Hallmark Channel's Spring into Love event is here with five all-new romantic movies Saturday nights at 9/8c. Find out more about the cast members starring in the movies, including some new additions to the Hallmark family!
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JoAnna Garcia Swisher stars as "Lindsey" in "As Luck Would Have It."
JoAnna Garcia Swisher’s success comes from her naturally vibrant and energetic personality. Her genuine nature certainly catalyzed her career, but her girl-next-door appeal and Hollywood glamour continues to captivate audiences year after year.
Currently, Garcia Swisher stars in Netflix’s “Sweet Magnolias.” Set in the small town of Serenity, South Carolina, the show is based on a Sherryl Woods book series, about three women who have been best friends since childhood. Jamie Lynn Spears, Heather Headley and Brooke Elliot also star. The first season premiered on Netflix in 2020 and has been renewed for a second season.
In 2018, Garcia Swisher was seen in ABC’s Tuesday night Fall dramedy, “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World.” On the feature film side, Garcia Swisher appeared in Warner Bros.’ comedy Fist Fight directed by Richie King with Ice Cube and Charlie Day. In 2015, Garcia Swisher starred on ABC’s “The Astronaut Wives Club,” based on the book by Lily Koppel, as ‘Betty Grissom,’ wife of Gus Grissom.
In summer 2013, Garcia Swisher played Vince Vaughn’s girlfriend Megan alongside other comedic actors Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Josh Gad in 20th Century Fox’s The Internship. The year before, she starred opposite Justin Kirk as Dorothy Crane in the NBC comedy “Animal Practice.” In 2010, Garcia Swisher starred alongside Jennifer Finnigan on the ABC romantic sitcom series “Better with You” and opposite Raven-Symone in the ABC Family television movie “Revenge of the Bridesmaids.”
In 2008, Garcia Swisher portrayed the lead character in the CW’s teen angst comedy with a twist of drama, “Privileged” as well as the CBS primetime series “Welcome to The Captain” alongside Jeffrey Tambor, Chris Klein and Raquel Welch. Prior to this, Garcia Swisher made an indelible mark with fans of the show “Reba” throughout the show’s six-year span, in which she played Reba’s daughter Cheyenne Montgomery. The show met monumental success and critical acclaim, even ranking as the #1 show through all six seasons and garnering the highest ratings for a WB comedy in history. Her work on the show earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for “Breakout Star.”
Aside from her starring roles, Garcia Swisher has also had a series of memorable guest roles on television series throughout her years of acting. Among these are her roles as Bree Buckley, one of the many love interests of Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) in the third season of the CW’s “Gossip Girl,” her recurring role as Dr. Nina Greene on “Royal Pains,” her guest starring role as the girl that continues to get away from Ted (Josh Radnor) on “How I Met Your Mother” and her recurring role as the sister of Adam Pally’s Dr. Peter on “The Mindy Project.” From 2013 to 2017 Garcia Swisher has also had a recurring role in the cast of ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” as the iconic Disney princess Ariel.
Born to a Cuban father and American mother, Garcia Swisher started her career at a young age. She found a knack for acting at the age of 10 and quickly jumped at opportunities to explore her acting potential in local theater productions in her hometown of Tampa, Florida. Her first break outside of local Floridian theater came when she was still in high school, after Nickelodeon discovered her and slotted her into a starring role as Samantha on three seasons of the network’s hit show “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and Fiona on “Clarissa Explains It All.” Although she had to commute between Florida and Montreal for the roles, her efforts proved fruitful when it led her to other acting opportunities. Her career truly began to blossom after she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting as a career, at which point she landed roles such as Hallie on “Party of Five;” the recurring character Vicki Appleby on “Freaks and Geeks;” and a key role opposite John Ritter in the television movie “Holy Joe” as Joyce Cass.
From there, Garcia Swisher co-starred in two hit teen comedies in 2001, American Pie 2 and Not Another Teen Movie.
Outside of acting, Garcia Swisher has founded The Happy Place, which is a destination that explores, motivates and empowers the experience of living a life with intention and how that reflects in your interiors. At its core, The Happy Place will ignite and inspire the inner designer in every person.
She has also been inspired by working with the Step Up Women’s Network (a national network of women dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls). Garcia Swisher, along with her husband Nick Swisher, also founded the Swisher Family Foundation with a mission of providing children in need with medical care, education, and recreational activities.
Garcia Swisher currently splits her time between Los Angeles and Tampa Bay with her husband (former professional baseball player Nick Swisher), and their daughters Emerson and Sailor.
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Allen Leech stars as "Brennan" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "As Luck Would Have It."
Allen Leech is known for the role of Tom Branson in the award-winning series, “Downton Abbey.” In 2019, he reprised the role in the series’ film feature continuation, Downton Abbey, which received massive commercial and critical success. Prior to that, he co-starred in the award-winning story of the band Queen in Twentieth Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody, opposite Rami Malek. He could also be seen in the WGN series, “Bellevue,” opposite Anna Paquin.
Prior to this, Leech starred in Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game, opposite Benedict Cumberbatch. He can also be seen in Jonathan Mostow’s The Hunter’s Prayer opposite Sam Worthington. Leech’s previous television credits include “Rome” and “The Tudors.”
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Italia Ricci stars as "Miranda" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart."
Italia Ricci will be familiar to Hallmark viewers from her lead roles in the movies “Love in Winterland” and “Rome in Love.” She was also recently cast as the lead in a new television series that has yet to be announced.
Ricci starred in the Netflix political drama “Designated Survivor” created by David Guggenheim and executive produced by Simon Kinberg. The series also starred Kiefer Sutherland, Kal Penn, Maggie Q and Natascha McElhone. Ricci played Emily, the no-nonsense Chief of Staff to Tom Kirkman (Sutherland). The conspiracy thriller centers on a lower level United States Cabinet member who is suddenly appointed President after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.
Ricci recurred for a five episode arc on the first season of “Supergirl” on CBS playing villain Siobhan Smythe otherwise known as Silver Banshee. She is the latest hire by Calista Flockhart’s media mogul Cat Grant. Ricci’s character was first introduced as a workplace adversary for Melissa Benoist’s heroine but later became a much more deadly foe when she takes on the mantle of DC Comics villain Silver Banshee. Ricci previously led the cast in ABC Family’s drama series “Chasing Life,” playing the lead role of April Carver, a twentysomething smart and quick-witted aspiring journalist hoping to work her way up the ladder at a Boston newspaper by trying to impress her hardnosed editor. Just as her career starts taking off, she receives news that she has been diagnosed with cancer.
Born in Richmond Hill, Ontario and raised in Newmarket, Ricci always had a burning desire to be in the entertainment business. Beginning her career at nine years old, Ricci starred in numerous local theatre productions and continued to do so throughout high school. While majoring in drama in college at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Ricci participated again in school productions and did a little modeling during summers. As much as she enjoyed performing, Ricci always planned on her entertainment career consisting of entertainment law. However, one day in college Ricci’s friend asked her to be an extra with him on the movie American Pie Presents: Naked Mile. One of the writers approached her during a lunch break and asked if she would like to audition to be upgraded from extra to a featured player and she booked it. Before she knew it, she was cast in the next installment of the franchise, entitled American Pie Presents: Beta House.
After graduating college, Ricci deferred her plans for law school to relocate to tinsel town to give acting a serious shot, giving herself a one year limit to see if she could make a living doing what she loves. She immediately landed a recurring role as Chase Ravenwood on Disney XD’s original series “Aaron Stone.”
Ricci went on to book guest-starring roles on such television shows as “CSI: Las Vegas,” “House,” “Greek” and “How I Met Your Mother.” She followed these with the recurring role of Sasha on the Comedy Central series “Secret Girlfriend” and the lead role of Maggie on the hit Cartoon Network live-action series “Unnatural History.” Ricci has also found success on the big screen. In 2014, she played an early love interest for title character Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in the fall comedy feature Don Jon, and was seen in the lead role of Allison in the 2014 Sony thriller The Remaining, a film that follows a group of friends trying to survive the end of the world according to the Bible, written and directed by Casey La Scala.
When Ricci isn’t acting on location, she resides in both Los Angeles and Canada. She enjoys cooking, reading, painting and spending time with her husband, fellow actor Robbie Amell, and their son. She is also involved with the non-profits Stand Up To Cancer as an Ambassador. She volunteers as much time as she can when she is in Los Angeles at Children's Hospital L.A. (CHLA), and is this year’s 10-year honoree and Brand Ambassador for Stupid Cancer.
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Ryan Paevey stars as "Ben" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart."
A relative newcomer to the entertainment business, Ryan Paevey launched his career in December 2013, playing Detective Nathan West on ABC’s longest running soap opera, “General Hospital.” His character instantly became a fan favorite, spawning counterfeit social media accounts across Twitter and Facebook, as well as attracting thousands of followers. Paevey spent four years on the show and his departure became one of the most mourned deaths in the history of the soap.
During his time on “General Hospital” he also starred in the Hallmark Channel Original Movies: “Unleashing Mr. Darcy” (2016) and “Harvest Love” (2017). In 2018, he appeared in “Marrying Mr. Darcy” on Hallmark Channel and in “Hope at Christmas” on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. In 2019, he starred in the Hallmark Channel movies, “From Friend to Fiancé,” “A Summer Romance” and “Christmas at the Plaza,” and was also seen in a guest arc on BET’s new drama “Games People Play.” Most recently for Hallmark Channel, Paevey was seen in “Matching Hearts” and “A Timeless Christmas.”
Born and raised in Southern California, Paevey spent most of his childhood exploring the great outdoors. Acting was never on his radar growing up and he was happiest when he was outside, camping, hiking or rock climbing. Though he’s a true outdoorsman at heart, his striking features caught the attention of a modeling agency and he started modeling on the side for extra cash while working in construction. Aside from his print work, Paevey was featured in Christina Aguilera’s music video “Your Body.”
On his days off, Paevey can be found (or, actually, not found) scouting out uncharted territories for the occasional cliff jumping session or finding other ways to satisfy his craving for thrill seeking – sitting still is not an option. He is also a self-proclaimed nerd, loving video games and all things tech.
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Taylor Cole stars as "Cara" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "One Perfect Wedding."
Taylor Cole has starred in three installments of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ “Ruby Herring Mysteries” franchise, including “Ruby Herring Mysteries: Prediction Murder,” “Ruby Herring Mysteries: Silent Witness” and “Ruby Herring Mysteries: Her Last Breath.” Last year she also starred in “Matching Hearts” during Hallmark Channel’s “Love Ever After” programming event and in “Unlocking Christmas” for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, which premiered during the network’s annual “Miracles of Christmas” programming event. Additionally, Cole starred in the Hallmark Channel original movies “One Winter Weekend” and “One Winter Proposal,” the first two movies in the trilogy, as well as “The Art of Us,” “Christmas in Homestead,” “My Summer Prince” opposite her “One Winter Weekend” co-star Jack Turner, “Appetite for Love,” “Falling for You” and “Christmas Festival of Ice." She starred in The CW’s “The Originals,” and is featured in multiple episodes of the CBS suspense drama “Salvation.” Cole co-stars with Val Kilmer and Tom Berenger in the feature film 1st Born, which was released in 2019.
Cole was a recurring guest star in TV Land’s “Impastor,” The CW’s “Supernatural,” A&E’s “The Glades” and CBS’ “CSI Miami.” She was also a series regular on NBC’s hit show “The Event.” She starred in the Lifetime movie “Bad Blood” and can also be seen in the films Weaponized, The Violent Kind, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, The Surrogates and Twelve Rounds, as well as the MTV movie “All You’ve Got,” among other film credits.
Cole made her television debut on The WB series “Summerland” as Erika, a role originally intended to be a guest star, and was promoted to series regular once Aaron Spelling and the other producers saw her work. She had recurring roles in “Heroes” and “Secret Girlfriend” and guest starred on “Ballers,” “Castle,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Entourage,” “NCIS” and “Melrose Place,” to name a few. In addition, she stars in the music video for Mayer Hawthorne’s “The Walk,” Ryan Cabrera’s hit song “True,” as well as the video for Papa Roach’s cross-over hit “Scars.”
Born and raised in Arlington, Texas, Cole played on her high school’s volleyball team and traveled the country competitively playing at the junior Olympic level. She also has traveled the world as a professional model to such countries as Italy, France, Germany and Australia. An avid sports enthusiast, Cole continues to play volleyball, golf, practice Tae Kwon Do and surfs (a sport she learned for “Summerland”).
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Jack Turner stars as "Ben" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "One Perfect Wedding."
Jack Turner studied at the University of Oxford before moving to San Francisco where he worked for Google. During that time, he enrolled in a local acting class and became addicted to the craft.
Since moving to Los Angeles in 2012, Turner has worked in TV, film and commercials. His first movie was The 10 Year Plan, playing love-sick romantic Myles. He most recently starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie “Love in Winterland,” which premiered last year, and previously starred in “One Winter Weekend” and “One Winter Proposal,” the first two movies in the trilogy, and “My Summer Prince.” He also appeared on “Stitchers” (Freeform) for two seasons as the mysterious bad guy Liam Granger. In 2017, Turner played J.R.R Tolkien on “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” the first time the writer has been played on TV.
In early 2020, Turner starred in Sony’s feature film Red Devil, releasing in UK theaters before wider distribution.
Turner is a musician with over 10 years’ experience on keyboards and guitar. He played music in Hallmark Channel’s “Forever in My Heart” and created the soundtrack for Steam Room Stories-The Movie! – both released in in 2019.
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Rukiya Bernard stars as "Megan" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "One Perfect Wedding."
Rukiya Bernard is currently a recurring Guest Star on The CW series “Nancy Drew.” She was a series regular on “Van Helsing” and will also be recurring on the upcoming legal drama “Family Law.” Most recently for Hallmark Channel, Bernard appeared “Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing,” which premiered last year during the network’s “Countdown to Christmas” programming event. She’s also familiar to viewers for her role in “Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa,” “One Winter Weekend” and “One Winter Proposal,” the first two movies in the trilogy, and in “Just the Way You Are.” Appearing in a wide variety of made-for-television movies, including Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ “Debbie Macomber’s Dashing Through the Snow” and “The Gourmet Detective,” Bernard can also be seen in Lifetime’s “Ungodly Acts” and “Accidental Obsession.” Bernard has appeared in episodes of “Supernatural,” “Proof,” Intruders,” “Witches of East End” and “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour,” as well as others. Her feature film credits include Wonder, The Cabin in the Woods, Tooth Fairy and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
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Dewshane Williams stars as "Sean" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "One Perfect Wedding."
Hailing from Jamaica, Dewshane Williams moved to Canada in 1997. He enrolled at the renowned Toronto Fine Arts High School and soon after, was cast as a Lead in the musical Grease. Williams also went on to star in Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man and the theatre production of Metamorphosis.
When Williams entered the professional arena, he quickly booked a series regular role on Disney XD’s “Baxter.” Since then, his range of work has been notable, including roles in the series “Flashpoint,” “Nikita,” “Lost Girl,” “Being Erica” and “Saving Hope.”
Williams was also a series regular on the Disney Channel series “Backstage,” FX’s “The Strain” and the hit Syfy series “Defiance.” Last year, he guest-starred in an episode of the hit series “Supergirl,” and appeared in multiple episodes of the series “The Expanse” and “Salvation.” Other television series in which he has appeared include “Ransom,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Killjoys” and “Murdoch Mysteries.”
This year Williams appeared in two TV series: “Frank Drake Mysteries” and “In Contempt.” Also in 2018, he appeared in two made-for-TV movies: “Her Stolen Past” and the Hallmark Channel Original film “One Winter Weekend.”
Williams’ film credits include the role of Frank in the prison drama Dog Pound, Home Again, The Story of Luke, Looking is the Original Sin, Lullaby for PI (staring Rupert Friend), Jesus Henry Christ (with Toni Collette and Michael Sheen) and Unless.
When not in front of the camera, Williams enjoys singing, composing songs, dancing and loves engaging in a variety of sports.
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Marco Grazzini stars as "Nick" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "Right in Front of Me."
A 15-year veteran of the film & television world, Marco is originally from Toronto, Canada. In 2020 Marco joins Netflix's wildly popular "Virgin River" as Mike Valenzuela. He is additionally known for his roles on "Kim's Convenience", " The Magicians" and "The Flash". Marco is also the original voice of 'Alejandro' in Cartoon Network's "Total Drama World Tour". Amongst his other passions are cooking & photography.
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Janel Parrish stars as "Carly" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "Right in Front of Me."
Born in Hawaii, Janel Parrish started in show business at the age of six on Broadway as Little Cosette in Les Miserables. From there, she discovered a love of television and film and ended up in Los Angeles. Parrish is best known for her role as Mona in the hit TV show “Pretty Little Liars” and as Margot in the film series To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. She also was a contestant in season 19 of “Dancing with the Stars” where she placed third.
When not working on tv and film, Parrish loves returning to the stage when she can.
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Cindy Busby stars as "Amy" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "Chasing Waterfalls."
Cindy Busby has been making waves in Hollywood on the big and small screens alike. Growing up in Montreal, Canada, Busby always dreamed of becoming an actress. From the time she was a child she loved performing for an audience, and throughout her elementary school and high school years she devoted herself to every theater school production. Upon graduating from high school, Busby was accepted into the Professional Theater Program at Dawson College in Montreal and was admitted from amongst hundreds of applicants. The rigorous, three-year training allowed Busby to demonstrate her professionalism, hard work and devotion and was presented with an award of academic excellence.
Busby notes her first passion in the business was theater as she honed her acting skills on the stage while in school and right after graduation. In 2005, Busby crossed into television and film and was given her first lead in the story of the Canadian medical hero Norman Bethune in the television series “Bethune.” She filmed in rural China for two and-a-half months and the series attracted several million viewers. In 2006, Busby played a supporting lead in the Lifetime original film “A Life Interrupted” opposite Lea Thompson and landed a regular role on the series “Heartland.” Cast as Ashley Stanton, a rich, self-righteous, competitive horseback rider, the series took off and has been nominated for several Gemini Awards as well as winning a Director’s Guild of Canada prize, all while becoming one of the most popular shows on Canadian television as well as syndicated in over 81 countries around the world.
Throughout the following years Busby continued having success booking roles, first landing the lead antagonist in “Picture This” alongside Ashley Tisdale, Shenae Grimes-Beech and Kevin Pollack, and appearing on the smash hit series “The Vampire Diaries” on The CW. In 2011, Busby appeared on the big screen in Fox 2000 Pictures’ The Big Year, in which she was seen opposite Hollywood heavy hitters such as Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson.
Busby’s resume also features guest starring roles on The CW shows “Supernatural,” “The LA Complex” and “The Secret Circle,” a guest star spot on USA’s “Rush,” TNT’s “Proof” and she was seen heavily recurring on Hallmark Channel’s “Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove.” Most recently, she starred in the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Original “A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love,” and starred in Hallmark Channel Original Movies “Wedding March 5: My Boyfriend’s Back,” “Royal Hearts” and “Marrying Mr. Darcy.” In addition, she was seen as a series regular on UpTV’s “Date My Dad” and starring opposite Vivica A. Fox in the Lifetime’s “The Wrong Stepmother.”
Busby recently starred in “Follow Me to Daisy Hills,” “Romance in the Air” and “Love in the Forecast” on Hallmark Channel, and can next be seen in “Romance on the Menu.”
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Christoper Russell stars as "Mark" in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "Chasing Waterfalls."
Christopher Russell is a first generation Canadian, born in Toronto to British parents.
His many television credits include series regular roles on BBC America’s cult hit “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” and Lifetime’s critically acclaimed series “UnREAL.” Recurring and guest star roles include CBS’s “Star Trek: Discovery,” Amazon Prime’s “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” SyFy’s “Van Helsing,” The CW’s “iZombie,” “Supernatural,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Nikita” and “BH 90210.” Russell was also the lead in ABC Family/Freeform’s sitcom pilot “Gorgeous Morons,” created by the “The Office” alums Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and written by Danny Chun.
Russell has starred in multiple TV movies, including the lead in “Love in the Forecast,” “Nature of Love,” “Love Unleashed,” “Mr. 365,” “Wedding Bells,” “Midnight Masquerade,” “Love, Again” and “Merry Matrimony,” among many others.
On the big screen, Russell’s credits include the lead role in the indie thriller Gone Tomorrow, Center Stage: Turn It Up, the late George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, as well as The Right Kind of Wrong, which was an official selection for the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013.