<P> The series originally debuted as a two - hour television movie pilot in October 2013 , starring Maggie Grace as young teacher Elizabeth Thatcher and Stephen Amell as North West Mounted Police officer Wynn Delaney . In the television series Erin Krakow is cast as her niece , whose name is also Elizabeth Thatcher ( played by Poppy Drayton in the movie ) , and Daniel Lissing plays a Mountie named Jack Thornton , with Lori Loughlin reprising her role as coal mine widow Abigail Stanton . </P>
<P> The series originally debuted as a two - hour television movie pilot in October 2013 , starring Maggie Grace as young teacher Elizabeth Thatcher and Stephen Amell as North West Mounted Police officer Wynn Delaney . In the television series Erin Krakow is cast as her niece , whose name is also Elizabeth Thatcher ( played by Poppy Drayton in the movie ) , and Daniel Lissing plays a Mountie named Jack Thornton , with Lori Loughlin reprising her role as coal mine widow Abigail Stanton . </P>
who plays the mountie in when calls the heart
who plays the mountie in when calls the heart
Daniel Lissing
Daniel Lissing