A family man! Paul Campbell has been a staple on the Hallmark Channel since 2013 — and his playful onscreen persona isn’t that different than his real-life vibe.
The Three Wise Men and a Baby star first appeared on Hallmark in 2013’s Window Wonderland. The Unexpected Christmas writer starred in two more hits for the network between 2014 and 2015 before taking a break from acting to focus on his biggest role yet: being a father.
“Around the time my son was born, I took some time off. It was weird because we had actually been in Los Angeles the year prior to that,” Campbell told My Devotional Thoughts in July 2018, confirming that his son, Kingston, was born in April 2016. “I was off for about six months before my son was born, and after he was born, I just took off the rest of the year.”
The Spun Out alum — who shares Kingston with wife Lorie Metz, whom he wed in June 2009 — explained that he was out of the entertainment hustle and bustle for about eighteen months before he “decided it was time to get back on the horse.”
Campbell’s return to Hallmark came in 2017 with Sun, Sand & Romance. The rom-com marked his first gig as a producer and the first time his son joined him on location for filming.
“I was at home looking after the kiddo, and I realized I could be doing writing at home,” the Canada native said, revealing he pitched the idea for Sun, Sand & Romance to the network. “And so that pushed me into the development/creative direction that I’m really having fun pursuing now.”
The following year, Kingston, who had Sagittal synostosis surgery shortly after his birth, once again joined his dad on set. (Campbell’s son has since recovered from his procedure, which was focused on creating a normal skull shape with more room for his brain to grow.)
“Bring your kiddo to work day — did he enjoy the snacks or the snow more?” the Battlestar Galactica alum teased via Instagram in August 2018 while working on A Godwink Christmas.
In September 2019, Kingston was his dad’s “special visitor” while he worked on a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries project. “He was less impressed with my acting than he was with the assortment of treats at craft services,” Campbell joked. “But to be fair I get that a lot.”
As the Wedding Every Weekend actor has grown as a parent, he has found a home with Hallmark Media. In 2020, the Christmas by Starlight actor began writing for the network and in 2022 he cowrote Three Wise Men and a Baby with longtime friend, Kimberley Sustad, which later became one of the biggest hits of the season.
“So much of the movie is these brothers acting like 13-year-olds and it really translates on and off camera,” Campbell exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2022. “We just became, like, three 13-year-old friends and there happened to be a camera filming us while we did our job. It was really silly. And I will say without hesitation, I ruined the most takes because I couldn’t stop laughing.”
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Scroll down to see how the Cases of Mystery Lane star’s goofball side translates to his fun life as husband to Metz and father to Kingston:
