A Knight to Remember Cast Guide: Meet Julie Gonzalo, James Trevena and the Hallmark Stars

Hallmark’s A Knight to Remember brings together a familiar network favorite and a relatively fresh romantic lead for one of the channel’s more unusual fall love stories. Julie Gonzalo stars as Emily Porter, a museum conservator whose carefully organized life changes when Sir Griffin de Beauford, a centuries-old knight played by James Trevena, suddenly comes to life. What begins as an impossible museum mystery soon becomes a fish-out-of-water romance as Emily introduces Griffin to modern Chicago and everything that comes with living in the 21st century.

The October 3, 2026 movie is based on Bryn Donovan’s novel Her Knight at the Museum. Alongside Gonzalo and Trevena, the cast includes Britt Irvin, Chris McNally, Matty Finochio, Luc Roderique, William C. Vaughan and David James Lewis. Kevin Fair directs the Hallmark production from a screenplay by Michelle Ricci.

Julie Gonzalo as Emily Porter

Julie Gonzalo leads A Knight to Remember as Emily Porter, a museum conservator responsible for restoring the medieval statue at the center of the story. Emily is practical and accustomed to solving problems through careful research, which makes Griffin’s unexplained arrival in the modern world something she cannot easily rationalize.

As Emily attempts to understand what has happened, she also becomes Griffin’s guide to contemporary life. His presence gradually pulls her beyond the routines she has built around herself, allowing their unusual partnership to develop into something more personal.

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Gonzalo has become a familiar face for Hallmark viewers through movies including Cut, Color, Murder, Jingle Bell Bride, Flip That Romance, The Sweetest Heart and Falling for Vermont. Outside Hallmark, she is known for playing Andrea Rojas in Supergirl, Pamela Rebecca Barnes in Dallas and Parker Lee in Veronica Mars. Her film work also includes Dodgeball, Christmas with the Kranks and Must Love Dogs.

James Trevena as Sir Griffin de Beauford

James Trevena stars opposite Gonzalo as Sir Griffin de Beauford, a knight from the 15th century who unexpectedly finds himself experiencing the modern world after centuries spent as a statue. Griffin’s unfamiliarity with everyday technology, social customs and contemporary Chicago gives the movie much of its lighter comedy.

His story, however, involves more than adjusting to a different century. Griffin and Emily must also understand the circumstances surrounding his transformation and determine whether his unexpected return is temporary. That gives the romance a built-in sense of urgency as the pair become increasingly important to one another.

Trevena previously appeared in the Hallmark movie Lost in Paradise, playing Julian alongside Lacey Chabert and Ian Harding. His wider credits include Charlie Says, American Woman and The Shannara Chronicles.

Author Bryn Donovan met Trevena while visiting the movie’s British Columbia set and wrote positively about how closely he resembled the Griffin she had imagined while working on the novel. Trevena’s previous experience with horseback riding and sword work was also useful for a role that incorporates elements of Griffin’s medieval background into a modern Hallmark romance.

Britt Irvin as Ivy

Britt Irvin plays Ivy, a museum publicist and one of the people drawn into Emily’s increasingly unusual situation. Once Griffin appears, Ivy becomes part of the small circle helping Emily handle both the practical complications and the questions surrounding the mysterious knight.

The character gives Emily someone from her own world to rely on while Griffin tries to understand his new surroundings. Ivy also helps connect the museum storyline with the wider events that unfold around Emily and Griffin.

Irvin has worked across television, film and voice acting since childhood. Her live-action credits include playing Courtney Whitmore, also known as Stargirl, in Smallville, along with appearances in V, The Vow, Hot Rod and The Assistants. She has also built an extensive career as a voice performer.

Chris McNally Has a Supporting Role

Chris McNally is another notable addition to the A Knight to Remember cast, although his appearance is smaller than the two central roles. His presence is particularly interesting for longtime Hallmark viewers because McNally and Julie Gonzalo are partners off screen and have previously appeared together in Hallmark productions.

The pair previously worked on The Sweetest Heart and 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost. McNally is best known to Hallmark audiences for playing Lucas Bouchard in When Calls the Heart, a role that has made him one of the network’s most recognizable regular performers.

A Knight to Remember also became something of a family production for Gonzalo. During Bryn Donovan’s visit to the set, the author revealed that McNally was present and that one of Gonzalo and McNally’s daughters participated in filming as an extra.

Matty Finochio Joins the Supporting Cast

Matty Finochio appears among the movie’s supporting cast and brings considerable experience with Hallmark productions. His character has not been as heavily promoted as Emily or Griffin, but his inclusion adds another familiar Vancouver-based performer to the ensemble.

Finochio has previously appeared in Hallmark projects including Autumn Dreams, Bridal Wave, Window Wonderland, Holiday Date and The Holiday Sitter. His wider television and film credits include Virgin River, Woman of the Hour and Final Destination: Bloodlines.

He frequently appears in supporting roles that add humor or personality around a movie’s central romance, making him a natural fit for a story where Griffin’s arrival creates plenty of opportunities for confusion and comedy.

Luc Roderique

Luc Roderique is also part of the ensemble cast. The Canadian actor trained at Vancouver’s Studio 58 and has built a varied career across drama, science fiction and fantasy projects.

Roderique played Winchester Barnes in The Porter and Arca in the Apple TV series See. He has also appeared in Motherland: Fort Salem and several other productions filmed in Canada.

His involvement further reflects the movie’s strong connection to British Columbia’s film industry. A Knight to Remember was produced around Vancouver during summer 2026, allowing the production to draw extensively from the region’s established acting community.

David James Lewis

David James Lewis joins the movie after a long career in Canadian and American television productions. The Vancouver-born actor has appeared in series including The X-Files, Stargate SG-1 and The Outer Limits, along with films such as Paycheck and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Lewis has worked extensively in British Columbia throughout his career, making his casting another natural fit for the Vancouver-based Hallmark production. His role is part of the supporting ensemble surrounding Emily and Griffin’s story.

Hallmark’s advance promotion has focused primarily on Gonzalo and Trevena, leaving some of the supporting characters for viewers to discover when the movie airs.

William C. Vaughan

William C. Vaughan rounds out the credited supporting cast of A Knight to Remember. Like several other members of the ensemble, detailed information about his character has been kept limited ahead of the movie’s premiere.

That makes it better to avoid assigning the supporting performers to characters from Bryn Donovan’s novel unless Hallmark or the finished movie confirms those connections. Adaptations frequently combine, remove or alter secondary characters when moving from a novel to a television movie.

Vaughan nevertheless forms part of a sizeable ensemble built around Emily and Griffin, giving the fantasy romance enough supporting characters to expand beyond its central museum mystery.

A Cast Built Around Emily and Griffin

The success of A Knight to Remember ultimately depends on the chemistry between Julie Gonzalo and James Trevena. The premise asks viewers to accept an extraordinary situation, but the emotional story remains grounded in two people trying to understand one another despite coming from completely different worlds.

Gonzalo brings considerable Hallmark experience to Emily, while Trevena has the more unusual challenge of making Griffin feel convincingly out of time without turning him into a caricature. Their contrasting characters also give the movie room to move between romantic moments, comedy and the mystery surrounding Griffin’s return.

Bryn Donovan’s original novel Her Knight at the Museum was published in November 2024 and already established Emily and Griffin as the heart of the story. Donovan later visited the Hallmark set and said the actors chosen for the two central roles closely reflected how she had imagined the characters while writing the book.

A Knight to Remember premieres Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel. The movie will also become available on Hallmark+ beginning October 4.