Victor Webster Talks Matchmaker Mysteries: A Fatal Romance [Exclusive] 

[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]

Matchmaker Mysteries is back on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries for a special Saturday night premiere with A Fatal Romance, the second film that pairs Danica McKellar and Victor Webster as an unlikely crime-solving duo. I spoke with Webster this week about the film, the next season of Workin’ Moms, which hits Netflix on May 6th, and his recent advocacy for a couple of very good causes.

A Fatal Romance finds Angie in the middle of another of Kyle’s murder investigations when she agrees to moderate a panel at a romance novelist gathering and one of the authors (Anne Marie DeLuise) is poisoned during the event. This time around, Kyle is more receptive to her unique perspective, but still a bit perplexed by her methods. There’s also the slight complication that her ex-boyfriend (Dan Payne) is one of the suspects. Webster says that twist gave them a fresh take on the story.

“I think we built off the energy of the first one rather than changing it. She showed me that she could actually be a valuable asset and I needed to actually take her seriously [but] I haven’t fully gone in that direction yet,” he laughs. “She’s a little goofy and quirky, and the way that she figures things out is beyond me because a lot of it seems like luck. I think every time we work together and our paths cross, she proved that she could actually be a valuable asset.”

This one also has a little bit more “divide and conquer” going on as Angie and Kyle work their angles individually. Webster says that was by design. “I think that played into the ex-boyfriend aspect, having us being apart and having her be with her ex-boyfriend quite a bit [to] develop that whole kind of quasi love triangle kind of vibe,” he explains.

“If we were together all the time, I don’t think it would’ve worked as well. It allowed them to have their connection. And allowed us to have our connection and then we have moments where we were kind of all together, as well. It made it really interesting. I really enjoyed it.”

The new film relocated to Vancouver from Ottawa for production, and Webster says it was a good thing. “For what we wanted to do…a lot of outdoors stuff [Ottawa didn’t work because it still had] snow on the ground. And there’s so many great crews and actors in Vancouver,” he points out.

That includes director Terry Ingram, who’s a Hallmark regular and previously worked with Webster back on Mutant X as well as Chesapeake Shores. One of those Vancouver actors is Stephen Lobo, who co-starred with Webster on Syfy’s Continuum. He appears in the film as one of the authors. “I love Lobo. He’s such a talented actor,” Webster shares. “He’s a great person. He’s just a joy to be around and no drama whatsoever.”

When productions started shutting down due to the stay at home orders, the third planned Matchmaker Mysteries was paused. Webster looks forward to picking the role back up. “I’ll do as many as they want. I love working with Hallmark. They’re like a family now. Everybody that I work with is fantastic. They just put out a really good quality product that’s good for everybody, from the grandkids to the grandparents,” he says.

A few months back, Webster reunited with Jill Wagner on Hearts of Winter, and he loves that aspect of working for the company. “She’s so much fun, too. It’s great to have these different dynamics and to be able to work with these really talented actors,” he explains. “With Jill and Danica, they both have very different styles and energy, and how they are set, but they’re also both excellent in what they do.”

“It’s nice to be able to reunite with people and build these kinds of storylines, and for the people that watch the movies to see their favorite actors. It takes you back to the old days of the 1940s where they would have this stable of actors that would be in these different movies together.”

“And that reminds me of how Hallmark has it and people really love it. I have buddies of mine that ride motorcycles who pull me off to the side and say, ‘Hey, man, I can’t wait to watch your Hallmark movie.’ It’s surprising how many people watch them. They’re just really good movies.”

Webster shares that he hears from fans of all of the films, all the way back to his first, 2012’s Puppy Love, which was on earlier this week. “Hallmark’s doing a fantastic job of keeping people entertained during this quarantine and they have enough movies to do it,” he says. “They make a ton of movies each year, so it’s incredible. And people can go back and watch their favorites.”

Last season on Workin’ Moms, Webster recurred as Mike, a fellow PR exec who has an affair with Kate and makes her a very tantalizing, but unanswered, offer in the season finale. Season 4 hits Netflix on May 6th, and when the action resumes, their dynamic has changed dramatically. Webster loved getting to switch him up.

“The Mike that you met in the third season has gone through a very big transformation and kind of falls off the rails a little bit in Season 4. I absolutely loved that. And there’s a bunch of takes where I went way overboard,” he laughs. “It’s so much fun to shoot this really great over the top, dysfunctional character.”

Webster has been home in LA for the last several weeks, adhering to the current stay-at-home orders, keeping busy with a de facto home gym, and sharing snippets of his workouts on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

I accept your challenge @therealshantel @lungassociation This is such an incredible cause and we are trying to do our part and help spread the word to help fund research to find a cure for Covid-19 as well as other lung diseases and the #1 cancer killer, lung cancer. Please go to link in bio to get involved and/or donate. Post your 19 mountain climber challenge, tag and challenge your friends, tag me and use The hashtag #ClimbAgainstCovid so that I can repost some of yours. I challenge @joshlbarnett @therealkateesackhoff @alekspaun @kitdaleofficial @pootsy_pop @abs.and.oms ——————————————————————-Repost ————————————————————————————————“HERE WE GO!!! I am starting the #ClimbAgainstCovid Challenge with my 19 mountain climbers in order to raise funds for the @lungassociation and their efforts to find a cure and help lung patients! I NOW CHALLENGE @sophiabush @grantgust @kramergirl @joelkinnaman @iamvictorwebster !!! Please Help support @lungassociation with me, by climbing, posting and challenging others to join our force for change! You can visit the link in my bio to donate and learn more ways to get involved. I have also saved a lot of info in the LungAssociation story highlight! Thanks to each of you and all my love! #ForceForChange “

A post shared by Victor Webster (@iamvictorwebster) on Apr 9, 2020 at 11:03am PDT

He’s also used his social media to spread awareness about a couple of causes near and dear to him. #ClimbAgainstCOVID is a campaign to raise money for the American Lung Association, which is actively involved in finding treatments for lung disease that could also impact treatments for the Coronavirus. Webster’s girlfriend, Shantel VanSanten, lost her nonsmoking grandmother to lung cancer from Radon poisoning and the couple are very involved in supporting both American Lung Association and its Lung Force.

“#ClimbAgainstCOVID is for the American Lung Association. They were supposed to do an event on May 2nd where they were going to climb 63 flights of stairs. Shantel is going to do a live workout on Instagram in lieu of the staircase climb. She’s raising money and the ALA just donated $25 million to research for respiratory disease and illnesses, which is what COVID-19 is,” he explains.

“They’re doing tremendous work in the field of finding a cure or a vaccine or all the above. She’ll have a national organized workout on Instagram. People can challenge their friends to do 19 mountain climber [exercises] to spread the awareness for the event that happens on May 2nd at 9 am Pacific Time.”

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On April 22nd, we celebrate #EarthDay, so I’d like to give a shout out to these heros, the incredibly brave women of #Akashinga who I am proud to be a supporter of. Brought to you by James Cameron and National Geographic, this documentary will shine a light on the immense challenge these women face on behalf of a global community in protecting nature. They protect one of the world’s largest elephant populations and the region that is their home. In three years they have made 191 arrests, helping drive a downturn in poaching and rebuilding their lives and communities in the process. As the world grinds to a halt, now more than ever the importance of protecting nature is in the spotlight. If we can’t stop poaching then perhaps we are the next endangered species? Akashinga is a project of @int.anti.poaching.foundation and founded by @damien_mander Catch the trailer now and sign-up to get on the waitlist for the launch of the world premiere of our documentary. Link in my story: https://www.iapf.org/national-geographic-film-akashinga/ #IAPF #NatGeo #NationalGeographic #JamesCameron #MariaWilhelm #OnePlanet #Nature #Conservation #Environment #IAPF #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #Stopwildlifecrime #Zimbabwe #Endwildlifetrafficking #Wildlife #Animals #Forrest #Oceans #Rhino #Elephant #HumanWildlifeConflict #Women #Communities #Africa #Giraffe #Wilderness

A post shared by Victor Webster (@iamvictorwebster) on Apr 22, 2020 at 1:18pm PDT

The couple also support Akashinga, a women-only military group in Africa who are the only line of defense between elephants and poachers. A new documentary puts the spotlight on these amazing badass women and their tenacity and commitment to protecting the animals.

“They are fantastic. A Special Forces guy named Damian Mander [organized] this group of all-female anti-poachers and he trains him and takes him out in the field to help stop the poaching of elephants and rhinos. The psychology behind why he picks only women [is covered in the new documentary, Akashinga: The Brave Ones coming to NatGeo],” he shares.

“It’s absolutely incredible and they are hands down some of the most inspiring women I’ve ever heard about. A friend brought me to a fundraiser for it because she knew how much I loved animals. We went and learned all about them and now have been to a few events with them and promote anything they have whole heartedly because they’re an incredible organization and they do tremendous things.”

Matchmaker Mysteries: A Fatal Romance premieres Saturday night at 9 pm/8c on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries after a repeat of the first movie, A Killer Engagement, at 7 pm/6c. It will also air simultaneously on Hallmark Channel and the W Network in Canada. Webster does plan to live Tweet at @webstervictor. Here’s a sneak peek.

Photos and Videos Courtesy of Crown Media.