What Life Was Like For Hallmark's Natalie Hall Before Acting

Though she technically got her start at the network in the early 2010s, Natalie Hall didn't become a staple of the Hallmark Channel until around 2019. Since then, the actor has starred in a number of their signature made-for-TV movies, including "Fly Away With Me" and the underrated Hallmark Christmas flick "Noel Next Door." Along the way, Hall has also appeared in more mainstream TV productions, such as hit dramas "Pretty Little Liars" and "Charmed." But before she decided to pursue acting as a profession, Hall had her pick of jobs, since she boasted multiple talents while growing up in Vancouver.

According to Soap Opera Digest, the future Hallmark star was actually one of the only girls on an all-boys soccer team as a kid (something her life story notably has in common with that of "The Karate Kid" star Elisabeth Shue). However, Hall's path to Hollywood can be traced all the way back to her younger days, when her mother pushed her to follow in her footsteps and become a professional dancer. 

"My mom was actually a performer," Hall proudly informed Media From the Heart in 2020. "She was a dancer. She put me into dancing when I was three years old. I started off doing dancing and ballet and started singing." The actor moved to New York City at 18, at which point Hall joined Broadway touring productions of both "A Chorus Line" and "Wicked." As she noted simply, "That's how it all got started." 

Natalie Hall's very first TV credits came via one-off appearances on "The Good Wife" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." That said, her first major small-screen role was in 2009, when the Canadian joined the cast of ABC's "All My Children," replacing Brianne Moncrief in the role of Colby Chandler. Speaking to Media From the Heart, Hall clarified that it wasn't uncommon for Broadway performers to branch out into the world of soap operas. "I had seen some of these Broadway people do a Broadway show at night, and they were on a soap opera during the day. I thought that was a cool idea, and that's how I transitioned to film and television," she pointed out.

During a 2024 appearance on the "Suspenders Unbuttoned" podcast, Hall also admitted that she initially didn't want to trade musical theater for screen acting. However, concerns regarding the demanding physicality of stage performance forced her hand, with the actor acknowledging, "One day, I was dancing in a Broadway audition, and I thought, 'I'm not gonna be able to kick my leg forever. [...] I'm not gonna be able to do this forever. I gotta figure this out.'" Though she was only 22 at the time, it was a very fair concern, given what happens to the body as it ages. And doing something less physically demanding than dancing onstage every night has no doubt lengthened her career.