Erin Krakow has spent more than a decade at the center of Hope Valley, but her real story stretches well beyond WHEN CALLS THE HEART.
“I think there’s just always been a bit of magic in Hope Valley,” the actress told PEOPLE — a line that could just as easily describe her own path from a Florida arts school to Juilliard to a surprise 2025 wedding. Here are 13 trivia facts about the woman behind Elizabeth Thatcher Thornton.
1. Krakow started acting before she can consciously remember it. “I was five-and-a-half when my brother was born, and my mom told me this was where things started because suddenly I was no longer the only child,” she told Christopher Closeup. “I had to share the attention, and that meant singing songs at the top of my lungs and doing dances around the house to get the attention of my parents.”
2. After her family moved to Florida, she landed at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. “It was so fantastic. I learned so much when I was there,” Krakow said of the magnet high school that shaped her early training.
3. She earned her BFA from The Juilliard School in 2010. “Getting to go to Julliard and continue my acting education — I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful that was,” she told Christopher Closeup.
4. Long before Hallmark Channel, Krakow was a theater kid. “I come from the theater, and at the end of a play or musical, you get applause,” she said. That direct connection to an audience is exactly what she thinks social media now offers TV actors.
5. She has played schoolteacher Elizabeth Thatcher since WHEN CALLS THE HEART premiered on Hallmark Channel in 2014, and the character has grown up with her. “In Season 1 she was very much a fish out of water and someone with strength, convictions and big dreams,” Krakow told Pop Culture Principle. “Now, she is this strong, capable woman who is very comfortable and confident in Hope Valley.”
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6. Krakow isn’t just the star — she’s also an executive producer on the show. “After spending five seasons building up this romance between Jack and Elizabeth, and really falling for their connection, I think it would be pretty jarring for our audience to suddenly see Elizabeth with a new guy,” she explained to Entertainment Tonight of a Season 6 creative call. “So we really are taking our time with it.”
7. She credits the show’s staying power to something harder to define than plot. “When you put a bunch of special people together in one place, connections are bound to be made,” Krakow told PEOPLE about the “magic” of Hope Valley’s real-life set.
8. Ask her which Hope Valley value she’d most like fans to carry home, and she keeps it simple. “Kindness and acceptance,” she told From the Desk — two words, no flourish.
9. She has a wholesome guilty pleasure between takes. “I’ll usually spend the time in my trailer working on our scripts and preparing for upcoming scenes, or I’ll call my family, read a book or watch way too many videos of peoples’ auditions for AMERICA’S GOT TALENT,” Krakow told From the Desk. “I’m a big fan of watching people realize their dreams.”
10. She once wrote her co-star Chris McNally a birthday limerick. “There once was a guy called McNally / Who spiced up the town of Hope Valley / He knew he would please / When he shared his grilled cheese / And danced in last season’s finale!” she posted on X in November 2019.
11. In January 2023, Krakow and then-boyfriend Ben Rosenbaum quietly announced their relationship by adopting a rescue dog together. “Meet Willoughby. We adopted him a week ago and I already can’t imagine life without him,” she wrote on Instagram, giving Hearties their first confirmation of the low-key romance.
12. On June 23, 2025, Krakow married Rosenbaum, her longtime WHEN CALLS THE HEART co-star who plays Mountie Mike Hickam. “♾️,” she captioned her Instagram wedding post, letting the infinity symbol do the work.
13. Just five months later, the couple announced they’re expecting their first child. “So much to be grateful for!!! 🥰,” Krakow wrote on Instagram alongside a photo-booth strip of the pair holding an ultrasound picture.
Krakow returns as executive producer and leading lady when WHEN CALLS THE HEART’s Season 14 premieres on Hallmark Channel on next year.
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