Paul Campbell might best be described as one of the quirkiest men on the Hallmark Channel. He definitely offers something different than some of his peers on the network like Andrew Walker or Victor Webster but in the best way possible. He's incredibly witty, sharp and charming, which makes for a seriously entertaining lead in a Hallmark Christmas movie. As much as we love him in front of the camera, he's also jumped even further into the world of Hallmark and has written a couple of festive holiday films.
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The Canadian actor didn't really get his start in the entertainment business until after high school. Apparently, we can unofficially thank Will Smith for giving him the acting bug.
"When I was eighteen, after I graduated, I became a carpenter," Campbell explained to My Devotional Thoughts.
"I got a couple of years into it and I was like, "I don't want to do this. This isn't the job that I thought it was." A friend of mine was doing some background work on a movie that was shooting in Vancouver. Will Smith was starring in it. My friend called me one day and said," Oh man, I'm having so much fun and hanging out with Will Smith. And I'm making 'X' amount of dollars." And I was like, "You're making three dollars more an hour than I am, and I'm bustin' my butt hauling lumber across the construction yard!" So my friend encouraged me to come and do some background work."
After studying acting in school, Campbell started landing guest roles in shows like The Dead Zone, John Doe, Black Sash and Andromeda. His big break came a few years later when he landed the role of Billy Keikeya on the sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica, which still has a passionate fanbase over a decade after it ended. He has since appeared in numerous other TV shows and films like Knight Rider, Almost Heroes, The Perfect Score, The Big Year, Spun Out and Take Two.
In 2013, Campbell made his Hallmark debut in Window Wonderland and was immediately hooked. He has since starred in nine additional films -- A Godwink Christmas, Holiday Hearts, Wedding Every Weekend, Christmas by Starlight, The Santa Stakeout, Surprised by Love, Once Upon a Holiday, The Last Bridesmaid and Sun, Sand & Romance. As for his work behind the scenes, he wrote Christmas by Starlight, which he also starred in last year, as well as 2021 movies An Unexpected Christmas starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Tyler Hynes and Christmas at Castle Hart starring Lacey Chabert and Stuart Townsend.
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"Hallmark Channel is the perfect place for me to be working right now," Campbell said in 2018.
"I love working for them, and they've always been really good to me. I really like the content, and now that I have a family, it's a nice sort of pleasant content where I don't have to worry about racy, questionable stuff. It's definitely the direction that I feel I'm headed. I'm always open to doing movies or series with Hallmark, whatever they have for me. I would always jump at the chance."
Campbell has even been proud to help Hallmark embark on their new inclusive direction, which is focused on featuring more same-sex relationships and people of color. His film Wedding Every Weekend featured a same-sex wedding, which he was incredibly excited about being a part of.
"It was fun to see how much harder they leaned into things as script revisions kept coming out," he told Media Village.
"They made bigger storylines for some characters to really celebrate them. It wasn't like, 'We're just going to kind of float it in and hope no one notices'. They were putting this front and center because this is our new direction."
Outside of work, Campbell has been married to his wife Lorie for a decade and according to his website, "they spend the majority of their time chasing their son Kingston around the house shouting 'put that down!'"
