Starring in the Hallmark Channel’s first Christmas movie featuring a leadinggay couple is personal to actor Jonathan Bennett.
“Growing up, I never saw a love that looked like my love in Christmas movies,”he told TODAY. “So to be able to create that and bring the story to thescreen… there are no words for it, of how excited I am.”
Bennett, 41, stars in and executive produces “The Holiday Sitter,” in which heplays a gay uncle who lives in New York but returns home and suddenly becomesin charge of making Christmas happen for his niece and nephew. The movie airson the Hallmark Channel Dec. 11.
Everett Andes as Miles, Jonathan Bennett as Sam, Mila Morgan as Dania, andGeorge Krissa as Jason in
“The nugget of the idea came from one of my favorite movies growing up, whichwas ‘Uncle Buck,'” Bennett explained. “I think so many queer uncles likemyself, I’m a gunkle to so many nieces and nephews that are biological, andall my friends’ kids, and so I thought it was a really great premise to starta story.”
Bennett said his character Sam is an “eternal bachelor” who finally finds aserious love with Jason, played by George Krissa. Bennett said his favoritepart of the movie is when Sam realizes he could date Jason.
“In the movie, right away, I don’t know that Jason’s gay. And you have me justkind of being nervous around this really attractive guy and then all of asudden there’s a moment where I realize, ‘Oh he might actually be a potentialdate’ and it’s my favorite part of the movie.”
Jonathan Bennett as Sam in
Bennett said “The Holiday Sitter” has all the elements of a classic Christmasmovie.
“We never set out to make a gay movie or a queer rom com,” he said. “We setout to make a really good romantic comedy that’s centered around Christmas.It’s centered around love and family and is a classic fish out of water story,which I love. The only difference is both the leads are men.”
Bennett married Jaymes Vaughan, 39, in March and said the life they’ve createdis not different from what other people create with their families.
“There’s no such thing as a traditional family,” Bennett said. “Your family iswho you choose. As a queer person, a lot of us grow up with a different ideaof what family is for may reasons, whether it’s acceptance or whether it’sjust the idea that our families are different, but they’re not.”
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Bennett became famous from his heartthrob role in “Mean Girls” and he gave anode to the iconic movie in his Hallmark film.
“I wanted to put this little nugget for all the ‘Mean Girls’ fans in thismovie,” Bennett said referring to the inclusion of Regina George’s line “stoptrying to make fetch happen.”
“When I shot ‘Mean Girls,’ I was in the closet and I was living a differentlife because it was just a different time in Hollywood. And when I came out,the ‘Mean Girls’ fans embraced me and they supported me and they loved me.That little nugget was a little bit of a thank you to the fans and a littlebut of a closure moment and full circle moment in this movie.”
Bennett starred alongside Lindsay Lohan in “Mean Girls” and she also has aChristmas movie out right now. Bennett said he’d love to reunite with heronscreen.
George Krissa as Jason, Jonathan Bennett as Sam, and Mila Morgan as Dania in
“There’s nothing I want to do more in the world than shoot a Christmas moviewith my Lindsay,” he said. “I’m so proud of that woman and I would do anythingto be in a Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie.”
Not as a reprisal of their past love on screen, Bennett said, but in a new wayof them playing siblings or best friends.
“We’d need to do something different than we’ve already done before. Theaudience has already seen us fall in love.”
As for Bennett’s Christmas plans, he and Vaughan are spending their firstChristmas together as a married couple at Hotel Edison in New York City. It’swhere Bennett and his parents used to spend Christmas before they passed andnow he is continuing the tradition with Vaughan.
For more with Bennett, tune into PopStart Plus on TODAY All Day on Dec. 8 at 7p.m. ET.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com