Brooke Shields is heading back to television in a move that is exciting a lot of fans. The Suddenly Susan and Blue Lagoon star is heading back to Hallmark, a network she has not appeared on for nearly a decade.
According to People, Shields will reprise her role of Charlotte Thornton on When Calls the Heart. She previously appeared on the show for two episodes back in 2016.
Shields also starred in Hallmark’s The Flower Shop Mystery series of movies, which also aired in 2016.
In January, Us Weekly shared excerpts of Shield’s new book, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, where she wrote about her former deal with Hallmark.
As the media outlet noted, in 2014, Shields began a big contract with Hallmark that was supposed to lead to 16 movies. However, she only did three, plus the guest stint on When Calls the Heart, before leaving.
In her book, Shields wrote, “I’d completed only three when I realized I had to renegotiate. I’d been hired, I was told, to help change the face of the network. They wanted me to be funny and bring more comedy to their offerings.”
However, Shields continued, “As filming progressed on each of the Flower Shop Mysteries — the franchise I was hired to headline — all the humor had evaporated.”
“Not everything is for everyone, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Hallmark Channel — God knows it has a huge fan base — but it was not the future I wanted for my career,” Shields explained in her book.
She also wrote, “I’m never against hard work, but I am now a believer in only saying yes to work that serves me.”
People indicates that Shields will appear in three episodes of When Calls the Heart during Season 13 when it airs in 2026. Charlotte is the former mother-in-law of Erin Krakow’s Elizabeth and the mother of Elizabeth’s former husband, Jack.
The return of Charlotte doesn’t come completely out of left field. At the end of Season 12, Elizabeth, Little Jack, Nathan, and Allie had traveled to where Charlotte ran a boarding house to stay for a bit.
The boarding house was located closer to an insulin lab they believed could help Little Jack after his diabetes diagnosis. While together in the episodes ahead, Charlotte will reconnect with Little Jack and help the young boy embrace memories of his father.
Shields noted that the adjustment to where the show is in 1922 is a big change from what life was like when Charlotte was last in the picture. “We’re also seeing Charlotte evolve, which has been interesting,” Shields explained to People. She added, “We create a path for her to modernize.”
Having Charlotte back in the mix of things on When Calls the Heart is a move Krakow, who is also an executive producer for the show, loves.
“I have been crazily wanting to get Brooke back on When Calls the Heart for years. I am so excited we were able to make the timing work. She is a dream to work with,” she explained.
Fans of When Calls the Heart are excited about Shields’ return.
“This makes me so happy. I was hoping they would have her back to see her grandchild,” one fan noted in the Hallmark Movies subreddit.
One Hallmark fan pondered, “I guess her issues with Hallmark are done?”
Someone else replied, “Possibly. Quite a bit of management changes since her ‘Flower Shop Mystery’ days…Maybe this is a way to test the waters and see if she could bring another movie series to Hallmark.”
“I’m sooo thrilled and excited Brooke is back!!!! Welcome back,” a fan shared on Instagram.
“This is OUTSTANDING,” commented another Instagram user.
