Hallmark's Erin Krakow Has An Unexpected Past Connection To Luke Macfarlane

Many of Hallmark Channel's actors are known for sharing incredible on-screen chemistry (some Hallmark stars are even married in real life!) and you can count Erin Krakow and Luke Macfarlane among them. They both got their start at the network in 2014 — she with "Chance at Romance" and he with "The Memory Book" — and have gone on to become some of the most beloved and buzziest Hallmark stars around. It's no wonder, then, that producers decided to pair them up in their very own holiday movie: 2019's "Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen."

The flick was loosely based on the Jane Austen classic "Sense and Sensibility" and fans were all for it. "Krakow knocks it out of the park as Ella," gushed Escape into Film, while Hallmark for All Seasons praised, "Krakow and Macfarlane were great together." Indeed, it seems the actors themselves had a wonderful time filming. As Krakow once explained to ET, "You work with some people and it just feels very natural and like you've known that person or have been working with them for a long time." That was certainly the case for her and Macfarlane except, as it turns out, they have known each other for a very long time. Here's the unexpected past connection that Erin Krakow and Luke Macfarlane share.

Erin Krakow graduated with a BFA from New York's prestigious Juilliard School, and so did Luke Macfarlane. But they don't just share an alma mater; they were actually both enrolled in the private performing arts conservatory at the same time. As Krakow told TV Insider, shooting "Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen" was especially fun because of their shared college connection, even if they weren't exactly hanging out as students. "He was an upperclassman, so I looked up to him, but we didn't really get to work together in school," she revealed. Macfarlane further elaborated on their surprising shared past, telling TV Goodness, "[We] overlapped a year, so I didn't actually know her that well when I was at school."

Even so, there's another common thread to their story: Their time at Juilliard impacted them both deeply, helping to shape the adults they would become. "I wouldn't be where I am today without my education," Krakow once told From the Desk, while Macfarlane shared how his time at university helped him embrace his true self and eventually come out to the public. "Juilliard always felt like an open place for me and set me on the path that valued and encouraged self-knowledge," he told The Juilliard Journal in 2008.

While Briar the golden retriever from 2021's "It Was Always You" may be Erin Krakow's favorite new co-star (alongside human film partner Tyler Hynes), there's no doubt that Luke Macfarlane also tops her list of fave castmates. 

While promoting "Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen," Krakow couldn't help but gush about Macfarlane, telling Hallmark, "I just thought he was the coolest guy!" Noting he exceeded all of her expectations on-set, she enthused, "He's the nicest person [and] so easy to work with." What's more, it seems their time filming together was filled with plenty of laughter and a lot of reminiscing about their years at drama school. "I really don't want it to end," she admitted. "I'm kind of sad that I don't get to work with him every day after this project ends."

The feeling was mutual. Speaking with TV Insider, Macfarlane had nothing but praise for Krakow, saying, "It was a lot of fun to get to work together on this movie and reminisce about our time at school and just become closer pals." Indeed, she was one of the reasons why he wanted to appear in the flick in the first place. "The big appeal was to work with Erin," he told TV Goodness, adding that their unexpected past connection helped make the whole experience even better. "Once you've been through that, you kind of have a camaraderie," he mused.