By India McCarty
For the stars of HOPE VALLEY: 1874, community-building on set involved some literal building.
“Like, literally building [community],” Lachlan Quarmby, who plays Mountie Alexander Vaughn, told Movieguide®. “There are buildings kind of being fabricated as we go along, [like the] boarding house that’s central to the story, and how many different characters pitch in in certain ways just to help build that one building.”
Jill Hennessy, who plays Hattie Quinn, added, “It’s things like that that bring people together.”
“Everybody’s getting brought together, and some of them have their differences, some of them have a little bit of a clash, but for the most part, people are picking everybody up in order to get through,” Quarmby continued.
That sense of community extended offscreen as well, with Hennessy saying, “It was nice to go to a set where there was such a positive vibe because of the actors and the storylines.”
Related: HOPE VALLEY: 1874: Episode 1.1
HOPE VALLEY: 1874 is a prequel series for Hallmark’s popular show WHEN CALLS THE HEART. In the show, viewers meet the early residents of Hope Valley, who will go on to create the community Hearties know and love in WCTH.
Star Bethany Joy Lenz, who plays Rebecca Clarke, recently shared her excitement about the show, telling PEOPLE, “It’s such a dream job.”
The ONE TREE HILL star said she initially passed on the role, as she’s a single mother who didn’t want to do a show that would force her to pull her teenage daughter out of school and bring her to the production location.
However, a producer called Lenz and said, “I know you’re a single mom, and you have to work around your daughter’s school schedule, and I know she loves to act. What if we give her a role in the show and we’ll shoot around her school schedule?”
After auditioning, Lenz’s daughter, Maria Marsh, was cast as Vivian Doyle, the teenage daughter of a prospector who first appears in the second episode.
The actress expressed gratitude at the efforts HOPE VALLEY:1874’s crew went through to get her on the show, saying, “It was one of those moments like, I’ve worked so hard for so long, and it feels really good to just be offered something really lovely. And I was happy to take the win.”
In an interview with Pop Culturist, Lenz expanded on those feelings of thankfulness, sharing, “What I took away from that experience [filming the show] wasn’t just patience, but a real, daily practice of gratitude. It grounded me in a much deeper way and gave me a renewed appreciation for so many things I might otherwise take for granted.”
HOPE VALLEY: 1874’s premiere episode is currently streaming on Hallmark+, with new episodes premiering every Thursday.
Read Next: Get Ready For This ‘Rugged’ WHEN CALLS THE HEART Prequel!
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