Viv Leacock and Natasha Burnett Play Characters ‘Closer to Ourselves’ in New Hallmark Movie [Exclusive]
When Calls the Heart fans will see a different side of Viv Leacock and Natasha Burnett in Legend of the Lost Locket.
The new Hallmark movie, which airs April 13, follows a London-based antiques dealer named Amelia (Burnett) who travels to a small town in Massachusetts in search of the missing half of an antique locket that dates back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Once there, she clashes with the local sheriff, Marcus (Leacock), who questions her motives for searching for the missing item. But as the quest for the locket heats up, so do Marcus and Amelia’s feelings for each other.
The romantic mystery gives the actors – who play married couple Joseph and Minnie Canfield on When Calls the Heart – a chance to play off each other in a way that’s “a little different than the standard rom-com,” Leacock said in an interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, adding that the emphasis is on the comedy.
“You get to kind of see us interacting in a different way,” he said. “We were striving to really inject the com in this rom-com. That was our that was our goal from the outset.”
Natasha Burnett and Viv Leacock worked together to develop their new Hallmark movie
Legend of the Lost Locket grew out of its two stars’ partnership on When Calls the Heart.
“We came up with the concept,” explained Burnett, who along with Leacock is also one of the movie’s executive producers.
Leacock had previously starred with Kellie Martin in Hallark’s Hailey Dean Mysteries. He approached Michelle Ricci, the writer of that series, who started working on a script for the mystery-meets-rom-com film.
“[Michelle] was so good at capturing my voice,” said Leacock, whose roots are in stand-up comedy and who cites Eddie Murphy as a major inspiration. That made her a natural fit for the project.
Once Hallmark came on board, it was full speed ahead.
“Because we developed it together, we just hit the ground running,” Leacock said.
Legend of the Lost Locket is Burnett’s first time as executive producer. It ended up being a role she loved.
“I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed being part of every moment of the process … I thought it would be, I think, a lot more stressful and I would really feel like a fish out of water. But I really settled into it and really enjoyed taking note of all the details and getting into that,” she said.
Leacock, who is also a first-time EP, said he was “proud” to be shepherding the movie during a time of tumult in the entertainment industry.
“Coming out of times where things were a little tougher in the industry, with some of the crew that was their first gig back and I just I’m very proud of that,” he said. “Very proud of that. More than anything the fact that an idea was able to turn into work for lots of folks.”
There was ‘something special’ on the ‘Legend of the Lost Locket’ set
Being involved with the movie from its earliest stages also meant that Burnett and Leacock didn’t have any issue transitioning from playing the more buttoned-up Minnie and Joseph to the modern-day Amelia and Marcus.
“It was really important for us to create characters that we were comfortable with,” Burnett said.
The actors’ easy rapport comes across in the movie.
“It was a fun set to be on. And then to play with Viv in modern-day times. There was a lot of banter that we had between us, some of which stayed in the movie because it just came out as part of the way we communicate,” Burnett said. “So it was really nice to be able to switch up time periods and just characters to play sort of closer to ourselves.”
Leacock relished the chance to do some ad-libbing.
“I like to work like that. It keeps everybody on their toes. And it makes for some funny situations. Like, if Natasha and I are laughing, we’re really laughing,” Leacock confirmed. “That’s not acting. We are laughing for real. All the the chemistry and the good vibes and stuff like that. It’s such a cool thing that exists in real life.”
The good vibes extended to the rest of the cast, which includes Hrothgar Mathews from When Calls the Heart and Kevin O’Grady from Garage Sale Mysteries.
“Everybody fit so well … we could feel there was something special on set when we were filming,” Leacock said.
“It’s really nice actually to sort of end up with a family on set after working with them for so long,” Burnett confirmed.
In the end, Amelia and Marcus unravel the true story behind the missing piece of jewelry. But even though Legend of the Lost Locket is a standalone movie, there’s the potential for more stories, both Burnett and Leacock suggested.
“There’s a lot of antiques out there, and there’s a lot of stories connected to antiques, lots of time capsules buried out there. There’s lots and lots of stories that we can get into,” Leacock said.
“We would love it if there was a sequel,” Burnett said. “The idea of telling stories about antiques can take you in so many different directions. I think people love a bit of history. I think the two combined the detective, the antiques dealer, I think it could make a good pairing.”
Legend of the Lost Locket airs Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel. It’s also streaming on Hallmark Movies Now.
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