Andrew Walker, Paul Campbell and Tyler Hynes return in Hallmark’s ‘Three Wiser Men And A Boy’

The wait is finally over. One of the most anticipated holiday movies of the year is finally here! The Brenner boys are back. Yes, Andrew Walker, Tyler Hynes and Paul Campbell are back Three wiser men and a boy on the Hallmark Channel.

As we reported last spring, the network announced that fans’ wishes have been granted. The most-watched cable TV movie of all of 2022 is getting a sequel this holiday season. It’s a responsibility the actors didn’t take lightly, as Andrew Walker recounted Southern Living.

“We were all nervous. This film was for the fans,” he said. Note that they were all aware that it was because of the fans that they were able to come back and make another movie. “It was just big shoes to fill. I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves because you really want to give something that they’re going to like.”

In the first movie, Three wise men and a babywe meet the Brenner boys, Luke (Walker), Stephen (Campbell) and Taylor (Hynes) and their mother Barbara, played by Margert Colin. A baby is left with just a note for fireman Luke to take care of until the unknown mother could return. Barbara is called to help her sister recover from a bad fall, and it’s up to the three brothers to care for this mysterious baby.

What follows is a series of hilarious situations as the brothers fumble through a parenting bootcamp and in the process learn to trust each other again. This first installment gave us Hallmark hunks in elf costumes, Tyler Hynes with a Baby Bjorn and of course the Sugar Plum Fairy Dance. Spoiler alert, at the end of the movie the mother of the baby returns and she and Luke fall in love.

When we rejoin the Brenner family in film number two, five years have passed. Luke is now a fire chief and he is married to Sophie. Thomas is not a baby anymore, he is a little boy in kindergarten. Stephen has retired from pet psychiatry and is now in the self-help field after writing a book about how he overcame his anxiety. He and Susie are still together, but not yet married. And Taylor, well he’s single and still figuring out his career. All three brothers are still very actively a part of their nephew’s life. Things have also changed for Barbara as she has a new love interest, something the Brenner boys aren’t handling so well.

The quick banter between brothers is still plentiful in this sequel, and all three actors flex their comedic muscles. They play off each other so well that sometimes you forget you’re watching a movie. Walker credits his co-stars for making the comedy work as well as it does. “ Straight up, Paul and Tyler, I feel like they elevate my work. Both are very agile actors. And I also put a lot of pressure on myself to just get up.” Although Walker, when asked which one of them cracks first when the laughter can’t be held back, answered without hesitation, “Paul. Easy. I’m so glad it’s not me.”

In addition to the laughs, this story also has a lot of heartfelt moments. For Walker, his character is now 42, he’s in charge at work but not necessarily the center of attention, his mother and brothers don’t need him as much, and so much of his identity centers around being a father to Thomas now. It’s the “nuanced” layers, as Walker put it, that excited him about this role. In particular, developing the story of the father’s son’s relationship with Thomas, played by Miles Marthaller.

“Miles — he’s the sleeper star of this movie,” Walker said. “He’s incredible. It was so hard for them to find this little guy and he came out of Vancouver and he was this local little boy in Vancouver that once you walked into the room and did his audition, they knew right away , this is the kid.”

There is a very tender scene between Walker and Marthaller where Luke puts Thomas to bed. Walker said it was a very sweet, simple scene, but that it really resonated with him as a father of a four-year-old and a nine-year-old boy. He drew on his real-life experience as a father to infuse real emotion into this sweet moment. He said it was one of his favorite days on set.

Paul Campbell and another Hallmark stalwart, Kimberly Sustad wrote this script as well as the first film. Walker remembers one day when she was on set with the rest of the cast, and he said he had a moment of gratitude for being allowed to make another one of these films. “I feel so lucky to be a part of this group.”

Three wiser men and a boy premieres on Hallmark Channel, Saturday, November 23 at 8:00 p.m. EST.