Bethany Joy Lenz's Daughter Costars in Her New Show, “Hope Valley: 1874”: 'I Made Her Audition' (Exclusive)

Breanne L. HeldmanSat, March 21, 2026 at 1:58 PM UTC

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Bethany Joy Lenz and her daughter, Maria March, at a Hope Valley: 1874 CelebrationCredit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty -

Bethany Joy Lenz stars in Hallmark+'s period drama Hope Valley: 1874 alongside her 15-year-old daughter

Lenz wasn't looking for a series and initially turned down the role in the When Calls the Heart prequel series

Lenz says her brave character's resilience inspired her and gave her a sense of gratitude

For Bethany Joy Lenz, leading Hallmark+'s When Calls the Heart prequel series, Hope Valley: 1874, has been filled with unexpected gifts — including the chance to work with her daughter, Maria Rose Galeotti.

The 15-year-old — who is using the stage name Maria March — appears in the period drama and dressed up to join her mom for a premiere event on Wednesday, March 18, in Los Angeles.

"We're having so much fun," Lenz, 44, tells PEOPLE. "It's such a dream job."

Bethany Joy Lenz in Hope Valley: 1874Credit: Jeff Weddell/ 2026 Hallmark Media

Winding up first on the call sheet for a series was the opposite of Lenz's goals when she first heard about the period drama.

"In total honesty, I had told my manager, 'Look, my daughter's in high school. She's happy. I don't want to go anywhere, so take me out of the running for all series.' That was my baseline," says the One Tree Hill alum. And when a producer for Hope Valley called, Lenz says her first response was, "Sorry, buddy."

But the producer pressed on. "He goes, 'I know you're a single mom, and you have to work around your daughter's school schedule, and I know she loves to act. What if we give her a role in the show and we'll shoot around her school schedule?'" Lenz recalls. Her jaw was on the floor, and the conversation continued.

"They sent the script and I went, 'Oh wait, it's a period piece?! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. And I get to be a cowgirl and drive a wagon and ride horses and be in a corset and a skirt in the mud. Oh my God!' So it all just fell into place in this perfect, amazing way,'" she says.

Bethany Joy Lenz with her onscreen daughter, played by Mila Morgan, on Hope Valley: 1874Credit: Jeff Weddell/ 2026 Hallmark Media

In the series, Lenz plays Rebecca Clarke, a single mom with a mysterious past who travels from her home city of Chicago to the rugged Western Canadian frontier with her 11-year-old daughter Sarah (Mila Morgan) in search of a fresh start. Once she arrives in the settlement — which will one day become the Hope Valley known and loved by When Calls the Heart fans — nothing goes according to plan, and she must learn to accept help from locals including a handsome rancher (Benjamin Ayres) and the woman who runs the trading post (Jill Hennessy).

The production's efforts to cast Lenz as Rebecca aren't lost on her: "It was one of those moments like, I've worked so hard for so long, and it feels really good to just be offered something really lovely. And I was happy to take the win."

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Bethany Joy Lenz and Maria March at the Hope Valley: 1874 CelebrationCredit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

As for March joining the cast, Lenz felt it was important that she earn the role fair and square.

"I made her audition," Lenz says. "I was like, 'You're not just giving her a free part. She needs to earn it. It has to be something that you actually would cast her for.' So I made her audition, and she did great."

That continued as March stepped into the role of Vivian Doyle, the teenage daughter of a prospector who first appears in the second episode.

"She's doing a great job," Lenz says. "I'm really proud of her. It's a beautiful story, and I'm so happy."

Bethany Joy Lenz and her daughter in 2022Credit: JC Olivera/Getty

The experience of working on the show also gave Lenz a renewed sense of gratitude, especially as she considers the many challenges women like Rebecca faced in the late 1800s.

"It was a really nice reminder that there's no room or time for lamenting your discomfort," she says. "You just have to keep going and push through it. ... I feel like I learned a lot about my own resilience. Gratitude became a very real daily practice because I don't know that you can be authentically resilient and maintain a positive outlook without gratitude being your grounding factor. So I really clung to that on a daily basis."

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Hope Valley: 1874 premieres Saturday, March 21 on Hallmark+. New episodes drop every Thursday beginning March 26.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”