Andrew Walker’s journey with the Hallmark Channel has taught him the value of “trusting the process.”

Walker first appeared on the network in 2012, starring with Arielle Kebbel in A Bride for Christmas. At that point, the 46-year-old actor was busy starting a juice business with his wife and had been away from acting for a couple of years, going to fewer auditions. As he explained to DECIDER at the Hallmark Christmas Experience, “Hallmark came out of nowhere. I got an offer for a movie, and when it aired, it did quite well. Six months later, they called me back. Every time my phone rang, I was surprised, thinking, ‘Wow, they want me again?’”

Having now starred in over 30 Hallmark films and launched a skincare line called SkinMason, Walker is leading two major holiday movies for the network this year. He reprises his role as Luke Brenner in Three Wisest Men and teams up again with Lacey Chabert, his co-star from My Secret Valentine, in She’s Making a List. Additionally, he took on the role of a bartender in Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story, set at the renowned Bar Bill, which he eagerly pursued as a fan of the Bills.

In our conversation with Walker, we explored whether the Three Wise Men series would continue, which holiday he hopes to feature in a future movie with Chabert, and the possibility of him starring in a reality show on the network.

During our sit-down with Walker, we discussed whether it’s the end for the Three Wise Men franchise, which holiday he’d like to tackle next in a movie with Chabert, and the prospect of him leading a reality series at the network.

DECIDER: This is your second year at the Hallmark Christmas Experience. How has it been so far this weekend?

ANDREW WALKER: I did it last weekend, as well. So I was warmed up into it all. The experience is always just mind-blowing. I think that all of us here, on the talent side, at least, we are always just so surprised, I guess, [and] delighted at how many people are coming out. Especially this weekend. This weekend was the busiest weekend in—not that it’s a long history—but in the history of the Christmas Experience so far. So there’s just so many people, a lot of smiles, lot of laughs, some tears. That’s the beauty of Hallmark. I think it’s all the above and just bringing people together. I’m just really excited and feel very fortunate to be here.

Have you had a favorite fan encounter this weekend?

My really close friend is visiting right now. He’s originally from Montreal. We’ve known each other for 20 plus years, and he’s in town for the football game. He’s a big football fan like me, and last night was his first experience to anything on this side that I do. He knows that I do Hallmark movies, but he had no idea what the fan experiences are like. And last night was pretty special. He walked over to the Christmas tree lighting with me after seeing a panel, and at the end of the Christmas tree lighting, there was a little girl. He was standing in the audience looking up at the tree, and this little girl who was eight years old, Clara—it’s so funny, The Nutcracker, Clara. It’s very quintessential Christmas. He turns to her, and he goes, “Are you having a good time?” And she’s like, “Yeah, I love Andrew Walker. He’s my favorite.” And my buddy was like, “Well, you want to go meet him?” [Laughs.] And she’s like, “What?” And her mom or her aunt was with her. She’s like, “What?” He’s like, “Come with me.” So he brings her over the barricade, and he’s like, “Walker! Walker! Clara’s your biggest fan.” And she was the most adorable little girl. So I think that was pretty special. That was fun and I’m happy he did that.

Speaking of football, which I know you just mentioned, you appeared in this year’s Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story. What was the experience like getting to film in Buffalo and kind of getting absorbed into this other huge fanbase of Bills Mafia?

The Bills fans are, I think, some of the most special fans in the whole NFL. In my humble opinion, I think the Bills are really America’s team. It’s the hardworking culture of America. They’re all blue-collar workers that are just salt of the earth people. So to be there for the shooting and experience it on the fan level was just awesome. The movie’s such a good movie, isn’t it? It was really well done. Matthew and Holland were fantastic in it. The cast was great. But I grew up as a Bills fan. I grew up in Montreal, and East Coast Canada adopts either the Patriots or the Bills. West Coast Canada adopts their NFL team as either the Seahawks or the San Francisco [49ers]. But I grew up as a Bills fan, and so I begged Hallmark, actually, to put me in this movie. And they threw me a bone.

You’re in two other movies for this year’s Countdown to Christmas, one of them being Three Wisest Men, which was a return to this franchise, the third movie. Could we see a return in the future? Do you think this is closing out the story?

I think the Wise Men, for what that was, that’s going to be put to rest now. But a conversation Paul [Campbell], myself, and Tyler [Hynes] had, and Kimberley [Sustad], of course, is that hopefully people want more of us, and we don’t want to tire that concept out and then have people say, “No, we don’t want to see any more of you guys together. You’re on movie 17 now.” We wanted to really wrap this one up so it could give us an opportunity to do more together in a different format.

You also reunited with Lacey Chabert in She’s Making a List. What was it like reuniting with her on screen?

Parenthood changes you, and her and I are parents now to 9, 10-year-olds. Just life, parenting. As you move along in this career, you get to know your strengths and things that scare you. I think there’s less inhibitions and you’re not afraid to kind of go out there and put yourself out there in a way that you might have been a little bit more of when you were younger. I think Lacey and I are in just such a different place in our lives, and to connect with her as the beautiful, genuine, incredible soul that she is now, on camera and off. She’s also a really good friend of my wife’s, too. I think she was a little disappointed when she found out my wife wasn’t in Vancouver when we were shooting our movie. I think she was like, well, can we cast a different guy? [Laughs.] She was upset. Working with her now, it was like the perfect time and also the perfect movie. I love the father-daughter aspect, and Lacey also coming into my daughter’s life at a time where she needed a motherly figure. It was a great movie, and I love working with Lacey.

It felt like yes, it was a love story between your two characters, but also a love letter to parenting.

And what was beautiful the father of the little girl, Cadence Compton, he’s an actor. So he was on set and he would say, “Cadence, you know that thing that we do when you jump on Daddy’s back when we’re playing? Or when I’ll sit on top of you for fun?” So he would tell me the things that they do to kind of personalize it a little bit more. That was great to have a dad who’s an actor on set and help build that relationship, and have that history be a little bit stronger.

You and Lacey first tackled Valentine’s Day together in My Secret Valentine, and now Christmas in She’s Making a List. What holiday is next for you guys to do a movie about together?

Easter? Who knows? Maybe Halloween? I love that Hallmark’s doing more Halloween movies now. I’m down for that.

Your career with Hallmark spans back to 2012. Thinking back to that point in your life, did you think would become so embedded in Hallmark’s DNA? Did you see this career spawning from that?

No. I did my first movie back in 1842—no. I did my first movie 13 years ago. I think it was just a really fortunate pairing that I had with Arielle Kebbel. She was very easy to have chemistry with and the movie [A Bride for Christmas] was also a really fun movie. We had a great director. His name was Gary Yates. He’s done a hundred of these movies. He’s out of Winnipeg. It was just a perfect culmination of a few things. Also, I hadn’t worked for a couple years. I had a juice company with my wife that I had started, and we were busy doing that. I wasn’t going to as many auditions as I had been going to. And Hallmark came out of the blue. I got this offer to do this movie, and when it aired, it did pretty well. Then I got another callback six months later. Every time the phone would ring, I’d say, “Wow, you want to see me back again?”

I can’t believe where the brand has gone. It’s become a pop culture phenom now. Countdown to Christmas has become a household staple for people. All these events, these fan experiences that Hallmark is doing now, it’s unlike anything I ever thought I would be a part of back when this opportunity first came to me.

If you could go back and tell yourself anything at that point in your life—whether it be advice, words of wisdom—what would it be, and why?

Just trust the process. All the times that I thought that I wouldn’t be getting another phone call from Hallmark, and times that I questioned should I be doing this? Should I be going in a different direction? I think if I knew what I would be a part of now, back then, I would just stay the course. I think I really realized what this whole thing was around 10 movies in, and also really had my first fan experience at Christmas Con. I had imposter syndrome. I’m like, why are all these people here? Are they here to see Chad Michael Murray? I don’t know! But I think that first Christmas Con experience really blew my mind. And then seeing how these movies affect the viewers. It’s a very humbling place to be, to bring this kind of happiness to people and escapism for people that need it in their lives, which we all do. Life is tough. So these movies are a little glimpse of hope.

This weekend, you get to combine two of your ventures—Hallmark and SkinMason—by bringing it to the Hallmark Christmas Experience with a booth at the market. What has that been like to combine these two different parts of your life?

I just feel so lucky that I’m able to do it, and people are starting to get to know the brand now. To make something that helps people have a little bit more confidence in themselves is what I set out to do. Honestly, it was for selfish reasons back when I first started the company because I’d finish shooting and I had to take the makeup off my face. I was doing it every single day when I was working, and I was just using so many inconsistent skincare products. So I had partnered with a doctor friend of mine, and we wanted to create the best, simple, most effective skincare on the market. Since he works with organs, we have a lot of cell regenerative and very cutting-edge ingredients in our products that you wouldn’t normally find in products on the market.

For me, to be able to bring this here to the [Hallmark] Christmas Experience and have people come over to the booth and say, “I’ve been using SkinMason for the past year.” I got a before and after [picture] from a gentleman who has always had difficulty with his skin. He had adult acne. And we have these exfoliating pads that have a proprietary peptide in there that eliminates bacteria that forms acne. He came over to me and showed me a before and after picture of him, and I could not believe my eyes. And we’ve seen a lot of reviews and a lot of before and afters. But for me to be able to be here and give a little piece of this to the fanbase is just, I’m thrilled. I’m very excited. I’m excited that people are adopting it, as well.

What would you say is a secret or misconception about skincare and the practices behind it that you learned throughout the process of launching this company?

Healthy skin also starts from the inside out. You have to have a good diet, you have to stay hydrated. But skincare doesn’t have to be complicated. That’s what we set out to do. We originally started with three products. Obviously, there’s also protection. You need to have an SPF, which is something that we’re launching in the spring of 2026, for summer. But really, we’ve touched on each product that you need now. We have an exfoliating wipe. We have a gentle foaming cleanser, it doesn’t strip your natural biome. So you have kind of the two ones [for] a little more of our deeper clean. And we have our serum, moisturizer, and eye cream now that we just launched. So that pretty much hits every element of what you want in a complete skincare [routine]. So I think don’t complicate things. It takes, like, a minute and a half to do at the end of your daily routine. And start young, 20-year-olds, honestly. If I would have stared. My mom introduced me to skincare when I was younger, and I started doing it when I was in my teens a bit. But thanks to my mom, she got me started early, and I’m so happy for it.

In the spirit of this weekend, what is your favorite Christmas movie?

My favorite Christmas movie is still Home Alone. There’s something about the soundtrack and it’s very nostalgic to me… I’m an argument now with my kids. My kids think, like, Home Alone 7 is the best Home Alone. Like, no, guys! It’s 1!

Hallmark recently has expanded into more television, reality TV and docuseries. Do you ever see yourself leading one or appearing on one?

We are being shot right now on one. This is my reality TV show. There’s a camera in the tree. Yes, I do see myself doing something like that. It would have to be a show that would inspire, obviously, and I want people to see a vulnerable side to me, as well. So I’d love to expose that and just who I am authentically and who makes me who I am as a person. I’m kind of somebody who is not afraid to take on a challenge. So I think I’d have to wrap that all into one show, one concept, and we’re still figuring out what that is. But yeah, I see it. It’s going to come next year, I think.

Looking back through your work, I realized that you had a 10-episode arc on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Series star Melissa Joan Hart has also been welcomed into the Hallmark universe. Would you ever be interested in a collab? What kind of movie do you see yourself starring with her in?

Yes, I would be interested. She’s great, and we see each other once a year now at Christmas Con. You know, she does a lot of missionary work, and I think it would be fun to do something that is a piece of her reality of what she does. I think it would be fun to do something where we partner up and build a school together, or do something different that people haven’t seen, that we can also bring in a piece of that in her life. She’s taken her kids over to parts of Africa, and they’ll do the work and then they go on a safari. It’s really an amazing [thing], it’s a beautiful thing for a family to do together. She’s like, it really changed my kids’ lives. So something like that. I’m not gonna go to Africa to shoot a—well, I did! A Safari Romance, we went to South Africa and shot a movie in Johannesburg and Durban, which is this small encampment on the eastern coast of South Africa. But yeah, I’d love to do something like that with her, maybe travel somewhere and be two characters that come to build a school together.

Are there any future projects coming up that you can tease at all?

I shot a movie a couple months ago. It’ll air next year, and it’s in the sports realm, but I think people are gonna be really excited about it. That’s pretty much all I can tease so far.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (At least, that’s what Andy Williams promised.) The holidays are a time to celebrate with family, friends, food, and, let’s not forget, fun things to watch. Whether you’re huddled up with the whole family in your living room or cozying up under the covers with your tablet, let Decider be your guide to all things festive this holiday season.