Chicago Fire’s Jocelyn Hudon Starred in Hallmark’s When Hope Calls

Before Jocelyn Hudon became a familiar face at Firehouse 51, she was helping run an orphanage in a very different television universe. The actor who plays paramedic Lyla Lizzie Novak on Chicago Fire once starred in When Hope Calls, a spin-off of Hallmark’s long-running drama When Calls the Heart. If you remember her as Grace Bennett, you may also remember that her character seemed to vanish just as the spin-off was finding its footing.

So how did Hudon go from Hope Valley to Chicago, and what happened to the Hallmark role she left behind?

Jocelyn Hudon joined Chicago Fire at a tricky moment

Arriving on an established hit is never simple. By the time Hudon joined Chicago Fire, the show had been on the air for more than 11 seasons. It had also built a wider franchise around its firefighters, paramedics, doctors, and police officers. Viewers already knew what they liked about the series and its characters.

Hudon also arrived after a significant departure. Kara Killmer, a longtime presence on the drama, exited in 2024, leaving big shoes to fill on the ambulance side of Firehouse 51. Rather than feeling like a copy of the character who came before her, Novak brought her own lively, offbeat energy to the team.

Novak quickly became more than a new face

Hudon’s introduction could have been a brief handoff between cast members. Instead, Novak connected with viewers strongly enough that Hudon was promoted to series regular for Season 13. It was a major step for an actor who had appeared across television but hadn’t yet found a role with this kind of staying power.

Her place in the franchise has grown beyond Chicago Fire, too. Hudon appeared on Chicago Med in 2025 and Chicago P.D. in 2026, bringing Novak into the interconnected world that makes the One Chicago shows such a draw. For fans who first met Hudon through those appearances, her earlier Hallmark lead role might come as a surprise.

Before Firehouse 51, there was Hope Valley

When Calls the Heart has been a fixture of Hallmark programming since its 2014 premiere. Based on Janette Oke’s books, the period drama follows a teacher who moves to a small Canadian mining town in the early 20th century. There, she builds a life through friendships, community ties, and romance.

That world introduced Hudon to its audience in an important way. She and Morgan Kohan appeared in the show’s Season 6 Christmas special in 2018 as Grace and Lillian, long-lost orphan sisters reunited as adults. Their story did more than add a pair of visitors to Hope Valley: it set up a new series.

The Christmas special opened the door to When Hope Calls

The sisters’ appearance served as a backdoor pilot for When Hope Calls, the first When Calls the Heart spin-off. The new drama moved Grace and Lillian’s story to Brookfield, their hometown. There, they worked to establish an orphanage and give children the support they themselves had once needed.

It was a premise with an obvious emotional pull. The sisters shared a mission, but running an orphanage was hardly effortless, and their romantic lives brought complications of their own. Hudon’s Grace was central to that mix of family, service, and period-drama romance, making the part a leading role rather than a small stop on the way to Chicago Fire.

The spin-off also represented a different approach for Hallmark. While When Calls the Heart aired on the cable channel, When Hope Calls debuted on Hallmark Movies Now, the streaming service now known as Hallmark+. The move gave existing fans another reason to subscribe, though Hallmark didn’t release performance figures showing how the series fared there. Its episodes were eventually shown on the cable channel as well.

Grace’s exit happened while the show was changing hands

At the end of the first season, Grace had a reason to leave Brookfield: she traveled to England to help Helen find her grandfather. That storyline didn’t necessarily close the door on a return. What happened next, however, kept Hudon’s character off the screen.

Great American Family acquired When Hope Calls for its second season and produced a Christmas special in 2021. The acquisition gave the series a path forward, but scheduling conflicts brought changes to its cast. Hudon couldn’t film the special, so the story explained Grace’s absence by having her move to London off-screen to start another orphanage.

A new season arrived without the original leads

That off-screen move was a fitting continuation of Grace’s work, but viewers didn’t get to watch the character take her next step. Hudon did not release a statement about leaving When Hope Calls, and there’s no sign of a dramatic break between the actor and the series. Her absence was handled within the story as the production faced scheduling challenges.

When Season 2 aired in 2025, the changes went further. The main cast had moved on to other projects, so the remaining lead characters were written off and new characters took center stage. For anyone returning in hopes of seeing Grace and Lillian pick up where they left off, it was a markedly different version of When Hope Calls.

Hudon’s two television worlds are far apart, but her appeal carries over

After When Hope Calls, Hudon appeared in shows including 9-1-1 and Dave. But Chicago Fire gave her a substantial, ongoing role in a series. It also introduced her to viewers who might never have watched a Hallmark period drama.

Grace and Novak have little in common on paper. One helped build an orphanage in a small-town historical setting; the other answers emergencies in present-day Chicago. Still, both roles let Hudon play someone whose work puts other people first. Her path from Brookfield to Firehouse 51 shows that the new paramedic winning over Chicago Fire fans had already helped carry a series of her own.