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Meet Robert Buckley, One of Hallmark's Newest Leading Men

Robert Buckley is one of the newest leading men to appear on the Hallmark Channel. He made his big debut earlier this year and has a Christmas movie coming out this month, The Christmas House. We couldn't be more excited about Buckley joining the Hallmark fam because we've been big fans of his for years. 

Robert Earl Buckley grew up in Claremont, California. After graduating with a degree in Economics from the University of California, San Diego, he tried to make it in the real world as an economic consultant. But he couldn't shake the desire to try acting so he packed his bags for Los Angeles. After just a couple of years auditioning around town, the actor booked a role in the film When a Killer Calls as well as a lead in the TV show Fashion House on MyNetworkTV.

Over the years, Buckley has continued to regularly appear in various TV series. He played the role of Matthew Wakefield in the telenovela American Heiress, Kirby Atwood in NBC's Lipstick Jungle, Clay Evans on the CW's One Tree Hill, and Brian Leonard on ABC's 666 Park Avenue before landing the role of Major Lilywhite on the CW's iZombie. He had also made appearances on shows like Ghost Whisperer, Hart of Dixie, Privileged, the role of surfer Kyle Hamilton in the Lifetime film Flirting with Forty opposite Heather Locklear, and Dimension 404 on Hulu, but the Rob Thomas show kept him busy for five seasons, ending last year. 

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In 2018, Buckley starred opposite former One Tree Hill actress Hilarie Burton in the Lifetime Christmas film, The Christmas Contract. There are a few fun OTH cameos in the film and it takes place in Louisiana so we highly recommend it. It apparently was enough to get the attention of the Hallmark Channel as well. 

In an interview with Media Village prior to his big Hallmark debut in February of this year, the actor admitted that part of the reason it took him so long to get on the popular network was just timing. 

"While I was shooting this film two Hallmark executives came to visit the set, and at some point during the conversation they said, 'It's great that we finally got you on a movie because we've been trying for a while.'  I was like, 'Wait!  This is the first time I've been approached about doing a Hallmark movie.  What do you mean?'  They were like, 'Well, you've always been tied up.'  At that moment I wondered what my agents were doing.  I mean, I love Hallmark movies, and I love Christmas movies, so I always thought there was a natural synergy to work with Hallmark.  I'm a little surprised it took over a decade to happen."

But luckily it did happen, and Buckley starred opposite co-star, Alexandra Breckenridge of Virgin River, in Love in Store. The actor was really excited to finally appear on the network.

"There is a little bit of the old Hollywood feel to the way Hallmark does things," Buckley said.  "They have a great stable of actors, so it's like the old studio system.  You see the same thing happen with directors like Wes Anderson, who uses a lot of the same actors, and it makes sense.  If you find good people who work hard that you get along with, why not continue working with them? I sure hope there's a lot more Hallmark in my future."

We couldn't agree more with the actor, we hope there is a lot more Hallmark in store for him! Outside of his career, Buckley had been married to actress Jenny Wade since 2018. The two are completely adorable and regularly share cute photos with each other on social media. 

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