Almost a decade after final donning Charlotte Thornton’s interval wardrobe, Brooke Shields says that returning to When Calls the Coronary heart felt immediately acquainted. Reuniting with Erin Krakow and the close-knit Hope Valley solid was nothing but a joyous homecoming.
A display screen, stage, and enterprise powerhouse, Shields understands the distinctive cultural footprint the long-running Hallmark hit has carved out — and why its devoted fan base, often known as the “Hearties, “stays so fiercely loyal.
“The present has such a particular place within the zeitgeist,” Shields solely tells Parade. “The followers are extremely beneficiant, and it’s been fascinating to see how the sequence has matured through the years.”
After studying the scripts for Season 13, there have been two essential facets of the sequence that attracted the 60-year-old. “Little Jack having diabetes in an period when no person knew about it, and refrigeration wasn’t a factor, was compelling to me,” she mentioned.
“I’ve a Sort 1 diabetic daughter who was identified at age 14, and that is the primary main tv sequence script that got here throughout my desk that had a professional Sort-1 diabetes storyline, and that positively hit residence for me.”
The opposite side of Season 13 that caught her eye is that Charlotte has advanced in a particularly constructive approach, regardless of the time interval during which she lived. Shields says that even though When Calls the Heart takes place within the early 1900s, a period that steadily discounted the significance of girls’ roles in society, “it was actually forward of its time. I learn the scripts, and it dealt very truthfully and appropriately with girls on this time of their lives.”
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The Blue Lagoon star appreciates that the ladies, the spine of When Calls the Heart, are resilient regardless of their hardships. “They have to choose themselves up. Charlotte does issues on her personal. She opened her personal boarding home along with her personal cash and did issues that ladies weren’t typically doing in that point interval. She’s not counting on a person, and it’s an curiously fashionable feminist strategy in the perfect of the way.”
“Charlotte is a contemporary girl who’s not afraid to take issues into her personal fingers. She represents the demographic and age bracket that I began my firm, Begin, for.”
A foremost focus for the actor-turned-entrepreneur, Begin is an organization for girls over 40, whom Shields acknowledged are grappling with various changes in their biology.
She mentioned there was a gap out there for girls over 40 who’re coping with the “skinification of their scalp,” so she began a hair care model for an otherwise untapped beauty market. The When Calls the Coronary heart viewers have been embracing her mission with Begin. “We’re doing six products within the hair care sector, and we’ll expand into different classes sooner or later.”
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Her different enterprise ardour is Prospect Pet, which Shields was drawn to after the death of her beloved canine. She met the founders of the corporation, who began it at their farm in Maine, with a mission to enhance the lives of our pets.
“The animals in our lives are so essential, and we have to deal with them the way in which they should be handled, by paying shut consideration to what we put of their our bodies,” Shields mentioned.
“With my daughters off in school, that unconditional love of a pet is sweet to have round the home, and on my lap, as a result of my different infants usually are not round quite a bit anymore. Prospect Pet is about giving folks a brand new understanding of the way to hold their pets more healthy and provides them a greater high quality of life, probably for an extended time. These are two feel-good firms; one’s for people, and one’s for pets.”

Having Shields rejoin the solid is one thing that Erin Krakow fully embraced. “It was fantastic welcoming Brooke again to our solid. She’s such a professional, and so humorous and current, and fully invested in, and caring concerning the tales that we had been telling collectively,” the actress mentioned.
“You might inform that she took her job and her position within the present very critically. which was tremendous significant as a result of I’ve been wanting Charlotte to come back again into the fold for a few years,” the 41-year-old added. “We laughed quite a bit collectively.”
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Krakow added that she appreciated how much fun Shields had off-screen with their younger co-star Hyland Goodrich, who plays Little Jack. “Whereas they had been establishing the digicam, I beloved seeing their foolish dynamic collectively. They had been dancing and having a good time. It was quite a lot of enjoyable to see.”
Shields mentioned working with Krakow was a pleasure. “Erin is the right instance of a pacesetter as a result of she units the tone for that set, and there’s no sense of superiority or angle,” Shields mentioned of her co-star.

“Not that I anticipated anything, however lots of occasions, profitable folks change or grow to be scared. However Erin has solely repeatedly revealed herself as a high quality one who is form, respectful, and effectively ready,” Shields mentioned. “Erin units the tone. You see it trickle down from the very high by way of all of the departments; all of them really feel revered and appreciated. That’s quite a bit on one girl, on one star, and she or he’s a pacesetter in it. She’s only a actually good human being who actually respects the followers.”
In the case of household dynamics, Shields had the chance to carry her eldest daughter, 22-year-old Rowan, on the set of When Calls the Coronary heart. Rowan, whose professional plans embody working behind the scenes, was informed by the producers and writers that they had been going to write down a small part for her, a lot to her mother’s delight.
“So, I get to have a scene with my daughter, who has by no means executed something like that earlier than,” Shields mentioned. “I’m simply sitting there considering that at 60 years outdated it has culminated into this actually feel-good, constructive goodwill that I’m being invited to nonetheless play in and do, and share it with my daughter.”
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She mentioned that the glad, constructive angle and generosity of spirit on the set of When Calls the Heart are qualities she believes in for her other initiatives, particularly within the first season of her AMC present, You’re Killing Me.
In the same way, as fiercely loyal followers watch When Calls the Heart and Hallmark films with their family, Shields hears similar praise for her new show.
“I typically hear, ‘Thanks, I watched it with my mother or my daughter,’ or ‘We stay up for it as a result of we all know you’re going to make us snort.’ Nonetheless having the chance to try this sort of work has been fantastically revelatory to me. I’m greater than grateful.”
When Calls the Coronary heart Season 13 premieres on Sunday, January 4, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on Hallmark and the next day on Hallmark+
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