Crosspost: Originally published at TVMeg.com

Hallmark’s reality competition Finding Mr. Christmas premieres its second season on Monday, spotlighting ten aspiring male actors battling through festive challenges for the chance to become the next face of Hallmark holiday romance. The contestants each take part in both Christmas-inspired tasks and acting challenges, getting to perform alongside well-known Hallmark Christmas movie stars. Hosting the show is Jonathan Bennett, a Hallmark movie star in his own right, while actress and comedian Melissa Peterman serves as the main judge, joined weekly by guest judges. Each week one contestant is eliminated until the final winner earns a leading role in one of Hallmark’s upcoming Countdown to Christmas films.

Recently, Jamie Ruby spoke with Bennett and contestants Robbie Simpson and Angel Garet for TV Meg about how the competition has evolved, the challenges the contestants faced, and more.

The new season premieres October 27th on the Hallmark Channel and is available to stream the next day on Hallmark+.

Watch the interview and read the transcript below.



JONATHAN BENNETT:   Jamie's coming to us from space! How's the signal up there?

JAMIE RUBY:   It's hard to hear. [laughs] It's nice to talk to you all. I enjoyed the first episode that we got to see. Jonathan, let me start with you. How do you feel that the show has evolved since last season?

JONATHAN BENNETT:   You know, we took everything we learned from season one and, you know, expanded that into season two to make it even bigger and bolder than season one. I can't believe I got away with what I got away with in season two. Like, when I said to the executives, “Hey, I want to hang them from a cable in a harness thirty feet and fly them through the air,” they were like, “Yeah, that's a great idea.” And I'm like, “Are you sure?” They're like, “Yeah.” I'm like, “Okay, great. I also want to put them on skis in the first episode and make them ski down a hill while having to memorize a scene and act with the biggest Hallmark star, Janelle Parrish, and they only get one take. They have to do it, and whatever happens, happens.” And they're like, “Yeah, that's a great idea.” And I'm like, “Great.” So, it's just, you know, I think my sandbox has expanded, and I've been able to play with all the different things in it a lot bigger.

JAMIE RUBY:   All right, that's fair. Robbie and Angel, what made you both want to be a part of this?

ROBBIE:   Oh, yeah. I've been watching Hallmark movies forever when I was on the couch with Hot Coco with my family members. So, to be able to be a part of the Hallmark universe and tell these stories that I have watched forever, I mean, Hallmark is the place for feel good entertainment. So, you know, when you click that on, you're just going to feel good. And then also to do that with Jonathan Bennett and learning from him and also laughing with him was just a total blast and an easy yes for me.

JAMIE RUBY:   What about you Angel?

ANGEL:   I grew up in Venezuela, and I immigrated to this beautiful country, and every Christmas I would watch movies to enjoy it and learn English, and Hallmark was my go-to. Then, when the opportunity came to be part of a Hallmark on a scripted show, I was like, “I have to do this.” I've been doing this for years, every Christmas, and I'm excited that I'm part of it.

JAMIE RUBY:   What did you two do to prepare? And did you go back and watch season one?

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Yeah. What'd you do to prepare for this?

JAMIE RUBY:   If anything.

JONATHAN BENNETT:   If anything, they can't really prepare what I put them through, because every day they're like, “Why do we have to do [that]? What, Jonathan, what are we doing?”

ANGEL:   I watched season one first. I researched who this awesome host was, and then just, a lot of self-talk. English is my second language, so I had to like, tell myself, “You’ve got this.” You just gotta be present, active, listening, cheer for others, let go of ego, let go of your past, enjoy the moment, pay attention and just take as much information from the hosts, your friends, and everybody else. And the Christmas movies help too.

JONATHAN BENNETT:   That's right.

ROBBIE:   I love unscripted television. I love watching reality TV. So, this has been a total dream for me to get dropped into my ideal reality television show, you know, being an actor.

So, I watched season one, probably like three times, just trying to figure out everything that was going on, but that helped to a certain extent. But as soon as I got there, Jonathan [was] switching it up on us constantly, so I just realized that like every day, it just was about saying “Yes, and.” What are we doing today? Getting excited about that. Then, also just having fun. Like at the end of the day, I think that's the name of the game, and that was what helped me do well was enjoying the time together and enjoying the other guys. And it was a total blast.

ANGEL:   I mean, this show lets us bring our inner child out. We were kids in a playground, and that was just the best experience ever.

JAMIE RUBY:   And Jonathan, having been in Hallmark Christmas movies, did you find yourself trying to give them advice? Did you try not to??

JONATHAN BENNETT:   The best way to learn how to do something is to just do it. And I've done, I think, twelve, thirteen Hallmark movies at this point. So, like, I've learned so much from doing that when I'm hosting and judging these guys. I'm able to like share all my knowledge with them. And I'm like, “Hey, when you do this, you know, you might want to think about this, because this is going to happen.” Like anytime I have a chance to coach them, you know, from what I can coach, because it is a competition. So, I kind of got to let them - I'll give them advice, but I don't want to see – I’ve got to let them see what they do on their own first, you know? But then the feedback after they do it is usually where I'm able to help them and say, “Okay, next time do this,” you know? And they soaked it up like sponges.

ROBBIE:   I think the thing that sets this show about apart from other reality television is that every day we showed up to set and felt supported, and Jonathan, Melissa, and the judges wanted us to succeed. They were helping us through that, and that's not something you see on a lot of reality television, but it's definitely why I think Hallmark putting their specific stamp on this show is what makes this different and why people are going to love this.

JAMIE RUBY:   Did you guys have more trouble with the acting challenges or with the other challenges?

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Ooh, that's a good question. What'd you have a harder time with? I mean, they both struggled in both of them in different ways. I'm not going to lie, but that's part of - that's the fun of the show.

ROBBIE:   I think what was hard is that for this show, you're doing both at the same time. So, like you're acting, but then you're also doing it. Do you know, like riding an animal of some sort? Do you know?

JONATHAN BENNETT:   They're on skis or hanging in the air or riding an animal while acting.

ROBBIE:   Yeah. So, you know, you can take an acting class. You can go to acting school for as long as you want, but nothing is going to prepare you for some of the stuff that you're doing on this show. But if you just focus and just remember, kind of who you are, what you're there to do, and then act opposite the incredible celebrity Hallmark scene partners that we had, then you're going to do great.

JONATHAN BENNETT:   What about you, Angel?

ANGEL:   I mean, just, it doesn't matter how prepared you are. Just like Robbie was saying, it's just surprise after surprise. This season brought so many twists that kept us on our toes. Yeah. So, it doesn't matter if it was an acting challenge, a modeling challenge, or anything. Everything was out of the ordinary.

JAMIE RUBY:   You say that though. What surprised you the most?

ANGEL:   What surprised me the most? The skis, because I've never skied before in my life, and I remember Jonathan was like, “Are you ready?” “No. How do you break?” “Bye! Action!”

[laughter]

JAMIE RUBY:   What about you, Robbie

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Angel falls down on his skis. We'll do a spoiler alert.

JAMIE RUBY:   A lot of people fell down.

ROBBIE:   Watching Angel fall was not surprising to me, but what was surprising to me was I thought that I was signing up for an unscripted competition reality show, and as soon as I got there, I realized that that's not what this was going to be. I met the other guys, and it became a show about community, and it wasn't about the competition. The only person you were competing with is yourself every single day, and the community and the brotherhood that was developed between all of us. I don't even think it was something anyone was expecting on set, like crew or hosts or judges. It just was this natural melding of all these awesome guys. So, I came for a competition, but I left for the community.

ANGEL:   I remember when I fell and came back to the group, the guys were already talking amongst themselves. “All right. Does anyone know how to break?” “Oh, yeah. Do this. Do that.” We're already helping each other. Like, hey, if you have a hard time, try this or do this. So, in my head, I was like, this is a competition and people are already helping each other? Wow.

JONATHAN BENNETT:   And that was day one. I don't shine if you don't shine. That's something I tried to instill in them is like, it doesn't matter how good you're doing. If the people around you and your scene aren't doing well, then you're not doing well. So, it's like, make everyone around you better, and if you do that, then you're going to be lifted up.

JAMIE RUBY:   Speaking of scene partners, what was kind of like your first reaction, I guess, to getting to do a scene with Janelle? Were you nervous? How did you feel? Both of you.

ROBBIE:   I think it was twofold, because you're so excited to be working with these incredible actors, especially Janelle, that you've watched in so many networks and so many television shows, legends of Hallmark. So, you're so nervous, but then at the same time, I had to remember, like, wait, she's the best at what she does. So, just like Jonathan said, if she is shining, I'm going to shine. So, I was just listening to her, and being able to talk to her beforehand was really helpful. And the better she was, the better I was going to do, and that's what I was able to give over to, and it made me feel so much better.

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Did any of them really intimidate you, Angel, like any of the stars?

ANGEL:   Her beauty intimidated me.

[laughter]

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Janell is intimidating. She’s beautiful.

ANGEL:   She was easy to connect. I remember introducing myself to her, and she gave me a big smile. “Hi, nice to meet you.” And then, spoiler alert, I take her down with me, and I'm like, “What are you doing?” Time slows down. Get up. We finally get up. And it was so smooth after that. Like, we got that out of the way. We got that out of the way. So, now let's just have fun and enjoy the scene.

JAMIE RUBY:   Yeah, the skiing part was hilarious. Jonathan, I want to ask you really quick. One of your first roles was on a soap opera on All My Children. What did that teach you, that experience? And do you still find yourself using that?

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Yeah, you know, I think soap operas are the best training camp. And now it's kind of like what they call the verticals, like the candy jar and the real shorts and all that. Those verticals are great training ground for actors, because it's low expectations and low stakes. Like I said earlier, the best training is just to do it. And so, every day, when you're on a soap, you're standing in front of a camera, and you're acting every single day. Whether it's good or not doesn't matter, because they're going to shoot the next scene in two minutes. So, whatever you said is what's going on in the air, and that's a real quick way to learn how to become an actor. So, with, you know, Finding Mr. Christmas, I think there's a similarity there. It's like, just go do it. And they're like, “Well, how do we do it?” Well, you'll figure it out.

And to watch their growth from the beginning of the episodes to the end of the episodes, you know, throughout the whole season, to watch these boys grow, each one of them grow in a different way, and they take that with them onto their auditions.

JAMIE RUBY:   I know we're almost out of time, but what are you two taking away the most?

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Yeah, what are you guys taking from the show?

ANGEL:   I'm taking so much. I'm taking joy, vulnerability, teamwork. And this experience has taught me and made me a better man. Like I'm putting everything that I learned on this show into my own life with my personal lifestyle, with my family, and I'm excited for what's next.

ROBBIE:   Yeah, thank you, Hallmark.

JONATHAN BENNETT:   Yeah. This might be Mr. Christmas. You never know. Or this could be Mr. Christmas. What are you taking away possible, Mr. Christmas?

ROBBIE:   I'm really taking away that being your authentic self is absolutely what is wanted in this industry and is wanted at Hallmark. All of the things that make us who we are, the community, the love, the family, all of those values that you hold dear, just letting those out and being the part of the scene, whether it's in a conversation you're having with someone on the crew. I mean, that's what it takes to be a Hallmark leading man is not just who you are in front of the camera, is who you are off the camera. It's how you live your life. And when you're able to let out all of those things that make you an authentic person and let people in on that, that's the joy. And I think that's what they're looking for on the show.