Modern Family alum Ariel Winter is set to make her triumphant return to television after leaving Hollywood, aside from doing voice-over work for various animated shows. In a move very few saw coming, including me, the comedy actress is joining Hallmark Media’s new drama series Change of Heart.
The drama series, which is set to stream exclusively on Hallmark+ in 2027, will follow a renowned divorce attorney, Charlie Wyatt (Sam Jaeger), who undergoes a life-altering heart transplant that fundamentally changes something about him. Once desperate to win every one of his cases for his clients, Charlie now finds himself compelled to help his clients reconnect with each other.
Some might expect Winter to be playing Jaeger’s character’s love interest; that’s not the case. (It's also worth noting the Parenthood actor is 49 to Winter's 28.) Instead, the Sofia the First actress is slated to play Brit, Charlie’s younger sister, who will help him on his quest to reunite couples instead of further dividing them in divorce court.
The premise alone promises something fresh, while also staying true to Hallmark’s goal of centering romance in the stories they tell. It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite Christmas romance movies, Last Christmas.
I definitely didn’t have Winter leaving the world of comedy for a Hallmark drama series on my bingo card, but honestly, I’m intrigued. It’ll be exciting to see her in a more dramatic role after years staring in one of the best sitcoms of all time. What I’m most interested in, though, is the fact that she won’t be playing the main love interest, but rather the main character’s dependable younger sister; a role audiences already know she’s good at.
Jaeger is also a solid choice given his tenure on the dramatic family ensemble Parenthood. The only downside is that the series will only be available on the Hallmark+ streaming service, at least for now. Occasionally, streaming-only content has been made available on the Hallmark cable channel at a later date, so hopefully that will be the case here too.
I might not have seen it coming, but Winter moving to Hallmark does feel like the right move for her, especially in the wake of the traumatic experiences she had to deal with growing up in Hollywood. Who knows, maybe Winter will take a page out of Lacey Chabert's playbook and become one of the faces of the media company. I, for one, would love to see Winter in an upcoming Hallmark movie to help usher in more stories centered around younger characters.
Winter and Jaeger will be joined by Rachel Boston, a familiar face for anyone who religiously watches Hallmark’s iconic Countdown to Christmas movies every year, as well as fellow Hallmark veteran Julie Gonzalo and Workin’ Moms actor Kevin Vidal.
While Change of Heart won’t be streaming as part of the 2026 TV Schedule, now would be a great time to familiarize yourself with Winter and Jaeger’s previous work. Modern Family is streaming in its entirety with an active Hulu subscription. And fans can revisit Jaeger’s work in Parenthood with an active Paramount+ subscription.
