Hallmark has been in the midst of a lot of changes lately, and viewers who anticipate upcoming Hallmark movies know that many of those changes are starting to be reflected in the “cheesy” romantic films the network is known for. Not only are we seeing more movies that focus on things like strong female friendships (as with Unthinkably Good Things and the ever growing The Wedding Veil franchise, but we’re also getting more inclusive movies with leads of color and stories that embrace LGBTQ+ characters. Hallmark star Nikki DeLoach has now opened up about working with the new Hallmark and how things have changed.
What Did Nikki DeLoach Say About Working With Hallmark Now?
The former Awkward. star has been leading movies for the happy ending-focused channel since 2015’s holiday offering, Christmas Land, and spoke late last year about working on the network’s first faith-based Christmas movie, The Gift of Peace. People who haven’t checked out the channel’s offerings for a few years might not be aware that the movies definitely have a broadened scope now that Bill Abbott (who left for GAF after becoming embroiled in controversy over a commercial with a same-sex kiss) is no longer at the helm.
Related: Trending On Netflix: The Top 10 Lists For Movies And TV
While speaking on the Vulnerable podcast with host/actress Christy Carlson Romano, they talked about their experiences of dealing with Hallmark’s previous regime, and how things have changed now, with DeLoach saying:
It’s true, now we are telling richer, deeper, bigger stories. Inclusive, dynamic [stories]. The mindset that’s happening at our network is, our audience is very diverse, actually. Some of the same people that watch Hallmark also watched Game of Thrones, or Sucession. And, yes, there’s a large section [of the audience] that watches Fox News and then watches Hallmark, but it’s diverse. So, the way that they’re looking at it now is, we want everybody to see themselves in a handful of movies. It’s amazing! Let’s make sure that everything and everyone is represented here, and create that space. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come in our storytelling. I was like, guys, our audience can not just handle this, they want it. They’re hungry for it.
After Carlson Romano noted that she’d once met with Abbott about potentially working on a movie for the network, and saw, at the time, how many rules there were about what could and couldn’t be done, DeLoach added that she was once filming a drama for them, began crying during a difficult scene for her character, and was then told that they didn’t want that much negative emotion on camera. She also noted that there were worries about six years ago when she pitched a film that had a divorced couple at the center of it, though they did let her produce the movie.
Though the channel is know for a number of rewarding romances, they’ve also been very easy to poke fun at, especially in the past, because the movies stuck to a very clear formula, and, as both actresses said, wouldn’t delve too far into serious topics or show anything but a very narrow view of society as a whole. It was just in 2020 that The Christmas House showed an openly gay couple for the first time, with the star of that movie, Mean Girls cast member Jonathan Bennett, eventually starring in Hallmark’s first film to focus on a gay couple in 2022 with The Holiday Sitter.
It’s clear that Hallmark is making many strides in the right direction when it comes to showing more realistic romances that depict a number of different types of people, and we can’t wait to see more!
