What We Know About The Hallmark Channel's Andrew Walker

Hallmark Channel fans are surely familiar with the work of Andrew Walker. After all, the actor has starred in nearly two dozen movies for both Hallmark and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, according to Parade.

Walker made his debut on the network in 2012, and through the years, he's become a familiar face in many of Hallmark's most popular movies, including "Bridal Wave," "The Perfect Catch," "My Secret Valentine," and "Bottled with Love." Walker has also made his mark on favorite holiday movies such as "My Christmas Family Tree," "Christmas Tree Lane," and "Christmas on My Mind," just to name a few (per IMDb).

"Andrew has a special talent and charm that shines through in every role," Lisa Hamilton Daly, executive vice president of programming, told Deadline in 2022. "He's become a favorite among our viewers for good reason." But just who is the guy who has captured the hearts of so many Hallmark viewers?

Andrew Walker was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and he admits that he wasn't always the best student in school. "I would say that I was an interesting blend of an athlete and an artist. I never really liked school — math, chemistry, physics," he said in an interview with My Devotional Thoughts. "I was terrible at anything I had to study, anything having to do with numbers or breaking down formulas. But anything having to do with athletics or the arts or anything having to do with my imagination was what I truly enjoyed."

He was bitten by the acting bug as a child and started working professionally as a teen with a role in the Canadian series "Student Bodies." Eventually, Walker decided to move to Los Angeles with a friend — and the rest is, as they say, history.

There's no question that Andrew Walker's acting career has been a successful one. As of March 2023, he's racked up approximately 80 screen credits, ranging from early TV guest spots in the mid-1990s to his status as a Hallmark Channel movie star. Back in the day, however, acting was just one of Walker's interests. Prior to persuing acting in L.A., his primary focus was football.

Walker displayed so much talent for the sport that he received a football scholarship to Boston College. However, before the teen was able to attend, he suffered a brutal injury, tearing his ACL. At that moment, his dreams of a sports career instantly evaporated. "They have a huge pool of athletes in the U.S. Once you're damaged goods, you're finished," Walker explained in an interview with the Montreal Gazette. "I did five hard months of physio and the first weeks after surgery were devastating," he added. "But I tried to channel my energy into different avenues after the accident. I tried to turn something bad into something good."

Adopting that attitude was not easy, but it ultimately bore fruit. "At the time [it] was a very difficult setback to come to terms with," he told From the Desk. "However, when I look back now, that trial has not only made me a stronger more resilient person, but also saved me from potentially a few more injuries."

Hallmark Channel star Andrew Walker met fellow Canadian Cassandra Troy in 2004, and the two soon bonded over their love of the great outdoors. 

"In the first week we met (circa 2004!), we discovered each other's love for nature. It started with a hiking trip in @monttremblant," Troy wrote on Instagram. "Followed countless small wilderness adventures, and some big, big trips which are always centered around being in nature."

The couple eloped in June 2012 and welcomed two sons: West Byron in July 2015 and Wolf Reinhard in December 2019, per US Weekly. When asked what the most rewarding part of parenting was, Troy told Fashion Mamas, "The unconditional love, the constant humbling moments, and especially the sense of accomplishment knowing that I'm truly a bad-a** because I created two little human lives."

Of course, family comes first, but Walker and Troy have also been focused on building their careers. While he worked to land more acting roles, she decided to help others get healthy. 

"I spent several years in the fashion biz — which I loved — but I always felt my true calling was in the food industry, inspiring people to live healthier lives through moderation, conscious eating, and making approachable great tasting food," she explained.

That passion led to a business endeavor that is a family affair.

In 2013, Andrew Walker and Cassandra Troy decided to elope so that they could use the money they had saved for a big wedding to open a cold-pressed juice store in Los Angeles called Clover, per US Weekly. 

"We never imagined how large our community could grow!" the couple wrote on the company website. "We've always been passionate about eating with an emphasis on nutrition and wellness, and we love inspiring people to lead a healthier, more invigorating life."

Walker and Troy rebranded the company Little West after the birth of their oldest son, and their products are now available nationwide. Its success has allowed Walker to be more selective about the acting roles he takes. 

"I'll pick and choose based on location and script, the people I'm working with and all of that stuff, you know ... nine and half times out of ten, I usually take the project no matter what because, it's great — Hallmark has a 'No A-h*le' policy so, usually I'm working with really great people ... people that reciprocate the same kind of set mentality but, all in all, I do get to pick and choose, and it's really great that I'm able to do that right now in my career," he told Lolly Christmas.

Andrew Walker counts some notable names as friends. He is good pals with fellow actor Tyler Hynes, and the two even showed up for cameos in each other's 2021 holiday films that aired on the Hallmark channel, per US Weekly. 

In addition, Walker and his wife, Cassandra Troy, are close with Emily Van Camp and Josh Bowman. When Walker and Troy eloped in June 2012, Van Camp was one of the witnesses during the ceremony. And, when the "Revenge" actress wed Bowman in 2018, Troy served as one of Van Camp's bridesmaids.

Walker is also friendly with many of his Hallmark costars, including Bethany Joy Lenz. "It was immediate chemistry, you know, her and I," he told Lolly Christmas. 

He continued: "I feel like when an actress is really open to putting the work in outside of our days on that we're on set ... we met up the first weekend that we got there, we started cutting up the script a little bit, giving our own spin to it, and then when we jumped on set ... we just had fun, you know? She does a lot of adlibbing and she's just a very open person."

Andrew Walker has a thriving acting career as well a successful business with his wife, Cassandra Troy — but the road to get there was not always easy. In an Instagram post, Cassandra explained that the couple lived in a small two-bedroom apartment for a decade and often struggled to pay rent while trying to keep their juice business, Little West, going.

In May 2022, she announced that the family of four had moved into a new home, which includes a view of the Los Angeles skyline from their backyard. "We have always said that we could live in a box and still be happy, and I know we would be ... and I suppose that's why I cry daily with gratitude for how full my heart feels realizing that this is our reality," she wrote.

In addition to growing Little West, Walker most recently starred in "Dying for Chocolate: A Curious Caterer Mystery" with Nikki DeLoach on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. And there will be more to come as Walker has committed to staying with Hallmark.

"I'm humbled and grateful to have been a part of the Hallmark family for a decade now. I love diving into each character, to create quality films with positive content that make people feel good," he said, per Deadline. "The impact this network is making on its viewers is infectious and I'm thrilled to be continuing our collaboration."

In November 2022, Andrew Walker starred in the Hallmark Channel holiday movie "Three Wise Men and a Baby," appearing alongside Paul Campbell and Tyler Hynes as one of trio of brothers who wind up taking care of an infant that's left on a firehall doorstep. The film wound up breaking records as the network's most-watched  movie of the entire year — and the second most-watched movie on cable that year. 

As Walker told Us Weekly, a big reason he signed on to the project was the opportunity to act alongside Hynes, with whom he had more than a casual relationship. "Tyler is my wife [Cassandra Troy's] cousin," Walker explained. "We talk weekly. I've known the guy for 19 years since he started coming to her house for Christmases when I first met my wife. So we have a deep, deep, deep appreciation for each other." As viewers surely noticed, the chemistry between the three actors came easily, which was something the trio definitely picked up on as well. "So we found that out pretty quickly," Walker revealed. "I'm pretty sure we'll probably do another movie together."

Hynes concurred, telling Entertainment Tonight that working with Walker was one of the most enjoyable experiences of his acting career. "A chance to be able to spend every day with one of my close friends and one of my family members is as good as it gets," Hynes gushed. 

It's no secret that Andrew Walker is closely associated with the Hallmark Channel. Once upon a time, however, Walker was best known for something else entirely: playing Cole Harper on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" for 10 episodes during the 2002-2003 season. Cole was an office colleague of Sabrina's when she launched a career as a journalist, working for an entertainment magazine called Scorch. 

As it turned out, Sabrina wasn't the only "witch" to impact Walker's acting career. In a 2023 interview with Us Weekly, he used that particular word to describe Nikki DeLoach, his co-star in the popular Hallmark Channel's "Curious Caterer" movie series. According to Walker, DeLoach was the driving force behind the franchise, willing the concept into being and bringing him along for the ride. 

"Her visions come true," Walker marveled. "Nikki DeLoach is a witch. She's a witch living amongst us."

While appearing in the 2017 Lifetime holiday movie "Snowed-Inn Christmas," Andrew Walker showcased a previously unseen talent when he sang a duet with co-star Bethany Joy Lenz. In addition to recording the song, "How About You," the two even appeared together in a music video for the track. 

While Walker's fans were no doubt impressed, singing is something he's done as a hobby for some time, going as far back as his teenage years. "To be honest, I sang in a rock band when I was younger from around the ages of 16 to 19," Walker revealed in an interview with My Devotional Thoughts. He was modest about his vocal abilities, admitting that fronting a rock group requires a very different skill level than crooning a Sinatra-style holiday duet. "Obviously, I was backed by a big band with guitars, bass, and drums, so I could hide behind all that," he explained.

Singing, he noted, is something that he gravitated toward organically, given that he hails from a highly musical family; in addition to an uncle who sings and plays trumpet, an aunt who teaches music, and a cousin who's an opera singer in London, his mother plays jazz piano. "I come from a family of singers," he added. "So I kind of had the background of music in my blood."

Prior to appearing in Hallmark movies, one of Walker's many roles included a part in "Steel Toes." In the Canadian-made movie, Walker played a neo-Nazi facing trial for a racially motivated homicide. As it turned out, it was his performance in the film that led to his entry into the world of Hallmark, resulting in his being cast in his first movie for the network, 2012's "A Bride for Christmas." 

"It's a role I'm proud of — I won a Borsos Award for best performance," he said of "Steel Toes" in an interview with the Vancouver Sun. Walker revealed that Hallmark called him "out of the blue" to offer him a role in the 2012 Christmas film. Walker recounted, "When I was talking to the director I said, 'Hey man, how did this come about?' And he says, 'We saw "Steel Toes.' And I was like, 'You offered me a Hallmark role for the skinhead movie I was in?' And he's like, 'Yeah, I felt you had something.'"

Since that first Hallmark movie, Walker has definitely run with it, appearing in numerous other projects for the network. In fact, Walker's association with Hallmark has been so lucrative that, in 2022, the network's parent company, Crown Media, signed him to an exclusive multi-movie pact. "I'm humbled and grateful to have been a part of the Hallmark family for a decade now," Walker said of the deal.

Hallmark Channel movies are known for their quick turnaround. As Vancouver Magazine pointed out, the time between the initial pitch and the end of filming is typically under three months, with production usually taking between two to three weeks. Considering how many of these movies Andrew Walker has appeared in, he's worked with a multitude of actors — many of whom have been background extras.

While it's not unusual for principal actors to have little interaction with extras, Walker has come to gain huge respect for these unsung heroes of the Hallmark Channel. "I think background performers are sometimes under-appreciated in how key a role they play in the quality of the film," he said in an interview with From the Desk. As he explained, the job of an extra is surprisingly more complex than the average viewer might assume, and actually involves a fair degree of legit acting.

"A good background performer will be engaged in the scene and also listen to direction," Walker added. "It's also important they hit a mark and pretend to talk with other background performers around them in the scene to bring life to the environment."

Andrew Walker's association with the Hallmark Channel dates back to the 2012 holiday flick "A Bride for Christmas," and has since included such movies as "Wedding Planner Mystery," and even a guest-starring role in the beloved Hallmark series "When Calls the Heart."

Walker's long relationship with the Hallmark Channel is no accident, though. As he explained in an interview with Lolly Christmas, he enjoys Hallmark's fast-paced shooting schedule and uplifting subject matter so much that he rarely turns down an offer to appear in a Hallmark project. "I'll pick and choose based on location and script, the people I'm working with and all of that stuff, you know," he said. "Nine-and-a-half times out of 10, I usually take the project no matter what because, it's great — Hallmark has a 'No A–hole' policy so, usually I'm working with really great people ... people that reciprocate the same kind of set mentality."

Admittedly, Hallmark Channel's offerings may not win Emmys and critical raves, but Walker believes the feel-good projects the network produce serve an important purpose and attract a surprisingly diverse audience. As he told the Vancouver Sun, he was once recognized by a truck driver in a convenience store. "And he's like 'Man, I love those movies so much, they allow me to decompress after a long day on the road,'" Walker said.

There's no argument that Andrew Walker has been seen in oodles of Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, but 2019 proved to be a banner year. During that single holiday season, in fact, he starred in both "Merry & Bright" and "Christmas on My Mind." As Walker explained to Lolly Christmas, he had already shot "Merry & Bright" when he signed on for "Christmas on My Mind," assuming that the latter film would be released the following year. "Up until ... Day 3 of shooting, I was like, 'So, when is this going to air next year?' and then my co-star, Ashley Greene, said, 'Andrew, it's for this Christmas,' and I'm like 'What?! I just did a Christmas movie ... are people going to get sick of my face?!'"

Admitting that the timing came as something of a shock, Walker further revealed that doing double-duty on holiday flicks has given him a special status among Hallmark Channel actors. "[Hallmark network producer Marybeth Sprows was] actually the one who told me that I was the only actor in Hallmark history that was hired to do two Christmas movies [in one season]," Walker declared.

In fact, Walker is so proud to be associated with Hallmark's holiday movies, and with the Christmas season in general. "It's the season of giving," he said in an interview with the Snowy the Mouse website, " and I love that."