In part two of our conversation with Andrea Brooks, she teases what we can expect from When Calls the Heart Season 10.
She doesn’t give away a lot of secrets, but she offers a little insight that builds expectations for the new season.
Settle in and enjoy the full interview, which was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike and has been edited for clarity below.
How excited are you for everybody to see this season?
Oh, so excited. And because there’s been a bit more of a wait this year, the anticipation feels greater than ever before. So I can’t wait. Although, in some ways, this is a weird season for me because I do end up being nine months pregnant by the end of the season.
So, I do carry a lot of very strange props. I do have my doctor’s bag getting bigger as we are shooting to allocate for my growing belly. So all my memories of this season are just how am I going to hide my belly? That’s just all I remember.
So I’m also excited to get through this season so that eventually, we get to 11, we can air that, and then I have a waist again.
At least they were still wearing big clothes back then. They could have altered your clothing to more than an Empire waist or something.
Our costume designer Barbara is so fabulous. She’s worked with me on this same show with my previous pregnancy in [When Calls the Heart Season 7] because she actually kept a lot of my clothes, just thinking I may have another baby, which is adorable.
But she’s so good with angles and cut clothing in ways I had never thought about. And it’s to the point where I was joking with her; I was like, I think we should do a YouTube interview together where we discussed everything we did costume-wise because it was brilliant. She really has so many fantastic ideas for covering a pregnancy.
Everyone was great by the end of the season. We wrote scenes in interesting ways that everything could be hidden, but it really becomes this extra element that, on top of your character, your performance, your story, and all the normal things that you worry about.
You have this different thing that is that everyone is paying attention to on set while you’re shooting. It just makes it extra funny, really.
And really, in the When Calls the Heart Season 9 finale, it was so obvious that Faith had feelings for Nathan, but I don’t think that she worked that fast. That would be impossible. To be sporting a baby bump by the end. No matter how quickly they fall in love.
It would not be happening. So we joked about that, but there was just no way that that would fly.
So, speaking of Faith and Nathan, now that we know Faith had feelings — she was worried about seeing a patient, and every time she saw Nathan, her eyes would sparkle. And it seemed like he was returning the favor.
And unless I’m like completely out of my mind, I could have sworn that I saw a preview that features you two, and I went back and looked, and I can’t find it. So what do you think?
Well, you’re right; we do end off in a really interesting place. Okay, what can I say about this? I can absolutely tease that Faith and Nathan do share a number of scenes in the upcoming season. And that’s super exciting for me.
I adore Kevin McGarry. He’s just such a fabulous actor. He’s so talented; I love working with him. But I also love that there are some natural reasons why our characters would end up sharing scenes, obviously with our professional lives and what we do.
And, there’s some interesting intersection coming your way when it comes to professional life. So there are scenes to be had, and you are right; there was a teaser featuring Faith and Nathan.
I have the feeling that whenever Mei returned to town, Faith thought they might have something. The rest of us knew that Mei had pretty much said we’ll just be friends. But I don’t think Faith knew that. So is that going to bug Faith this season?
The one thing I can say about the upcoming season is a bit of time has passed between Seasons 9 and 10. So there are a lot of feelings the whole town will have sorted through.
Okay. The town looks a lot more bustling. There are a lot more people in town. What’s happening in Hope Valley right now?
You’re right. You know, I think with the passing of time, it is so interesting. This show started in the early 1910s, and now we’re well into the 1920s, and so much changed between those two periods. And it’s been cool to play a character in a town experiencing change consistently.
And you’re right; there is a hustle and bustle about town there. New people are coming in. There are new fashions. We have cars now. So, for practical reasons, we’re now able to shoot with more people just because of the way the world and protocols are changing.
There’s definitely a lot more spirit and life being pumped into Hope Valley this year. And I’m glad that that was reflected. I think that that was intentional.
It’s almost becoming like a little downtown area, whereas before, there would be people just crossing the street every once in a while. Now it looks like there are actually people out and about and doing their thing, which is kind of exciting.
Totally. And you know, I’ve thought about this with the town. If you were to progress a hundred years, it could just be like a central core downtown, potentially like it would continue expanding and evolving until it became a major city.
So, it is something interesting that with each passing year, we need to add more houses, more establishments, more businesses, as it would naturally progress to a point where it’s a major metropolitan city potentially one day like we’re used to.
How has having cars in the streets changed how you film scenes down there?
It’s loud. The cars are very noisy, so we always have to take great care not to overlap our lines with the cars when they’re passing. I mean, the horses and buggies aren’t quiet either. But those old cars, they’ve got extremely loud engines and motors.
So that’s funny. You really can’t hear a thing that a character is saying to you if a car is passing.
And how exciting is it, though, to get to play on a show with those old vehicles? Where else do you get to do that in this day and age?
I feel like many photo shoots are happening every day in Hope Valley, with the cast and crew wanting to sit in the old cars and get a cool picture with their boots up on the backseat. Yeah, they’re gorgeous. They’re absolutely gorgeous. And we’ve got a number of them.
It’s so cool that we can get them to run. We’ve had a number of old vehicles. We’ve had old motorcycles. Well, even the buggies; the carriages are so cool.
It is a fun reminder when you turn your head, and you see those old relics of history just sitting there, and you’re like, right, this is, people lived this way. Um, so it’s a fun reminder.
How has working on that show given you a different perspective on history?
I think it’s proven to me that community is everything. Absolutely everything. It’s your foundation, especially back in the days when people were disconnected. At the start of our show, there weren’t even phones in Hope Valley.
You needed to know your neighbors; you needed to be able to knock on their doors and ask for help. Your community is everything. And this has absolutely proven that to me, time and time again. And as a cast and crew, we’ve become a community.
Because the show’s been on so long, we’ve seen each other through so many aspects of life. Marriages, divorces, babies, wedding showers, we’ve all lived through that together as a cast and crew. And it’s cool to see our characters doing that in the show itself, just knowing that that’s your foundation, your community is your family.
Yeah. I think that’s what is giving people so much anxiety and so much fear of the world because we no longer have that. You’re right. That sense of community. It’s a loss of heart.
I think you’re absolutely right. And that is one of the strongest elements that draws people to our show.
I agree.
Obviously, Erin [Krakow] is the most fabulous leading lady of all time, in my opinion. But at the same time, the community is an essential character.
It is. And it reminds you of what it can be, even if you don’t experience it, much like all of Hallmark. The same thing with romance and with the sense of community you feel is present throughout so many Hallmark productions.
We’re a small town filled with people who love and care about each other. It’s just so rare in the world now, but obviously something that we all want.
Or we wouldn’t be watching, and Hallmark wouldn’t be the juggernaut it is today.
I think you’re absolutely right about that. Yep. I couldn’t agree more.
And my final question. What are your summer plans?
Ooh, summer plans are When Calls. That usually almost always starts shooting in the summer months for us. So the kickoff to summer is usually my first fittings of When Calls a Heart is how I differentiate the seasons in my mind.
Apart from When Calls, I’m hoping to do swimming lessons with my kids on the weekend. I’m planning a little trip before shooting starts, so I will be in London.
I think it’ll just be shooting, enjoying my time, spending time with family, and working. I’ve been pitching and writing some of my own projects, so I’m working on that. And then the kids go to bed.
No, I’m excited to see what you come up with.
Thank you. I’m excited too.
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When Calls the Heart Season 10 premieres Sunday, July 29, at 9/8c only on Hallmark!
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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.
