Hallmark ace & 'Hearts Around the Table' star Ashley Newbrough piloting new film collections

Four-part series add more character development, story depth

Behind the Screens with Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

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One of the most tried and true expressions is certainly a pillar of Hallmark Channel moviemaking: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Audiences tune in for aspirational content, wherein two people clearly meant to be together overcome great obstacles – both personal and professional – to save the day and one other. Hallmark films present these characters with one last foil at the start of the final act, before reuniting the leads for true love’s kiss.

It’s a winning formula – so much so, that there are at least a half-dozen other networks that try to replicate this recipe (but never quite as well as Hallmark).

That said, wouldn’t it be nice if these Hallmark Channel characters – and the actors who bring them to life – had a longer runway with which to work?

What if we want to know what comes after happily ever after?

The answer comes courtesy of four-part film collections. These multi-part installments provide greater character depth, more backstory, and – as seen in the new “Hearts Around the Table” compilation – a longer look at the leads’ lives.

Steve Lund and Ashley Newbrough star in the new Hallmark Channel film “Hearts Around the Table: Jenna’s First Love." (Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Brain Power Studio)

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“I loved that there was a chance for more of a character arc, and you get to know more of a character’s world,” said Ashley Newbrough, who stars as Jenna in the first of four films. “It’s a little bit more carved out. You get to know a group of friends – each of the friends – and you get to follow them a little bit longer.

“Especially in ‘Hearts Around the Table.’ I love this one – for a lot of reasons – but one of them being you get to see beyond what happens after the happily-ever-after kiss. In Jenna's movie, after that's finished, there's three other films that follow. And you get to kind of follow what happens with Jenna after that, which is neat, and something I've never done before.”

Newbrough, a holiday movie all-star (“Small Town Christmas,” “Snowmance,” “A Merry Christmas Match,” “Operation Nutcracker”), has filmed three collections over the past two-plus years, starting with “The Love Club: Moms,” then the recent “Unwrapping Christmas,” and now “Hearts Around the Table.”

“It was more of the opportunity just happened to present itself back-to-back in that way,” Newbrough explained. “But I was grateful for it, because, again, I do like the style of shooting that, just because it creates more of a world. … You just have more time with everyone and the characters and everything.”

Upping the appeal factor for these collections is that they often enlist additional Hallmark Channel actors – certainly more than would be the case in a traditional one-film project.

This experience is more enjoyable for the cast, too.

In “Hearts Around the Table,” “We were always in and out of each other's movies, and kind of always all together, which was more fun,” Newbrough said. “It was nice, because, again, you get to know your castmates a little better, and catch up with old friends, and there's that familiarity there.”

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“Hearts Around the Table: Jenna’s First Love” star Ashley Newbrough. (Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Brain Power Studio)

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“Moms” is the second “Love Club” collection. Newbrough stars as Tory, sharing the screen with romantic dramedy colleagues Nazneen Contractor, Rebecca Dalton and Genelle Williams (with cameos from Brittany Bristow and Marcus Rosner, amongst others).

“Tory is a very driven business woman,” Newbrough said. “She runs a publishing company, and is very logical. She's got this checklist for what she's looking for in a guy, and she's going on all these dates and no one's measuring up. She's trying to turn love into this equation, rather than do something like fall head over heart or lean into any sort of vulnerability.

“She's also brave enough to decide that she wants to adopt a baby, and she's going to be a single mom, and she's going to take on that challenge – with the help of her friends, ‘The Love Club,’ of course. 

"Very quickly realizes that she's going to need to hire some extra help. She needs to find a nanny. And that's when she runs into Finn, who comes to her house and sort of accidentally interviews for the nanny position. They start working together, and then she finds out he's actually a writer.

“Finn isn't what she would normally go for. So, at first, she doesn't really see him as any sort of option, as someone to date. But then, with the help of ‘The Love Club,’ that might change a bit.”

“Unwrapping Christmas”: With holiday responsibilities piling up, gift-wrapping shop owner Lily (Ashley Newbrough) eagerly accepts a date with a handsome local realtor. But will he be the one that sweeps her off her feet? (Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Johnson Production Group)

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In “Unwrapping Christmas,” Newbrough plays Lily.

“ ‘Unwrapping Christmas’ is about four college friends who start a business together,” Newbrough said. “It's a gift-wrapping business. And the four of them are all in charge of different departments within the business. And I play Lily, who is the marketing department. She's struggling to find her Christmas spirit again, because she lost her dad, and he was the Christmas tree decorator, and a huge part of her Christmas celebration. So, she finds it hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. By working with her friends and meeting some new people and getting out in the dating scene, she finds the spark again.”

In “Unwrapping Christmas,” four friends come together at Christmas to help their community, save a historic landmark, and dominate wrapping competitions! Pictured are stars Natalie Hall, Ashley Newbrough, Kathryn Davis and Cindy Busby. (Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Johnson Production Group)

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“Unwrapping Christmas” paired Hallmark spotlighters Cindy Busby, Natalie Hall, Kathryn Davis, Torrance Coombs, Nathan Witte and Jake Epstein.

Debuting Saturday at 8 p.m., “Hearts Around the Table: Jenna’s First Love” sees Newbrough working with Steve Lund, Mishael Morgan, Al Mukadam – plus Davis, Coombs and Epstein – alongside “The Facts of Life” favorite Mindy Cohn.

Kathryn Davis, Jake Epstein, Mindy Cohn, Ashley Newbrough, Mishael Morgan and Justice James in “Hearts Around the Table: Jenna’s First Love.” (Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Brain Power Studio)

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“ ‘Hearts Around the Table’ is about a bunch of grown-up foster kids,” Newbrough said. “Mindy Cohn is our foster mom. It's amazing to work with her. She's so funny and so gracious and just an icon. She brought so much to this table. She's incredible. We're very lucky to have her and become friends with her. She's so much fun.

“She's our foster mom. You get to know each of the foster kids and where they're at in their lives now. And every Sunday, they all have like a family dinner. They have Sunday supper all together, and they all catch each other up on what's happening in their lives. They all help each other, in their own way, sort of navigate love and life and whatever it is that's going on.”

“We had a blast all together,” Newbrough said.

“It was funny too, that Kathyn Davis, Torrance Coombs and Jake, we were all involved in the ‘Unwrapping’ movies, and then we got to circle back and hang out again for this round. That was great.”

The first of the four-film “Hearts Around the Table” collection debuts this weekend. Catch “Jenna’s First Love” at 8 p.m. Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

“Unwrapping Christmas” is streaming on Hallmark+, while “The Love Club: Moms” is available on UpTV's faith & family.

“Hearts Around the Table” bookends Jake Epstein (Josh) and Ashley Newbrough (Jenna) actually worked together when she was just 13 years old. “He was on a show called ‘The Zack Files,’ and I did a guest spot,” Newbrough said. “It was my first speaking role on a show. So, it had been a minute since I had seen him." When making this movie, “I reached out to our producer, Beth, and I told her I had photos of Jake and I from when we were 13, if they wanted to use it for set deck. And she got so excited about it, and so she said, ‘Yes,’ and so I sent them to her. So, they're actually framed photos of us in Angie's (Mindy Cohn’s) house on the set to kind of really make it all come full circle.” (Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Brain Power Studio)

Al Mukadam and Ashley Newbrough reunite in “Hearts Around the Table: Jenna’s First Love.” “Al Mukadam plays billionaire Tom Redlands, who my character, Jenna, is working for in this movie,” Newbrough said. “And what's funny about him is, the last time I saw Al, we were like 18 and on a kids show together. So, that was wild. That was a cool blast from the past.” (Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Brain Power Studio)

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