HOPE VALLEY 1874: WE CATCH UP WITH THE SERIES STARS, BETHANY JOY LENZ, BENJAMIN AYRES & JILL HENNESSY

There’s a new Hallmark + series out ready to captivate your hearts. Hope Valley:1874 is the prequel to the enormously popular and long running series series “When Calls the Heart” and judging by it’s debut - this one is going to be around for a while too!

Hope Valley: 1874 stars Bethany Joy Lenz (A Biltmore Christmas), Canadian Benjamin Ayres (The Santa Class), Canadian Jill Hennessy (City on a Hill), Canadian Roan Curtis (Firefly Lane) and Lachlan Quarmby (Providence Falls). Joining the ensemble cast are Canadians Jedidiah Goodacre (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Clayton Cooley, a ruggedly handsome blacksmith, and Chelsea Hobbs (Deck the Halls on Cherry Lane) as Peggy McCabe, the wife of Tom's (Ayres) foreman Nash as portrayed by Brad Abramenko (A Splash of Love).

The series explores the earliest days of the frontier settlement that later became Hope Valley, chronicling the courage, resilience and relationships that laid the foundation for the close-knit town viewers have come to love.

Lenz portrays Rebecca Clarke, who travels from her home city of Chicago to the Western Canadian frontier with her 11-year-old-daughter Sarah (Mila Morgan, The Holiday Sitter). But when her wagon breaks down, and she realizes the boardinghouse is not as advertised, Rebecca has no choice but to accept help from local rancher and confirmed bachelor, Tom Moore (Ayres).

Despite her best intentions to remain unattached, Bella can't help but slowly fall for Tom and develop a friendship with tenacious pioneer woman Hattie Quinn (Hennessy). Hattie's daughter Olivia (Curtis) helps run their trading post and catches the eye of Constable Alexander Vaughn (Quarmby), much to the dismay of Clayton (Goodacre), who harbours feelings for her.

Hope Valley: 1874  is now streaming with new episodes premiering every Thursday beginning
March 26th exclusively on Hallmark+ in the U.S. In Canada you can catch the series on W Network and streaming on Stack TV.

I spoke with stars Bethany Joy Lenz, Benjamin Ayres and Jill Hennessy about the series and living life on the Canadian Frontier.