Lori Loughlin – When Calls The Heart

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I’ve been working on a series for Hallmark called “When Calls The Heart.” I’m also doing a series of mystery movies for the Hallmark Mystery & Movie Channel called Garage Sale Mystery. We’re getting ready to start our sixth film. Then, they are doing “Fuller House,” which is a spin-off show of “Full House” with Candace Cameron Bure, Jodi Sweeten and Andrea Barber. I did three episodes out of the thirteen episodes, which will be on Netflix in the Spring.

Q) What is in store this season on “When Calls The Heart?”

A) We have a two hour special that comes on the day after Christmas. Then, the series will resume in February. We pick up where we left off. Jack (Daniel Lissing)  was getting ready to propose to Elizabeth (Erin Krakow). I’m really excited for my character this season. I don’t want to give too much away, but we have some great storylines coming up. Last year some of the audience test research showed that they got too far away from the kids and community storyline. So, we’re trying to find a balance of that this season and I think we’ve done a really good job of not just romance, but romance also focusing on the school, the children, the women of the town and the community.

Q) Was there anything you added to your role as Abigail that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I think that sometimes what is interesting with television series is that writers tend to watch who you are and then they write to your strengths. I think Abigail was always a great, grounding force in the series and sort of a centerpiece. I really played to that. I really embraced that and the more I embraced that aspect of her the more we explored that. Then, the beginning of the third season they kind of stepped back a little bit from that. They didn’t want her to sort of have all the answers. I recently had a conversation with one of the writers where I said, “In stepping away from it, I think we moved too far away from it and I’d like to bring that element back in for the character.” The writer was so cool, Robin [Bernheim] (our head writer) said she totally agreed. And we’re not through with the season yet so they are looking at scripts and looking for ways that kind of bring that grounding force back that Abigail always had. I always liked it so much. I feel like she’s such an anchor.

Q) The cast has such great chemistry. Was it there from the start?

A) I don’t think you can create chemistry. I think it is there or it is not. Erin, Daniel and I since season one have just gotten along really, really well. I think (even though Daniel is single and Erin is in a long term relationship with a wonderful guy named Ben) that they have that chemistry. I don’t know how to explain it or where it comes from. You can’t create it. It’s just magic when it happens and I have seen it since day one. She and Daniel have that chemistry that I think just lights up the screen. She and I have a great chemistry as well. We work really well together. Again, I don’t think it is something that you can create. It’s something that just happens and if it does you are so blessed and so lucky. I think that’s one of the reasons why “Full House” (and now “Fuller House”) was successful. And I think “Fuller House” will be successful because that chemistry is just there. I think it’s always fun to watch on television as a viewer because I think that kind of chemistry translates. It is palpable and you can just feel it. As an audience member you an just feel it and it is exciting and you want to be a part of it.

Q) What are some storylines for the widows that you want to see explored?

A) It’s funny that the storylines I would like to see for my character are happening in season three. It’s a storyline that I pitched early on in season one that they finally have gotten around to doing in season three. I’m really excited because my hope (and I’ve said this all along) while I love romance and Hallmark is very good at doing romance, I feel like our series is so much more than romance and romance triangles. And I want it to be so much more! I want it to be a show about hardship, overcoming hardship, joy, community and love. Not just romantic love, but love for your neighbor, love for your children, love for community, love for persevering and triumphing over difficult times. I think we have an area that is so fertile and rich to plant so many great storylines that don’t only involve romance. I think in the second season they just got caught up in all of the romance and while I think there is certainly room for romance on teh show I think the show could be so much more than that. I think heading into season three they are really trying to do more than that.

Q) What has been one of your favorite moments from filming?

A) My favorite moment for my character is in the first season. I have a scene with Erin where I am standing next to the doorway where I used to measure my son’s growth over the years. I see that and I take in that chart. He is deceased now and I have this great scene. It’s so brief, but it is a wonderful scene where I say to her, “I don’t know who I am anymore in life. I don’t know where I fit in.” It is one of my most favorite moments from that series, truly.

Q) You are a producer on the series. What does that entail for you?

A) Again, we have a great showrunner. I try never to step in or abuse that position. It certainly means I can step in creatively and voice my opinion. We all can. I also get to see all the dailies. I get to watch everything, which is great. I love doing that and seeing how the show is shaping up. Again, I tread very lightly. I don’t try to go in and say, “I’m a producer and we’re going to do it this way.” I don’t do that. We really have such competent showrunners and such a hands on network that I don’t really step in, get in there and mix it up with them. They are doing such a great job.

Q) What have you learned from Abigail that you taken into own life?

A) I think what you are reminded of when you are doing a period piece is the wonderful advances that we have in life and the luxuries we have in life. So, I think sometimes when you are living as a character in the 1900’s that you appreciate (and I said this in the first season) your dishwasher and the little things we can easily can take for granted in life. But I think it’s interesting that when you are working in a period piece it makes you stop and say, “Wow! We have it so much better nowadays in many ways!” Then, yet there is a simplicity about that time that when you are stripped of technology it also makes you say, “This is a good thing to remember, too.” Because when you look around nowadays everybody is on some kind of phone or device where their attention is on a screen and not present in the real world.

Q) What do you think it is about the show that continues to make it such a fan favorite?

A) We have an incredible fanbase called the “Hearties.” They have really stepped up and been such champions of the show. I think that that fanbase is just spreading out far and wide. When you talk about community, which again I love about the show (the community of the women), this fanbase has reached out and created its own community that has become quite powerful. For a lot of these ladies (and men) that we’ve met, they just feel like the show resonates in a way for them that is life changing and life saving. It’s fascinating. I’ve never, in all my career, met up with a group of fans (and we’ve always had such wonderful fans – especially for “Full House”) quite as passionate and powerful as the Hearties.