IN CONVERSATION WITH LUKE MACFARLANE
interview by JANA LETONJA
Luke Macfarlane is trading out his actor hat for a hard hat in Hallmark+’s upcoming reality series ‘Home Is Where the Heart Is’, on which he serves as both host and executive producer, and debuted on 20th March.
‘Home Is Where the Heart Is’ is a unique take on home renovation. What inspired you to step into this space and bring this concept to life?
I care about homes and how they reflect the people who live in them. I have always been interested in the built environment. It's an art.
How does your show differ from other home renovation series currently or previously on television?
Most home rennovation shows use money and time as the way to motivate and create tension and conflict. Our show is deeply centered around the family and homeowners, who are the people that live in these homes. We make their stories and conflicts the center of our show.
The emotional connection to homes seems to be a huge focus in the series. Can you share a particular renovation story that deeply resonated with you?
Every family’s and homeowner's story was important. We wanted to honor the past, as homes keep and hold all the history of a family and the people who lived their before. That's one of the things that I took away the most from filming this series.
Most fans know you as an actor. How did your passion for woodworking and building start?
Building has always been a part of what my family did together, how we bonded and how my father and I spent many hours together. There have been sporadic times in my life starting in high school where I worked as a carpenter. And then after college, as I was still working on being an actor, I took on many carpentry jobs to make ends meet. I have hung a lot of doors, put of a lot of trims and built a lot of cabinets.
Did any skills from your acting career help you in this new role as a builder and host?
Good acting is about listening to your partner and collaborators. I believe the same is true in good design.
You’ve mentioned wanting to educate people on fine woodworking. What do you think people misunderstand about craftsmanship and quality furniture today?
I think, in general, my generation has a hard time understanding time and labor. It is not unreasonable to spend six hours sanding something. This is the difference between handmade and store bought, how much time you can spend caring, perfecting and looking closely.
Now that you’ve stepped into the unscripted world, do you see yourself continuing with more reality TV, or do you hope to blend woodworking into your acting career in new ways?
Building furniture is about understanding how things fit together. The exact same is true when you come to set and try and make a scene come to life. They’re both exercises in putting pieces together.
What’s one woodworking or renovation tip that every homeowner should know?
As Martha Graham famously said, "No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."
After ‘Home Is Where the Heart Is’, what is coming up next for you?
I have completed production on Season 2 of ‘Platonic’ for Apple, opposite Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, and I just finished production on a sci-fi YA thriller called ‘This Is Not a Test’, opposite Olivia Holt and Froy Gutierrez.
photography JOHN RUSSO
