Roan Curtis sat down with Fantasy Land News to talk about her role as Olivia Quinn in Hope Valley 1874, the Hallmark+ prequel series now airing weekly on Thursdays. Olivia is the daughter of Hattie Quinn, a young woman with big dreams and an unconventional spirit who stands out in a frontier world built around pure pragmatism. Known to many from her time on Firefly Lane, Roan brought real warmth and humor to this conversation and clearly loves the character and the community she has stepped into.
You can find our full Hope Valley 1874 cast interview series at fantasylandnews.com/hallmark-channel/, including our conversations with Benjamin Ayres, Brad Abramenko, Chelsea Hobbs, Jedidiah Goodacre, Grayson Gurnsey, and Matreya Scarrwener.
Olivia Quinn: Hope Valley’s Dreamer
Roan described Olivia as the dreamer of the frontier, which is both a gift and a complication in a world where survival requires everyone to stay practical. While the people around her are focused on brass tacks, Olivia is the one asking what if it was also beautiful. She is romantic, a little scattered at times, and stands in deliberate contrast to her mother Hattie, who is the opposite in almost every way. Hattie has it together. Olivia is still figuring that out, and Roan plays the gap between them with real affection.
She said that in a time when dreaming big could easily be written off as fanciful or superfluous, Olivia dares to defy that. That quality is not a flaw to be corrected. It is exactly what the growing community is going to need as it becomes something more than just a place where people survive.
She Has Finally Earned the Apex of a Love Triangle
Olivia is at the center of the season’s love triangle alongside Clayton and Constable Alexander Vaughn, and Roan was funny and candid about what that means to her. This is her first time at the apex of a love triangle on a show. In the year before booking this role she appeared in two separate projects where her character was one of the two people competing for someone else’s heart, and in both instances her character did not get picked. She said she has done her time in the loser seat and feels she has genuinely earned being the one who gets to choose this time around.
What she appreciates about the way it is written is that neither option is obviously wrong. Clayton and Alexander are both genuinely viable choices for Olivia, and for real and different reasons. She is not stringing anyone along carelessly. She is faced with a real decision, and the show takes that seriously.
The Friendship With Sarah Is One of the Season’s Quiet Highlights
When Holly mentioned that Olivia’s developing friendship with Sarah is one of her favorite threads in the show, Roan immediately lit up. She and the actress who plays Sarah, Mila, have become genuinely close on set, with green room dance parties during filming breaks that Roan described with obvious delight. She called her something like a little sister, which is a beautiful way to frame it.
The friendship also works on a deeper level. Both Olivia and Sarah have lost their fathers and are being raised by strong single mothers. That shared experience gives their bond a foundation that goes beyond the fun of their scenes together. Roan hopes the friendship continues to develop across future seasons and is clearly invested in seeing where it goes as both characters grow up.
The Hair That Transforms Her Instantly
Holly told Roan that Olivia’s hair is one of the things she loves most about the character, and Roan was quick to credit the person responsible: Sandeep, a hair stylist who trained specifically in period techniques at a school in England. Roan is the only cast member who gets fully elaborate period hair, and she said the effect is immediate and complete. You look in the mirror and you are simply no longer yourself. You are Olivia. That kind of transformation from the outside in is something several cast members have talked about across these interviews, and Roan’s experience with it is especially vivid.
What She Hopes Olivia Leaves Behind
When Holly asked about Olivia’s legacy as the community grows toward the Hope Valley we know from When Calls the Heart, Roan pointed to something Clayton says in the show that she thought captured it perfectly: Olivia is the eye for beauty in the community. As the town takes shape, someone has to be the one asking not just whether something works but whether it is also worth looking at. Olivia is that person. Roan hopes that as the settlement grows, Olivia has a real hand in how it looks and feels, that her particular way of seeing the world leaves a mark on the place itself.
Sisters, Not Twins
Roan offered one of the best descriptions of the show’s relationship to When Calls the Heart that has come up in any of our cast conversations. She called the two shows sisters, not twins. Hope Valley 1874 carries the same spirit, the same warmth, the same community and romance and love that Hearties have always responded to. But it is also its own thing, its own story told in its own voice. Holly told her that freshness comes through clearly, and Roan said that was exactly the hope going into it.
Our Take
Roan Curtis is perceptive, genuinely funny, and thoughtful about what Olivia is doing in this story in a way that goes well beyond the obvious. The line about earning the apex of the love triangle after two consecutive losses was one of the most honest and entertaining moments in any of these junket conversations, and it landed with the self-awareness of someone who is completely comfortable in her own skin.
Olivia Quinn is becoming one of the most compelling younger characters in the Hope Valley universe, and a lot of that comes down to how clearly Roan understands who she is. The dreamer of the frontier is exactly the right framing. Every community needs one, and we are glad this one has Olivia.
Hope Valley 1874 is streaming now on Hallmark+, with new episodes dropping every Thursday.
Roan Curtis Talked to Us About Olivia Quinn and Hope Valley 1874 on Hallmark+
Keep up with all things Hallmark at fantasylandnews.com/hallmark-channel/ and join the Realm at fantasylandnews.com/the-realm.
