Hallmark fan favorites Paul Campbell and Tyler Hynes opened up about challenging “norms” of the network’s iconic Christmas programs and sharing more “inclusive” stories with their new movie, Three Wisest Men.
“The reason that people keep coming back to these movies — largely as much as they’re fun — is because they do reflect the human experience,” Campbell, 46, told Us Weekly in an interview published on Sunday, November 16. “And those are very real things. We’ve sort of taken the gloss off of it and the polish, and we go, ‘Actually, life is messy and it’s imperfect, and it doesn’t have to fit into this neat little box and family.’”
Campbell went on to state that he and the movie’s creative team set out to tell a “really human, relatable story” in the latest film, which comes after 2022′ Three Wise Men and a Baby and 2024’s Three Wiser Men and a Baby.
“These characters are not living perfectly, but they’re doing their best,” Campbell, who co-wrote all three films alongside fellow Hallmark star Kimberly Sustad, explained. “And I think that’s why people enjoy these movies so much.”
The films star Campbell, Hynes and Andrew Walker as brothers whose lives are turned upside down when Luke (Walker) brings home a baby that was abandoned at the fire station. With the help of their mother, Barbara (Margaret Colin), the brothers lean on each other as they navigate their complicated personal lives while raising a child.
In the third movie, which premieres on Saturday, November 15, fans saw Taylor (Hynes) move in with his girlfriend, Caroline (Erin Karpluk), despite not being engaged or married. The decision was groundbreaking for the network, which often tells more traditional and conservative love stories.
“We really try to humanize these characters,” Campbell said of the decision to have the characters move in together. “And not everybody waits until they’re married to move in, that’s not accurate.”
According to Campbell and Hynes, 39, Sustad, 38, insisted they give an “accurate depiction of the humanity” for audiences.
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“While we were shooting and Paul was sleeping because he worked such long hours, she was fighting for these characters and helping clarify these points,” Hynes told the outlet. “And it’s because of Kim that any of this stuff that we’re talking about happened.”
Campbell went on to share that Hallmark has been supportive of letting the Three Wise Men franchise “push the envelope of what maybe they’ve been comfortable with historically, or what their audience is comfortable with sometimes.”
After he noted that “not everybody’s going to love that story line,” Campbell said “Hallmark has been really great about letting us tell that because it’s necessary to sort of diversify in the way that we tell stories and be more inclusive.”
While Campbell praised the network, Hynes made sure to credit Campbell as the “MVP of these movies.”
“Without a doubt, he is the centerpiece of it all,” Hynes said. “He takes on the burden of building the world and evolving these characters, which they do feel evolved, and then making it feel fresh and not stale and like we’re just phoning it in. That’s really hard to do.”
This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 16, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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