Andrew Walker in "Kentucky Roses"(©2026 Hallmark Media / ©2026 Hallmark Media )Derby season in Louisville brings no shortage of spectacle, but it also brings stories about tradition, place and identity. This year, one of those stories is coming to TV in the form of a Hallmark movie shot on locatio n at Churchill Downs.“Kentucky Roses” premieres May 2, Derby Day.LPM’s Ayisha Jaffer spoke with leading man Andrew Walker about filming at Churchill Downs, learning the rhythms of Derby culture and what surprised him about making a movie so closely tied to Louisville.This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.Ayisha Jaffer: How did you first find your way into the Hallmark world?Andrew Walker: Back in 2011, I got a call from my manager saying that I had an opportunity to do a movie called “A Bride for Christmas.” That was my first movie. And I got called back six months after that movie aired, and people said that they really responded well to it and here we are, close to 40 movies later.AJ: What stood out to you about “Kentucky Roses” when this project came your way?AW: This project came to me because my best friend is from Kentucky, and she's been talking about Churchill Downs and the Derby forever. Her cousin is the CEO of Churchill Downs, and he's a really big Hallmark fan.He had mentioned it to our friend. He said, “Look, if there's an opportunity, we would love to do a partnership with Hallmark, and your friend Andrew is on our television screen all the time. Maybe you could see if he would be interested.” And so she called me, and of course, Hallmark was very interested in doing this and we made it happen.And for me, it wasn't so much about the Derby as much as it was about Churchill Downs, the building, the history of the building, the architecture, what it means to sport, what it is to American tradition, the sport, the pageantry of it all. Everyone in the community is a piece of this.AJ: What was it like actually filming at Churchill Downs? Because, as you mentioned, it has so much history, and it's a landmark. It's such an iconic place.AW: We had free rein of the entire racetrack, so I saw every nook and cranny of that place, and there's three speakeasies on the property. You get into the speakeasy by pressing a button on a poster or frame or a piece of art, and the door opens where you'd never think there was a door, and then you're in this whole other room, a beautiful speakeasy with the leather banquettes. We got to see the entire property, and it's going to be completely different now to go back to see it again with everybody there.AJ: That's something that stood out to me in this film. It felt really attentive to place. The local references felt very specific, even down to the pronunciation of Louisville. From your perspective, how much effort went into making the story feel grounded in Kentucky and not just using the Derby as a backdrop?AW: A lot of the effort went into pronouncing “Louisville” properly. That was told to me pretty quickly. I was told, “When it doesn't sound right, you're saying it correctly.”AJ: That sounds right.AW: Jamie Pachino, the writer, met all these people that she's incorporated into the story, from the history to the artwork, to how many roses are in the garland of roses and where they come in from. How they come from South America.We were in the stands on Derby Day [last year], and it was just a few minutes before the race was starting, and it was Jamie, myself, a bunch of people from Hallmark, and we were all standing in one of the rows, and a group in front of us looked back and said, “Hey, my wife's a big fan. Can you take a picture?” And so I took a picture, and we started small talk, and we were all like, “Where are you all from?” And they were like, “We're with Kroger. We're the ones that supply the roses.”And Jamie perked up, and she's like, “Really, you’re from Kroger? And where do you get this many roses?” And they're like, “We actually bring in close to 1,500 roses from South America, and 498 of them make it into this garland of roses.” So we started getting all these little tidbits. Jamie did a great job.Another serendipitous moment for me is that my dad is a huge Derby fan. So for me to do this movie and to give him some of the stats and some of the facts about the Derby that we don't hear was really special.I would show up every morning, at around 5 a.m., and our trailers were parked right in front of the backside of the Derby, where all the horse trainers are, and everybody who is taking care of the horses lives. Little did I know there was a fully functioning town there. There's a school, there's sports teams, and I would listen to the horses warming up in the morning, running the track, the dew coming off the grass, the sun coming up.And I would FaceTime my dad from there. And it was really special. So this movie is a little bit of an ode to him as well for me.AJ: Before filming this, had you ever been to the Derby before?AW: I went the year before, just to shoot some B-roll. But before that, never. I just watched it with my dad.AJ: And then this year, you're going to be there?AW: This year I'll be back.AJ: What are you most excited for audiences, especially Kentucky audiences, to see in this film?AW: I think this is kind of a grown-up version of a Hallmark movie. You're going to get everything that you expect in a Hallmark movie, but this love story is a multigenerational love story, and we also touch on the class differences between these two characters, with Odette Annable’s character working at the greenhouse, and my character being the CEO's son, who has sworn he'd never work for his father. There's also this beautiful father-son storyline.I think there’s something for everybody. It was just said to me today that each frame in this movie is a portrait. It's so beautiful. And Clare Niederpruem, the director, did such an incredible job capturing this movie the way she did. ...read more read less