Mr. Christmas is Christmas treeless.
“I don’t have a weekend at home because I’m always at a different Hallmark experience, pretty much between now and Christmas Day,” says Jonathan Bennett, Hallmark’s resident holiday hunk. “So, we don’t decorate for Christmas, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
“It’s not because I don’t like Christmas,” adds the host and mastermind behind Finding Mr. Christmas. “So, calm down, everyone. It’s because I start planning Christmas in January, when we’re developing challenges for Finding Mr. Christmas. We literally are working on Christmas all year long, so by the time it comes, I’m like, I just can’t do the tree this year, I’ve been around Christmas trees 360 days this year. I think I’ve celebrated.”
Finding Mr. Christmas, if you missed the inaugural season, is a reality show about Christmas on Hallmark. If ever a show were destined for a specific network, this, returning Oct. 27, is it. It’s such a natural that when Ben Roy, executive producer, thought of it, he immediately called his friend, Bennett.
“He’s obviously Mr. Hallmark,” Roy says of Bennett, who’s been in a dozen Christmas movies for the network. “So, I called him, and he rattled off a million ideas and was like, ‘I’m calling Hallmark right now.’”
“It’s hot guys in Christmas sweaters doing cute things,” says Bennett, sitting next to Roy. “Who doesn’t want that at Christmas?”
The network responsible for Christmas becoming a year-round event, Hallmark, moved quickly. Although the series promotes itself as 10 actors competing for the chance to be in a Hallmark Christmas movie, not all of the contestants are professionals.
“Some of our hunks are actors and have some experience,” Bennett says. “We also have Jake Schum, who is a former NFL kicker and has zero acting experience, but he’s always wanted to do it. And I think that’s what makes this show so special. You can have all the acting experience in the world or none of the acting experience in the world, but you all have a level playing field to compete. So go for it and get that role.”
Bennett’s experience goes beyond meet-cute-in-the-snow movies. He was on Broadway in Spamalot, in Mean Girls, and on All My Children. A seasoned actor, Bennett knows this role calls for more than hitting your mark.
Separately, Bennett and co-host Melissa Peterman (Happy’s Place, Reba) talk about the search for the It Factor.
“I’m not looking for the best actor on Finding Mr. Christmas,” Bennett says. “I am looking for the best Hallmark leading man. And what that means is, they’re funny, they’re charming, they have a sense of humor, they’re kind, they have a big heart, and they look good in a Christmas sweater. And they have that thing about them that you can’t explain, right? That It Factor that makes them shine above everyone else; that’s what we’re looking for. It’s not technically the best actor. It’s who’s the best Hallmark star?”
The contestants, all of whom would warrant a head snap if you walked past them on the street, compete for the grand prize—a role in a Hallmark Christmas movie. Each week, they take on Christmas-themed challenges and act in a scene. Bennett, Hallmark stalwart Peterman, and a different guest each week serve as judges.
“I don’t know how I do it,” Peterman says. “I’m a brave, brave woman. Someone’s got to do it, you know? And they picked me, and I’m grateful every single day.”
She’s referring, in part, to the proclivity with which the men with negative body fat and non-threatening muscles shed their shirts.
“I was really happy that this show was about what, to me, Hallmark really does well, which is making sure that it feels good, and that people are genuinely rooting for each other,” Peterman says. “I don’t think we often see a lot of guys in a competition being really emotional and vulnerable with each other.”
Where other reality shows relish humiliation and celebrate subterfuge, Finding Mr. Christmas focuses on the competitors supporting each other (at least for the camera, and everyone swears it’s real). The first season saw hopefuls untangle an 80-pound Gordian Knot of Christmas lights. They extracted a saw from a block of ice to cut down—what else?—a fir tree.
Contestants also gift-wrapped tough-to-wrap presents, including a bike. In another segment, they mounted an impromptu talent show. The only talent one could think of was his ability to fold a fitted sheet. Still, in the greater scheme of life, isn’t that way more useful than being able to torture a violin into a few measures of Beethoven?
Last year’s winner, Ezra Moreland, was in Happy Howlidays with Bennett. Bennett will also be in the movie with this year’s winner.
Set in a house that makes Santa’s cottage look drab, contestants’ stockings are hung over the mantle. When eliminated, the guy takes his stocking and leaves.
The show moves quickly, on air and behind the scenes. They shoot up to 14 hours a day and complete an episode in a day.
“When we say you have 15 minutes to learn your script, it actually, really is 15 minutes,” Roy says. “And it’s one take. They don’t get a do-over, and so the stakes are high, and that’s why we give these guys a lot of credit, because that is terrifying to do, especially if you’ve never acted.”
This season offers new challenges. The first one up is making your own Santa suit. The fellows are given the basic red suit with white trim and zhuzh it up. Results include superhero, rock star, NYC gangster, and, of course, buff Santa.
“What we learned from last year is that the guys are ready to say, yes,” Bennett says. “They’re ready to jump in and play. So, we can go for it. The challenges are bigger and bolder than they were last year. Like we have them riding animals. We have them suspended from 30 feet in the air by a cable, in a harness, trying to do a scene. We have been doing, like, all these different things that we never dreamed.”
Bennett’s husband, Jaymes Vaughan, tests these ideas, so he’s the first one in the harness to see if it will fly.
“To be an actor and walk into a casting room where it’s just you and a casting director is already vulnerable,” Bennett says. “That’s scary. These guys are like, ‘Oh, I’ll do that, but I’ll do it on television so that everyone can watch me do it.’”
Given that potential Christmas challenges are endless, and what a life-changing moment this could be for a burgeoning actor, Finding Mr. Christmas could go on indefinitely.
“I don’t see a world where we’re not shooting Finding Mr. Christmas,” Bennett says. “My goal is to bring back all stars for future Finding Mr. Christmas seasons. Like Season Six All Stars, where we’re going to bring back two favorites from each season and see how they’ve grown.”
“At the end of the day, it is an unscripted show,” Bennett says. “If the primary goal is to entertain and spread joy, that’s what this show does. Turn your brain off. Watch hot guys do cute stuff at Christmas. The second goal is to find actors to expand the Hallmark universe permanently. These guys aren’t just one-off actors that get a role and never do a movie again. Our goal is to find guys that we can nurture and grow and develop in the Hallmark universe.”
The post ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’: Hallmark’s Search for the Next Christmas Hunk Is Must-See TV appeared first on The Daily Beast.
