After years of waffling on the matter, Luke Macfarlane is going back to his roots this fall with Hallmark's new house-swap romance Notes of Autumn. The flick, which premieres Saturday, September 16 at 8/7c as part of The Hallmark Channel's annual Fall Into Love marathon, marks Macfarlane's much-anticipated (and doubted) return to the network that nursed him. Co-starring familiar favorites Ashley Williams, Marcus Rosner and Peter Porte, Notes of Autumn is a cozy fall romance with an LGBTQ love story — the kind of inclusive storytelling that Macfarlane has clamored for for years.
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Since making his leading-man debut in 2022's Bros—the first gay rom-com from a major Hollywood studio to hit the big screen—Macfarlane has said that his tenure at Hallmark is pretty much over, telling the LA Times, "How many firefighters can I play?" (He plays a famous author in Notes of Autumn, so we're good there.) But the in-demand actor always held out hope that he'd return to Hallmark in a queer love story. It appears that the network's diversified storytelling has gotten Macfarlane back on side. He will also be starring in a still-untitled Hallmark Christmas movie later this year.
Here's Hallmark's official synopsis for Notes of Autumn:
"Ellie (Williams) is a fun-loving, classically trained pianist living in the city who gave up on her passion long ago. Her best friend Leo (Macfarlane) lives in the rustic outskirts of British Columbia. He's a famous author with writer's block who can't seem to finish another installment in his highly popular book series. Realizing they both need a change of scenery, they decide to swap places, only to find themselves completely lost in new surroundings.
Ellie gets tangled up in helping Sam (Rosner), Leo's neighbor, put together a musical performance for a local fundraiser. Leo strikes up a friendship with Ellie's good friend Matt (Porte) and opens himself up to writing something different that really inspires him. Their newfound friendships turn into something far more meaningful, and as both Ellie and Leo take part in the joys of the autumn season, they also discover their hearts belong somewhere very different than they ever thought possible."
Notes of Autumn premieres Saturday, September 16 at 8/7c on The Hallmark Channel.
