Daniel Lissing Comments on If He Would Return as Jack on ‘When Calls the Heart’

Daniel Lissing recently shared that his return as Jack on “When Hope Calls” will give his character a proper goodbye. He emphasized that he won’t return as Jack again for either that series or Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart” unless it’s a truly meaningful opportunity.

Lissing Said He’d Only Return If the Storyline Made Sense

Lissing’s character, Jack, was married to Elizabeth on “When Calls the Heart.” Jack was killed off in an accident and Elizabeth has since moved on with a new love. But Lissing is reviving his character in the series’ spinoff, “When Hope Calls,” which will air on GAC Family on December 18. Would Lissing return as Jack again on that show or appear on “When Calls the Heart” ever again? He says yes, but with reservations.

In an interview with Deidre Behar of Entertainment Tonight, he said certain requirements would have to be met first before he would return again to “When Hope Calls” or “When Calls the Heart.”

He said first that he believes this new episode is giving Jack a proper goodbye:

These Hearties and the fans of this show are just the most…loyal fans in the world… I had a number of reasons to do this. I felt like it was a really nice, poignant way to say goodbye to this character…

But is it truly goodbye? Behar asked him if this was a permanent goodbye or if he might be persuaded to return as Jack more frequently in the future on either series.

He replied:

I have been approached in casual ways from people that are involved with these projects. Like, let’s do something more, let’s do something… And I’m like, ‘How?’ If you can give me a good way to do it, that makes sense, then I’ll be open to listening. So who knows what will come. But I’ll just leave it at that.

He Said He Was Grateful for the Chance to Film as Jack Again

He told Entertainment Tonight that he felt immensely grateful when he put on the red serge uniform.

“When I put that serge on and walked on set and saw him [Brian Bird] there, I just walked up to him and hugged him and said, ‘Thank you.'” he said. “I felt a lot of gratitude and then I put my game face on and got professional because I had a job to do…”

But, he added, he also forgot about some of the more difficult parts of wearing that uniform.

“I forgot how hard the boots were to put on,” he said, laughin. “…I was like, oh yeah that’s the right boot… You forget that stuff…”

In an interview with Paul Greene, Listing said he left “When Calls the Heart” when he did because it didn’t fit with the path he had for his future:

 I’ve got a very clear vision of what I want to do, how I want to do it, and the path that I choose to be on in this life… Man, I just loved playing Jack. I really, really did. If there was ever an opportunity to do anything again, I would not be opposed to it. But…in life, you’ve just got to make the decisions… You have to weigh up: ‘OK what’s my purpose? What do I want to do? What do I want to achieve? What path do I want to be on? And how do I get there? What’s going to serve me and my journey in the way that I envision?’ And so, super tough decision to walk away…

You have to follow your heart… Whatever it is, even though people might not agree with you, if you are not hurting anyone, you’re doing something positive for yourself, for your family, for the rest of your life, it can’t be anything but a good thing. I just had to follow my heart….

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