When it comes to Christmas movies, the Hallmark Channel runs like a finely oiled machine. The holiday season is the network’s cash cow, with the made-for-TV movies breaking viewership records and raking in serious bank. Naturally, the actors need to be compensated for their work. According to theScreen Actors Guild (SAG)pay scale, for a leading role,a Hallmark actor could make between $1,251.00 to $3,575.00 per week.
Of course, for bigger stars, that amount could be more.
Hallmark Celebrities’ Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Hallmark’s former go-to gal, Candace Cameron Bure, who has appeared in multiple movies for the network, has an estimated net worth of $14 million. While some of that money does come from her stint as a child star onFull Houseand in its rebootFuller House, it’s safe to say a lot of her income comes from holiday movies.
Celebrity Net Worthalso estimatesLacey Chabert, ofMean Girlsfame, is worth $4 million thanks to her 18 Hallmark movies.
“The fans of the Hallmark movies are incredibly loyal and devoted, and it’s actually enabled me to connect more with them and the people that enjoy the movies,” Lacey toldGlamourin December 2020. “They’re so vocal on social media, and I don’t think I’d experienced that to the level I experience now.”
“Hallmark has really become like family,” she added. “I really respect the programming. I feel really blessed to be a part of it. I’m really proud of the content, so it’s become a very close relationship. The values that are represented in their films are very much intrinsically who they are as a company.”
Danica McKellar, who transitioned from a child actress inThe Wonder Yearsto Hallmark royalty,is worth approximately $8 million.
However, it is unknown how much each actor is paid per Hallmark movie.
How Much Money Does Hallmark Make?
In 2021, Hallmark released so many Christmas movies that they were able to have a film premiere every Friday, Saturday and Sundaystarting on October 22. The reported budget, in 2018, for the Hallmark movie channel was approximately $2 million, and according to a 2017Business Insiderarticle, these holiday hits take only three weeks to film. The outlet reports that about $50,000 of that budget goes to fake snow.
S&P Global Market Intelligencepredicted that the network would bring in $390 million in ad revenue in 2018. That’s certainly worth the $2 million investment.
Why Did So Many Hallmark Stars Leave the Network?
While Hallmark has been known to cast the same actors in several of their movies, a handful of the network’s frequent stars announced they were leaving to work on projects for Great American Family in 2022.
One notable star that announced her exit was Candace. During a November 2022 interview withWall Street Journal, theFull Housealum explained that she moved to the Great American Family network because they don’t feature same-sex couples at the center of their projects.
Several celebrities – includingHilarie Burton–slammed Candace for her commentsand her reasoning for leaving Hallmark.
Other stars to announce their move to Great American Family includeDanica, Jen Lilley, Trevor DonovanandJessica Lowndes.
However, other actors have chosen to continue working with Hallmark includingLacey, Jonathan Bennett, Holly Robinson Peete, Andrew WalkerandTaylor Cole.
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