4 Chicago Med Stars Join 2026 Hallmark Christmas Movies

If your holiday watchlist usually includes both a trip to Gaffney Chicago Medical Center and a generous helping of Hallmark romance, this year’s Countdown to Christmas has a treat in store. Four familiar Chicago Med faces appear across the 2026 movie lineup: one current cast member and three alumni. Their new stories trade emergency-room crises for a retirement community, an English choir, a remote campground and one unexpectedly eventful dog-sitting assignment. Here’s where you’ll spot each star as Hallmark’s holiday season unfolds.

Why Chicago Med fans should keep an eye on Hallmark this Christmas

Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas begins in mid-October and runs for 10 weeks, with holiday movies arriving every weekend until the final weekend before Christmas. This year’s slate includes 34 new movies, and four feature actors with ties to Chicago Med.

It’s not quite a Gaffney reunion: the actors appear in separate films, each with a different holiday story. But for viewers who know these performers from hospital corridors and complicated relationships, watching them step into Hallmark’s world is part of the fun.

Michael Rady starts the Chicago Med holiday crossover

The first of the four films is Adopting St. Nick, starring Michael Rady. Chicago Med viewers may remember him as Dr. Matt Cooper, a recurring character during season 7. This time, Rady plays a retirement community director who crosses paths with a hardware store owner, played by Amy Groening.

Groening’s character gets involved with the retirement community’s Christmas Companions program, and her connection with Rady’s character grows from there. The premise has a special kind of warmth: this holiday romance starts with people showing up for their community. If you like your Christmas movies with a little warmth beyond the central couple, this is the one to put on your radar first.

Adopting St. Nick arrives before the other Chicago Med-connected titles. After that, fans will have to wait until December for the remaining three films, which arrive within a little more than a week of one another.

December brings a current cast favorite and two memorable alumni

Once December arrives, the holiday lineup moves quickly. Jessy Schram leads the next Chicago Med-connected premiere on Friday, December 11, followed by Torrey DeVitto on Sunday, December 13. Ian Harding then appears in one of the year’s final Countdown to Christmas films on Saturday, December 19.

Those dates make for a particularly appealing stretch if you follow the show. You can go from a cathedral-bound choir story to a stranded family’s campground detour, then finish with a high school ex who reappears at Christmas.

Jessy Schram trades Dr. Hannah Asher’s scrubs for a choir

Of the four actors, Jessy Schram is the current Chicago Med cast member in the holiday lineup. Fans know her as Dr. Hannah Asher, but in Christmas in Canterbury, premiering Friday, December 11, she plays a choir master who steps in to help a friend at an English school.

Her character soon clashes with the school’s more traditional boys’ choir master, played by Will Kemp. As they prepare the choir for a Christmas Eve performance at Canterbury Cathedral, their differences begin to make room for romantic sparks. It’s a promising setup for anyone who likes a holiday romance built around opposing approaches, a shared goal and a deadline neither character can ignore.

The English setting and cathedral performance help this film stand out from a typical small-town Christmas story. Chicago Med fans also get to see Schram move from Hannah Asher’s high-pressure work at Gaffney to a role where the big moment is musical rather than medical.

Torrey DeVitto finds Christmas at a remote campground

Torrey DeVitto returns to Countdown to Christmas with Notelle Nomads, debuting Sunday, December 13. She played Dr. Natalie Manning for six seasons on Chicago Med, making her one of the most recognizable alumni in this year’s Hallmark group.

In her new film, DeVitto plays a free spirit who welcomes a father, played by Benjamin Ayres, and his daughter to a remote campground during the holidays. They end up there after becoming stranded on the way to a Hawaiian getaway. It’s a sharp change of plans, and exactly the sort of unexpected turn that can make a holiday movie romance click.

The setup puts two very different ideas of a holiday trip side by side: the warm-weather escape the father and daughter wanted, and the remote Christmas stop they actually get. Viewers who remember Natalie Manning’s intense storylines may especially enjoy seeing DeVitto in a more festive setting, helping newcomers rather than navigating another difficult day at the hospital.

Ian Harding gets an ex, a dog and a Christmas surprise

Rounding out the group is Ian Harding, who appeared during Chicago Med seasons 4 and 5 as Phillip Davis. His character was the father of a patient and had a brief, complicated romance with DeVitto’s Natalie Manning. This Christmas, Harding is headed into a different kind of romantic complication.

In Barking All the Way, arriving Saturday, December 19, Tori Anderson plays a workaholic realtor who agrees to dog-sit over Christmas. The assignment brings her back together with her high school ex, played by Harding. A former flame, an inconvenient reunion and a dog at the center of it all give holiday-romance fans plenty to look forward to.

Harding’s film is one of the final Countdown to Christmas releases of the year. It also gives fans who recall Phillip’s difficult history with Natalie a chance to see Harding in a fresh story with a very different tone.

Which holiday movie should you watch first?

That depends on what you want from your Christmas viewing. Start with Adopting St. Nick if you’re in the mood for a community-centered romance. Save December 11 for Christmas in Canterbury if you want Schram, a choir and an English backdrop.

Choose Notelle Nomads for a holiday trip that goes wonderfully off course, or make Barking All the Way your pick if second-chance romance and a dog are enough to win you over. Better yet, watch all four. Hallmark’s 2026 lineup offers Chicago Med fans a rare chance to follow several familiar faces through entirely separate Christmas stories.

There are no Chicago Fire or Chicago PD stars in this particular group, but with four Med connections on the schedule, One Chicago viewers already have plenty to add to their holiday calendars.