The When Calls the Heart Exit *No One* Saw Coming in the Season 11 Finale
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The Season 11 finale of When Calls the Heart left a few characters’ futures in Hope Valley hanging in the balance, including Angela Canfield’s. Angela is the daughter of Minnie and Joseph Canfield and the older sister of Cooper Canfield. She was first introduced in Season 8 when her family moved to Hope Valley for Joseph’s new job as the town’s pastor. The teenager, who is blind, has become a beloved character on the show and fans are now wondering: Is Angela leaving When Calls the Heart? Keep reading to find out.
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Is Angela leaving When Calls the Heart?
We don’t know for sure, but the Season 11 finale certainly set up a potential exit for Angela Canfield (played by Vienna Leacock). While talking with her friends, the young girl mentioned the prospect of attending a college in Hamilton that specializes in training teachers for the visually impaired. Angela was excited about the school, but her mom was concerned about how far away Hamilton is from Hope Valley. She assured her mom that the school is “just an idea,” but Minnie decided to speak to Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) about it since it was her idea.
More: See if Angela from When Calls the Heart is blind in real life
Elizabeth then apologized for overstepping and told Minnie that there is “still plenty of time to explore other options.” Minnie noted that she overreacted, but the teacher validated her feelings and agreed that the college is very far away. “I can’t imagine Jack leaving home,” Elizabeth added of her son, Jack Jr.
Later on in the episode, Minnie told her husband about Angela’s desire to go to the school Elizabeth recommended. “Hamilton? That’s so far away,” Joseph told his wife. “Does Angela seem serious about this?” Minnie responded: “It’s hard to say, it’s a ways away … but sooner or later we’ll have to face the fact that she’s growing up.” She added that least they can “take comfort in knowing that our love made her strong.”
It’s unclear if the Canfields will allow Angela to attend the school and when that day will come, but Minnie has a history of being overly protective with her daughter. When the family first arrived in Hope Valley, Minnie home-schooled Angela and was hesitant to enter her into the school system. After some encouragement from Elizabeth, however, she finally let Angela attend the Jack Thornton School with her younger brother.
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Off-screen, the Canfields are portrayed by a real-life family. Viv Leacock stars as Joseph, while his daughter Vienna plays Angela and his son Elias plays Cooper. Natasha Burnett, who portrays Minnie, is not related to the Leacocks, but she considers herself a “fun aunt” to her co-star’s kids. “I think because Viv was so comfortable with me, they got quite comfortable with me,” Burnett told Us Weekly of her on-screen family. “I feel like the fun aunt. I dunno if it’s fun, but I feel like the aunt.”
“In the beginning, I think I was just trying to make them feel really comfortable,” she continued, adding of Vienna: “I wanted to make sure that she felt like, ‘OK, well if Viv has gone back to his trailer and she needs to ask a question, don’t feel like you can’t ask me, and I’ll try and help.’”
Vienna is not blind in real life, but she did heavily prepare to take on the role of Angela and even learned Braille. “It’s really important to me. It’s a big role,” she told Entertainment Tonight in March 2021. “You do have to know how to act and it’s important to know all the little things that you have to do and how a blind person sees the world. You have to learn how to become that character.”
Her proud dad added: “She didn’t want to make a mistake. She knew that the character was blind and she knew that there was a massive responsibility, as far as, there are loved ones who have blind people in their family, you got to do this right.”
When Calls the Heart is available to stream on Peacock.
Watch ‘When Calls the Heart’ on Peacock
Get to know the real-life families of the When Calls the Heart cast in the gallery below.
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