Hallmark Stars Who Make The Most Money

The Hallmark Channel may be best known for its low-budget Christmas movies, yet its biggest stars certainly aren't struggling to make ends meet.

Once actors start working with Hallmark they tend to put down some roots and stay for a while — with some having starred in over two dozen productions. After all, the network offers consistency as well as opportunities for its actors to venture into executive producing and writing. It makes sense that the stars who make the most money tend to be well acquainted with the network.

Some well-paid actors have starred in Hallmark Channel's original television or movie series like "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries" or "The Good Witch." You may recognize some Hallmark stars as child actors from the '80s and '90s, while others you might recognize from early 2000s movies, like "Mean Girls." No matter how they got there, though, these actors have found success and a soft landing spot with Hallmark.

ABC's 2006 "Brothers & Sisters" star Luke Macfarlane has starred in over a dozen Hallmark Channel movies. According to Celebrity Net Worth, his estimated net worth sits at $2 million.

He's had his share of roles both on the stage and screen. He got his start in 2003 playing as a college student in Playwright Horizons' "Juvenilia." He went on to star in several television dramas, such as NBC's 2014 medical drama "The Night Shift," CTV Sci-Fi Channel's 2015 Canadian space adventure drama "Killjoys," and PBS's 2016 American period medical drama "Mercy Street." His career with the Hallmark Channel started in 2014 when he played romantic interest Gabe Sinclair in "The Memory Book." In 2022 alone, he appeared in two Hallmark Channel TV movies — "Moriah's Lighthouse" and "A Magical Christmas Village."

In the same year, Macfarlane starred in the movie "Bros" alongside Billy Eichner and an all-LGBTQ+ cast. Macfarlane, who came out as gay in 2008, credits his romantic lead acting skills to Hallmark. He told Vulture, "I've been on a ton of sets. I know my way around intimate conversation. I've learned how to fall in love with a lot of different types of people. I don't know what that says about me, but you get good at listening to people." 

Andrew W. Walker is a Canadian actor born and raised in Montreal. He starred in the 1996 Canadian family comedy series "Student Bodies" when he was only 16. As a teenager, he won a football scholarship to an American college but was injured before he was able to play on the team. However, his acting career flourished with roles in American and Canadian sitcoms, including the CBC British-Canadian sitcom "Back to Sherwood," the Canadian sitcom "Radio Active," and WB's American sitcom "Maybe It's Me." He also landed a role as a recurring character in later seasons of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."

Walker has been with the Hallmark Channel since 2012 when he starred in the original movie "A Bride for Christmas." He's since become a Hallmark regular and, according to Celebrity Net Worth, he's worth about $2 million. In 2022, he starred in two Hallmark movies — "A Maple Valley Christmas" and "Curious Caterer: Dying for Chocolate."

In an interview with Deadline, he expressed his satisfaction with his job and praised the network, saying, "I love diving into each character, to create quality films with positive content that make people feel good. The impact this network is making on its viewers is infectious and I'm thrilled to be continuing our collaboration."

Jessy Schram grew up in Buffalo, Illinois. As she told The Chicago Tribune, she started acting at the age of 12, starring in commercials and making her theatrical debut in "An American Girl Musical Revue" as Kirsten. Upon graduation from Buffalo Grove High School, her first big role was as Lea Thompson's daughter in the 2004 Hallmark series "Jane Doe," which afforded Schram her big break.

By 2012, she was balancing three shows at once — TNT's post-apocalyptic series "Falling Skies," ABC's military drama "Last Resort," and "ABC's fantasy adventure-drama "Once Upon a Time." She told The Chicago Tribune about her then-intense shooting schedule, saying, "I'm going to be doing a night shoot as this alien with a harness jumping off a roof top. And then there's not really going to be a turnaround, and I'm going to go straight to the set and put on a beautiful ball gown, but I have to shower in between."

In 2021, she starred in the Hallmark Channel holiday film, "Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas," and has starred in numerous other Hallmark Channel productions. Her estimated net worth is $3 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

"The O.C." alumn Autumn Reeser is a popular Hallmark Channel star whose net worth is estimated by Celebrity Net Worth to be $3 million. Aside from her role as Taylor Townsend on the 2003 Fox teen drama, Reeser is also known for playing the recurring character Lizzie Grant on HBO's comedy-drama series "Entourage."

From the age of 7, Reeser participated in various musical theater productions, and upon her high school graduation, she attended UCLA's theater program. In addition to starring in "The O.C." and "Entourage," she had a role in "Hawaii Five-0," "No Ordinary Family, "Last Resort," and "The Arrangement."

As of this writing, Reeser both executive produces and stars in productions for The Hallmark Channel. In a 2022 interview with "Hallmark Happenings," she discussed executive producing "The 27-Hour Day" and teased that she might have another film in the works. As she dished on the podcast, "It feels amazing to be involved on the creative side of things."

Alicia Witt began her career as a child actor in the 1984 adventure sci-fi film "Dune." She was just 7 years old at the time. In 1987, the Los Angeles Times labeled Witt as a prodigy. By age 11, she was working toward becoming a concert pianist who loved playing Mozart and broadway ballads. According to her interview with Women's Wear Daily, she's also been writing songs since she was 18 and playing the piano since she was 7. At the age of 16, Witt moved to Los Angeles to further pursue an acting career. 

Witt has starred in a number of genres. You may recognize her from the mystery thriller "Urban Legend" or the romantic comedy "Two Weeks Notice." She's even made appearances in many popular series such as AMC's "The Walking Dead" and Netflix's "Orange is the New Black."

"Christmas Tree Lane," which premiered in October, 2022, marked Witt's eighth Hallmark Holiday film. Her first role with Hallmark came in 2013, with "A Very Merry Mix-Up." Her involvement with the Hallmark Channel includes acting, executive producing, and songwriting. Her talents have earned her an estimated net worth of $4 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Lacey Chabert's acting career began when she was 10 years old. She played a young Cosette on Broadway in 1992. Two years later, she debuted as the second youngest of the Salinger kids on Fox's 1994 family drama series "Party of Five." She is also known for starring in the 2004 hit teen comedy film "Mean Girls" and for playing Meg Griffin in the first season of ABC's 1999 adult animation comedy, "Family Guy."

Chabert began working with Hallmark in 2010 and has since starred in over 30 Hallmark productions. In 2022, she starred in the Hallmark Channel film "Haul Out the Holly," which premiered on November 26. Chabert loves Christmas — a good thing for any Hallmark star — and admitted to "Good Morning America in 2021," "I pretty much decorated the day after Halloween and, yes, I was already listening to Christmas music."

In addition to being an actor, she is an entrepreneur. Her clothing line with HSN launched in 2022 and includes "Mommy & Me" dresses, pullovers, lounge jumpsuits, leggings, and sleep sets. According to Celebrity Net Worth, she has earned an estimated net worth of $4 million.

Jessica Lowndes is a Canadian actor and singer-songwriter most known for her role as popstar Adrianna Tate-Duncan on the CW's "90210," the fourth spinoff in the "Beverly Hills, 90210" series. At the age of 16, Lowndes completed her first EP, moved to Los Angeles, and was cast in the CW series. In 2008, she also starred in the horror movie "The Haunting of Molly Hartley." 

Later, she would go on to star in the horror sci-fi film "Altitude" as well as many Hallmark Channel and Lifetime movies. In 2019, Hallmark allowed Lowndes the opportunity to write the script for "Over The Moon In Love." She also co-wrote and performed the score for the film, according to Deadline. In 2022, she did the same for GAC Family in the movie "Harmony From the Heart," which stars Lowndes and Hallmark Channel alumn Jesse Metcalfe. And she's not stopping there. As she told Hollywood Life in February 2022, "I'm currently writing a horror movie as well and a pilot." Celebrity Net Worth has estimated her career success to be worth about $6 million.

Born in La Jolla California, Danica McKellar is an actor, mathematician, producer, and author. She got her start in acting on ABC's 1998 coming-of-age comedy series "The Wonder Years" playing Gwendolyn "Winnie" Cooper. She went on to star in Cartoon Network's animated action-adventure series "Young Justice" and had recurring roles on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" and NBC's "The West Wing."

McKellar, who earned her math degree from UCLA, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, became a New York Times Bestseller 10 times over for her humorous children's math books, including "Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape," "Hot X," "Math Doesn't Suck," and "Kiss My Math." According to her website, McKellar's books are aimed at helping middle school girls and making math fun. However, she's also written books to help teach younger kids, such as "Goodnight Numbers" and "Do Not Open This Math Book." Her achievements in the math field also include co-authoring a groundbreaking mathematical theorem — the Chayes-McKellar-Winn theorem.

McKellar's work with the Hallmark Channel includes both acting in and executive producing works like "You, Me & The Christmas Trees," "Christmas at Dollywood," and "Christmas She Wrote." All told, she has a net worth of $6 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.

Alison Sweeney is known for starring in "Days of Our Lives" as Sami Brady, but she's also starred in "General Hospital." Sweeney began acting when she was just 4 years old (via Soap Net). She has won five Soap Opera Digest Awards for her performance on "Days of Our Lives." In 2004, she published her memoir, "All the Days of My Life (So Far)," about her long battle with weight loss. Later, she went on to host "The Biggest Loser," which she left in 2015 after 13 seasons.

Sweeney has starred in more than a handful of Hallmark Channel productions, and the network has also given her opportunities to executive produce and co-write projects like "Chronicle Mysteries," which was inspired by her obsession with true crime podcasts. This obsession also led her to write the mystery novels "Scared Scriptless" and "The Star Attraction," according to the Hallmark Channel. Celebrity Net Worth estimates Sweeney's net worth at $9 million.

Five-time Golden Globe nominee Marilu Henner grew up in Chicago dancing in her family-owned dance studio in their garage. She told Hallmark Happenings that when she was 15, she performed in the Hall House show "The Boyfriend," which led to her breakout role in the original 1971 cast of "Grease." This launched her career, and in 1978, she starred in ABC's popular workplace sitcom "Taxi." She is also known for starring in the 1990 CBS sitcom "Evening Shade." She even competed on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2016. 

She has starred in Hallmark's "Aurora Teagarden" series, which consists of 18 television films, alongside Candace Cameron Bure. Henner began working with Hallmark in 2005 with the thriller "Gone But Not Forgotten" and, as of this writing, her latest Hallmark project is "A Kismet Christmas," which premiered in October 2022. In an interview with the "Hallmark Happenings" podcast, Henner explained why she likes working with Hallmark, saying, "It's fun to do these movies because you know, eventually, they're going to turn out well, but you're willing to take the journey to see how it all evolves."

All of her success has attributed to an estimated $12 million net worth, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Actor and singer Jesse Metcalfe is perhaps best known for playing the title role in the 2006 romantic comedy "John Tucker Must Die." You may also remember him playing opposite Eva Longoria in ABC's drama series "Desperate Housewives." Adventure Magazine credits the incredible chemistry he had with Eva Longoria on "Desperate Housewives" for Metcalfe's rise to fame. Thanks to the series, he earned a Young Hollywood Award and two nominations for Teen Choice Awards.

Since then, he has starred in the action thriller "Fortress: Sniper's Eye," "Hard Kill," "Tortured," and "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt." He's also known for starring in the 2012 remake of the drama series "Dallas." His relationship with the Hallmark Channel includes not only acting but producing and writing. Most notably, he starred in the 2015 Hallmark Channel movie "A Country Wedding," "Christmas Under the Stars," as well as the series "Chesapeake Shores." In 2021, he starred and produced "Ship in the Night," which is part of Hallmark's "Martha's Vineyard Mysteries" series.

Metcalfe said he enjoys working with The Hallmark Channel and told Christmas Con, "For me, that's what [making Hallmark movies is] all about — moving people, making people feel something, bringing tears to people's eyes." According to Celebrity Net Worth, his career has netted him $12 million.

Catherine Bell is one of the biggest names on the Hallmark Channel. Her initial rise to fame came from starring in NBC's American legal drama "JAG" and the Lifetime drama series"Army Wives." "JAG" eventually produced two popular spinoff shows — "NCIS" and "NCIS: Los Angeles" — in which she had a recurring role.

Bell and her family moved from London to the San Fernando Valley in California when she was a kid. After high school, she briefly attended UCLA but dropped out to model in Japan, only to discover that she hated modeling (via Wide Open Country). Instead, she decided to study acting in hopes of overcoming her shyness.

Her film debut came in the 1992 film "Death Becomes Her" alongside Meryl Streep. She went on to star in the comedy-fantasy "Bruce Almighty" and in the 2016 action-adventure "The Do-Over." She started working with the Hallmark Channel in 2008, when she starred in "The Good Witch" series. Her estimated net worth is $12 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

If you don't know her from the Hallmark Channel, you certainly remember her as D.J. Tanner in ABC's 1987 family sitcom "Full House" and its 2016 sequel series "Fuller House." Her brother, Kirk Cameron, inspired her to pursue a career in acting as she watched him in the 1985 sitcom "Growing Pains" (via Biography). Some of her other acting credits include appearances on ABC's family comedy-drama "Boy Meets World," ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," and Disney Channel's comedy family series "That's So Raven." Bure is also known for co-hosting "The View" from 2015 to 2016. 

As of this writing, she's starred in over 30 Hallmark productions. She joined the network in 2008, starring in the movie "Moonlight & Mistletoe." After being adopted into the Hallmark family, she began executive producing and directing films. She's been involved in so many Hallmark Christmas movies that Variety dubbed her "the queen of Christmas."

In addition to being a Hallmark star, she is a bestselling author for her self-help books such as "Healthy In The Hustle: An Inspirational Wellness Journal" and children's stories such as "Candace Center Stage" and "Grow, Candace, Grow." She has various entrepreneurial projects as well, including the production company Candy Rock Entertainment.

With her many projects, it's not surprising that her net worth is estimated by Celebrity Net Worth to be $14 million.