Jack Wagner Opens up About Working With Ex-Wife Kristina on ‘When Calls the Heart’
It’s been way too long since When Calls The Heart wrapped its fifth season on Hallmark back in April, but the Hearties’ wait is almost over. When Calls The Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing will air on December 25th, and sees (almost!) all of your favorites reprising their roles, including Erin Krakow as Elizabeth, Lori Loughlin as Abigail, and Jack Wagner as Bill Avery.
To celebrate the movie’s release, here are a few key things to know about Jack.
He’s starred in some of the biggest shows of all time.
If you’re a soap opera fan, or even a casual soap viewer, you’ll absolutely recognize Jack, 59. He’s starred in a slew of beloved hits, including General Hospital, Melrose Place, and The Bold and the Beautiful. His role as musician Frisco Jones on General Hospital remains his most iconic and recognizable: He played the character on and off for several year-long stints between 1984 and 2013, and most recently reprised his role for the show’s 50th anniversary.“When I was younger, the soap opera stereotype was sometimes difficult for me,” Jack has said, noting that after his first four years on General Hospital, he moved into theater, starring in national touring productions of West Side Story and Grease. “I guess a lot of actors don’t like to be labeled,” he continued. “It was a hard label to be called a ‘soap opera actor’… I’ve come to accept that none of that really matters, but when I was younger, I always kept my hand in the theater and did as much as I could to make sure my mind was straight about who I was as an actor and where I came from.”
He stars alongside his ex-wife on ‘When Calls The Heart.’
Talk about being on good terms! Jack was married to Kristina Wagner, his former co-star on General Hospital, from 1993 until their divorce in 2006. Their GH characters, Frisco and Felicia, were an immensely popular couple on the show and their real-life romance only added to the fan intrigue. The ex-spouses ended up becoming co-stars again when Kristina joined When Calls The Heart in its second season, shortly after Jack made his debut as forensic investigator Bill Avery—and as you’d expect, both had some mixed feelings about reuniting on screen.
“I can’t say we lined up to do it,” Jack told City News in 2015, explaining that Hallmark CEO Bill Abbott had asked him what he thought of working with “Felicia.” “I said, ‘Do you mean (my ex-wife) Kristina?’ He said, ‘I don’t know her name. I just know I want Frisco and Felicia on this show.’” But once the initial trepidation wore off, Jack said, he and Kristina developed a strong working relationship. “It was very frightening to work together again. We know each other from that one format, which is General Hospital, and we knew exactly what to do there. These are new characters. But we really worked through it and we have a great chemistry.”
He has a history with Hallmark.
Before joining When Calls The Heart, Jack had already starred in a couple of Hallmark Channel movies, including 2014’s My Gal Sunday. His addition to the series, he has revealed, can be credited to costar Lori Loughlin. “Lori and I are buddies,” Jack he’s said. “Her husband, Mossimo, is my golfing buddy. She said, ‘Hey, the producers of the show I’m on really want to meet you.’ So I met Brad Krevoy, and when we met, he so wanted me on the show that he was willing to fly me up to Vancouver to do the final two episodes of this pioneer show he was doing. And it wound up happening.” Jack joined the show on a recurring basis in season 1, but was promoted to a series regular in season 2.
When Calls the Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing debuts Christmas Day at 8 p.m. on Hallmark.
