and Catherine Disher’s character that really sucked me in. 

Well, Mayor Martha is hilarious. Such a great character. {laughs}

Stephanie has had quite a journey over these seasons. 

Yes, she has. She never exactly gets what she wants, but she keeps on trying. It’s been nice. Six seasons–wow! That’s so unheard of here in Canada. Usually, people are struggling to get a third season of anything, so for a production to be shot here for six whole seasons is amazing.

That seems to be true everywhere, not just in Canada. Every time I turn around, a big network show that I love gets canceled, and the show may have only lasted one or two seasons. And I’ll wonder, “How did that happen?” I know it’s got to be good as an actor to have that kind of security to a degree. But as a viewer, it’s nice as well. And as an interviewer, I love to see Hallmark’s loyalty to its cast.

Yeah, I agree with you. Just being a part of this network is really like family. It’s incredible. I think the show was in its second season when I went to my first event, and it was a game-changer for me. They know every single one of us. They know our names. They know who we are. They care about us, and they love us.

Hallmark TCA’s

And as an interviewer, I have been overwhelmed by the support of the network. My first official review for Hallmark was the pilot episode of Good Witch, so the show itself holds a special place in my heart.

Oh, that’s great!

I have loved everything about the show, and it just keeps getting better every season. So, Kylee, how did you get into acting?

I actually went to University and studied opera. I was going to be a singer. I got my opera degree, and I moved to Toronto to join the Canadian Opera Company. I realized really quickly that was not the path I wanted to take. I’d always wanted to do musical theater, and I went the opera route because, at the time, you couldn’t get a musical theater degree. So I chose the classical route. I left the Canadian Opera Company, and I started auditioning for musical theater. My agent at the time was like, “I have this television role I feel you could go out for,” or “There’s this commercial,” and I realized very quickly that I was getting hired in television more than musical theater. Really, there wasn’t a ton of musicals going on in Toronto at the time. So acting pursued me as opposed to me pursuing television. But once I started down that path, I followed on the journey it was taking me. Once I started on the road, there was no turning back. And I loved it. I started taking more and more classes and being really involved in that community, and that’s the career I have today because of it.

Legally Blonde, the Musical

Wow, that is amazing! I had no idea about your background! I was a music major–a vocal major– so I was doing the whole classical singing thing too. I wanted to be in musical theater, but that didn’t work out. I was a music teacher for many years. It’s exciting to hear how many actors have music backgrounds. So what was your first professional on-screen role?

My first professional role was in a show called Kevin Hill. It was shot up here, but it was an American show. It starred Taye Diggs. I had a very small role, but it was my first speaking actor role. It was one day on set. I was nervous, but I was really excited because Taye Diggs was also a theater actor and singer. I was so excited to meet him. I got on set, and I went into the scene and I was like, “Oh, wow, he’s totally not what I expected. He’s tiny. He was so short!” {laughs} Everything that I had hyped him up to be, he was just the total opposite of. But that was my first professional day on set.

It’s so funny to hear you say that about his height. I’ve had the experience of meeting some of these actors I interview, and they are either taller or shorter than I expected. So I fully understand what you’re saying. And then when they’re not made up, they look different. Not in a bad way. They look normal instead of being all glamorous for the camera. In fact, one of the things I always try to do in my interviews is to show my readers that actors are normal people who have normal lives, and they’re not always going to Hollywood parties every night or living in these rich houses. 

You know, you’re right. We do make our own dinners and we clean our own house.

Kylee Evans as Stephanie Credit: Copyright 2015 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

And I’m so glad to be able to show that side of actors like you. I also just love getting to chat with you guys and to highlight you. It’s nice to show that you are real people. Now to your other credits, I really am not familiar with anything else you have done besides Good Witch. 

Well, Good Witch has taken up the last six or seven years of my life. That’s the big one. But I’ve done a lot of kid’s TV. It has been a love of mine. Multi-cam sitcom was my dream. And it’s still my dream. If I could do anything in life, I would want to be on a multi-cam sitcom. I would want it to run ten seasons with a live studio audience and just make people laugh.

The Stanley Dynamic

When I started in this business, I went onto Life With Boys, which was a big one. It was an American show, and I did two seasons of that. Then The Stanley Dynamic started, and I was with them for three years. That was a good six years before Good Witch, and that took up a lot of time. It would stand to reason that you wouldn’t really see these shows because they’re children’s programs and family programs, and I’m sure you’re not watching multi-cam sitcoms all the time. But more recently, I have guest-starred on Private Eyes, Jason Priestley’s show. And I had a recurring role in The Strain,  which was pretty phenomenal. But Good Witch has really been my focus for the past seven years.

I think you’ve done some work behind-the-camera as well, not just in front of the camera. I saw that you were listed on the show Backstage.

I did a lot of acting coaching on set for The Stanley Dynamic and Backstage. They had teenagers who didn’t have a ton of experience, and I came in and started them out, teaching them what to expect on set. Like, what are stage directions? What are all these things? I was the acting set on set every day all day for two seasons of The Stanley Dynamic and a season of Backstage. That was pretty fantastic. You said you were a music teacher. I love teaching. I’ve taught piano and voice my whole life. I come from a whole family background of teachers. So being on set and teaching these kids and adults too…I was the acting coach for the whole set on Stanley. But it was so phenomenal to be able to teach and somewhat direct and be on that side of the camera. It was awesome, and I think it made me a better actor. It made me a better person to be on set with. When you teach expectations and dynamics of a cast, it makes you realize that you also have to be that person. So it was an invaluable team. I loved it.

Back to Good Witch, before joining this show, how familiar were you with Hallmark?

You know, I really wasn’t familiar at all. I had auditioned for a couple of Hallmark movies before that time. Because we don’t have the Hallmark network up here in Canada, I wasn’t too familiar with them.

You’re not alone in that. Thankfully, the W Network and a couple other networks carry the Hallmark movies and shows now, but I wouldn’t expect Canadians to be overly familiar with the network. Though that’s been changing in the past few years. Even I used to think the network was for old people, but now I’m a major Hallmark fan. 

with James Denton

It’s interesting. My sister went through some devastating personal things this past year and all during Christmas, she kept calling me and saying, “You need to tell them at Hallmark that not every story ends happily. They need to write these movies for real people.”

I totally get it. I’ve had my own personal issues, and it can sometimes be hard to watch those movies that always end happily. But I think the thing about Hallmark is that it’s an escape and it’s nice to watch something with a happy ending that the whole family can watch together without worrying about anything offensive. That’s something that I really appreciate about Hallmark. 

Kylee Evans Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

I do too. And we’ve got so many incredible fans. This past season, we were filming on location in Hamilton, Ontario, which is a tiny town. We had just finished a scene–Catherine, myself, and Sarah Power–and we saw this couple on the lawn just standing there waiting for us to come out. They were from the States–Michigan. They had driven up to see if they could find us on location, and they just wanted to say, “Thank you so much for providing a program we can watch with our grandchildren and know that everything will be okay.” At that moment, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is larger than anything I ever saw!” It means so much to people, and I think that’s what Hallmark does for people. It provides them this safe haven to watch and do things together with families, which I think is invaluable. I don’t think most families get enough family time.

Kylee Evans, Jefferson Brown Credit: Copyright 2016 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

Oh, I totally agree. And I just love hearing stories like that about the fans!

It was so amazing; I couldn’t believe it! They had been waiting for us for hours!

I think the biggest concern most of the fans have is whether Stephanie will finally find lasting love. That poor girl has had so many disappointments with her love life. 

She has been searching for so long, and she really wears her heart on her sleeve. She is such a kind, generous, large-hearted individual that it breaks your heart that she can’t find love for herself. Without spoiling anything, you really have to watch and see if she’s gonna find that lasting love this season. I will say there’s definitely a lot of ups and downs.

Scott Cavalheiro, Kylee Evans Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

I recently interviewed Scott, who plays Adam. And he didn’t spoil anything. Like you, he said you had to watch. And he had just wonderful things to say about you. I know he enjoyed working with you. 

Aw, that’s sweet. I adore him. I love working with him. He’s such a great addition to the cast and the vibe and the feeling on set. So it really does make your job easy with him.

Well, this season, we have learned a little bit more about Stephanie. She’s got what I guess you can call a relationship with Adam. 

Yeah, she has a relationship with him.

Scott Cavalheiro, Kylee Evans, Zoe Ambrose Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ben Mark Holzberg

It seems like she’s trying to take it slowly instead of just jumping in and trying to make it go fast. She’s trying to pay attention to the cues along the way and just let it unfold and try not to force it. That’s my continued hope for her. 

I’m definitely with you.

You know, I think a lot of women can identify with Stephanie. It’s so easy to see a guy you think you might like, and you feel like you should jump in because everyone else is with someone and you’re not. You don’t want to be left behind. I think all of us women have experienced that at some point in our lives. Usually, those relationships that we try to force don’t work out very well.

Yes, exactly. Because they’re forced and not organic. Let’s hope Stephanie doesn’t do that this time.

Good Witch cast

Working on the show, you guys seem to have developed quite a wonderful family, and that comes across on the screen very well. You look like you enjoy being together. So what is it like behind-the-scenes?

The cast is fantastic to be around. And we do love being around each other. What you see and what you’re picking upon is quite true. But it’s only heightened by our crew. A testament to the show and to the cast is the same crew keeps coming back year after year. And it’s not like that in any other show I’ve been a part of. It’s just a big family at this point, and I love it. My favorite scenes…they’re the hardest to shoot and they’re the longest nights….but the scenes that we are all in together are my favorites. It’s so fun to have everybody there playing games and laughing and talking, which adds two to three hours to your shoot day because really nobody’s paying attention. {laughs} It’s lovely to be around them.

Scott Cavalheiro, Kylee Evans, Paul Miller, Catherine Disher Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

Also, I will say that the show is very female-centric. There are so many strong female characters on the show. So it’s like a girl’s night out when it’s late at night. Catherine and Kat {Barrell} and Cathy {Catherine Disher} and Sarah and myself are in, and it’s just so much fun. We laugh so much. It’s really lovely.

I love hearing you say all that because I hear similar stories straight across the board with Hallmark. Whether they’re filming in Vancouver, Toronto, overseas, or wherever, I hear exactly the same sentiment from the cast and crew of Hallmark sets. That tells me that it’s not that the network has mandated what you’re supposed to tell people about your experience. It means that it’s really what is happening on Hallmark sets.

Good Witch cast

Well, it comes from the top. When you’re working for people who are great as they are, I just can’t say enough about them. I can’t say enough about Jonathan Eskenas on our set. He is one of our producers. He’s in charge of choosing and hiring and all of those things. When you’re working for people that are that great, they’re gonna choose great people. And then you want to be great. It’s such a wonderful environment.

James Denton, Kylee Evans Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

Without spoiling anything, do you have a favorite episode or scene from this season?

Yes, I have a few. Mid-season, you’re gonna see some really good stuff. About halfway through the season, I got to take one of my passions–singing–and I got to do a little of that on the show this year, which was kind of nice. It was kind of weird because I had to sing as Stephanie, not as Kylee.

I also have a special visitor that comes to town. I won’t say in what capacity, but the actor playing the visitor is my real-life husband.

with her husband

That’s awesome! I was gonna ask if you and your husband would ever like to do a Hallmark movie together. There’s my answer.

You know, I’ve never done a Hallmark film. It’s been talked about a lot, but I’ve never been officially attached to a Hallmark script. Sandy {Jobin-Bevans} and I would love to do a Hallmark film together. We actually just finished a script. 

That’s awesome! Well, I do know that Hallmark loves featuring couples in their movies and shows. I’ve seen lots of husbands and wives cast in movies together over the past few years. They don’t always play each other’s love interests. In fact, one time the character played by the husband had to arrest the character played by the wife. And in Sandy’s case, he’s never done anything with Hallmark previously, has he?

Scott Cavalheiro, Kylee Evans, James Denton Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

No, he hasn’t. He’s a really great actor and a hilarious person. He’s done a lot, but never with Hallmark until now.

Until I was preparing to interview you, I didn’t even realize you were married to an actor. So I will look forward to the episode with both of you. While we don’t have a definite season renewal announcement and we don’t know when everything is going to open up for sure, there is plenty of talk about a season seven potentially happening. What are your hopes for Stephanie should anther season happen?

Kylee Evans Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

Like I was saying earlier, whether or not Adam becomes the lasting love of her life, I would really like for her to realize that she’s worth it. She is independent. She’s got three different businesses going for her. She’s kind and sassy and smart. I would really like for that to be known and for her to live in that strength a little bit instead of always catering to the whims of others.

In the season six premiere, it was really great to see Stephanie stand up for herself with the food truck. 

She did! We get little glimpses of that, don’t we?

I understand the dynamics of wanting to please everyone. I tend to be that way myself. It’s not fun to have people upset with you, but there comes a point when you have to stand up for yourself. So I was glad to see her stand up for herself, and even her business partner agreed that she was right. 

Scott Cavalheiro, Kylee Evans, Lolita Davidovich Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ben Mark Holzberg

That scene was the starting of Stephanie standing up for herself, I think. I’m not sure what will happen if we are granted another season. There are so many ways we could go. There are so many amazing things that could happen. I think one more thing I would like is for her to stick with something. I find that with Stephanie, we start down the road with a story, and then it usually ends. I would like to have a longer story arc.

I can see that. And maybe since Stephanie is more willing to stand up for herself and she’s starting to become the person she was meant to be and she’s becoming comfortable with who she is, maybe she won’t be jumping in and out of storylines so quickly. Maybe she’ll stick with things better now. You mentioned that you and your husband have just finished writing a script, but do you have anything else upcoming that you can mention?

My husband and I have co-hosted a game show called Just Like Mom & Dad. It’s a family game show, and we’ve shot two seasons of it. In America, it’s on BYU Network. In Canada, it’s on five or six different networks at this point. We were waiting for the green light on season three when the whole world decided to shut down. So that’s something that is still alive and well. We’re hoping to come back strong again in the fall. And that’s about it. We’ve been writing a lot and getting things ready in preparation for the world to open.

Other than writing, are there other things you two have been doing during this time to keep yourself occupied? 

Well, I recently started puzzle number ten. No joke, I feel like I could become a professional puzzler. I’m really good at it. We’ve been puzzling a lot.  I find it keeps my mind occupied and allows me not to dwell on what I’m not doing. So that’s been good.

I also promised myself that every day for an hour, I would sit at the piano and play. I sightread one day or I’ll pull out old books and play or I’ll just sing my face off another day. But I make sure that for one hour every day I’m doing that.

I’m also cooking a ton, which means that Sandy’s doing a ton of dishes. I’m just being positive and thinking of this time as a time to reset and enjoy my house. Hopefully, really soon, things will get back to some sort of normalcy.

Just Like Mom & Dad

Interesting how you are going back to your music. I started taking voice lessons again during this time. I’m taking them remotely, and I have just loved it. I hadn’t taken voice lessons in like twenty-five years! 

Wow, Ruth, I’ve thought about doing that myself. I think you’ve inspired me to consider taking voice lessons again.

I’m so glad. And I’m excited to hear you sing this season.

James Denton, Kylee Evans Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

It was really weird for me. The sound engineer kept saying, “Can we make it more like Stephanie? Like you’re very timid and shy?” And the end result is so different from me. I sent the recording home to my family, and my mom was like, “Is this you??’ I was like, “It’s me, Mom.” She was like, “No, it isn’t!” {laughs} She didn’t believe me for a solid month!

I’m still looking forward to it. And maybe you’ll get to do more of it in the future. Maybe we’ll even get to hear you play the piano some time. I would love that!

That would be great.

Well, Kylee, I’m so glad you and I got to chat. It was lovely to get to know more about you, and I’ll look forward to the next time we can chat.

Thank you, Ruth, I would love that. And maybe some time we’ll meet in person. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this season of Good Witch, and thank you to the fans for all their support.

From the moment Kylee and I began conversing, there was an infectious positivity woven into her essence that bubbled forth even across the distance. Once we made that musical connection, I sensed that we were kindred spirits that somehow understood each other. She is decidedly a visionary while being pragmatic, and she lives her life with purpose, joy, and enthusiasm. Isn’t it amazing how you can relate to someone almost instantly and feel like you’ve known them all your life? In a way, that’s how I felt about Kylee. Rarely have I been able to connect with anyone over a shared college curriculum. And if you saw the most recent episode of Good Witch, then you’ve seen the man to whom she is married in real life, and as far as I’m concerned, Hallmark needs to snatch them up for a rom-com as soon as possible! Not only does Kylee share a whimsical chemistry with all of her co-stars, but watching her with her real-life husband gave me a glimpse of the delightful pair these two are both professionally and personally. I mean, how many of you were almost crushed to see Stephanie’s ex-husband leave?? 

I hope that all my readers will make it a point to watch the remaining episodes of season six of Good Witch on the Hallmark Channel in the U.S. or the W Network in Canada on Sunday nights. Additionally, I would invite all of my readers to take a moment and visit Kylee’s links below and consider following her via social media. I am greatly anticipating Kylee’s vocal debut (as Stephanie) in Good Witch later this season, and I can hardly wait to see what this vivacious artist will bring to this character in the days, weeks, months and years (hopefully) to come. I do believe that Hallmark may have found their next “power couple,” and I hope and pray that we will see both Sandy and Kylee in another Hallmark production very soon!

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Catherine Bell, Kylee Evans Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Brooke Palmer

Kylee Evans Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ben Mark Holzberg

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