20 Years After ‘Imply Women,’ Jonathan Bennett Is Discovering New Methods To Make Followers Swoon – The Boston Courier

To a era of viewers, Jonathan Bennett will eternally be often called Aaron Samuels, the dreamy jock who gained the center of Lindsay Lohan’s character within the 2004 teen comedy basic “Mean Girls.”

The actor, who’s homosexual, has extra lately been discovering artistic methods to replicate his lived expertise by way of his work. This fall, he’s one of many principal stars of Hallmark’s “The Groomsmen” trilogy, during which he portrays Danny, a homosexual athlete who helps his two straight mates (Tyler Hynes and B.J. Britt) as they put together for his or her respective weddings ― whereas holding out hope for a fairy-tale ending of his personal.

Within the collection’ second installment, “The Groomsmen: Second Chances,” Danny grapples with a “My Best Friend’s Wedding”-like conundrum when he’s requested to be the perfect man for a longtime pal, Zack (Alexander Lincoln), who’s getting ready to tie the knot in Greece. What Zack doesn’t know, nevertheless, is that Danny has been suppressing his personal emotions for him.

“I got married two years ago [to television personality Jaymes Vaughan] and I had a bunch of my best friends as my groomsmen, and I’ve been in a bunch of my friends’ weddings as their groomsmen,” mentioned Bennett, who can also be a co-creator and co-producer on the trilogy. “Half my friends are straight, half my friends are gay, and we’ve always been a wolf pack.”

“Those friends are there for you when you need each other,” he continued. “But they also have an innate ability to call you out on your crap when you’re not being your best self. So I thought there was an interesting story that hasn’t been told of that male squad in the romantic comedy space.”

Bennett made his Hallmark debut in 2020 when he appeared in “The Christmas House,” the community’s first holiday-themed providing to incorporate an LGBTQ+ storyline. Equally, “Second Chances” is billed as Hallmark’s first to function a homosexual wedding ceremony in a principal storyline.

In fact, Bennett knew he’d have to remain true to rom-com custom by having the movie finish on a cheerful be aware for each Danny and Zack. However he and the remainder of the artistic staff nonetheless seemed for sudden methods to subvert LGBTQ+ tropes.

Given the shortage of brazenly LGBTQ+ athletes in skilled sports activities, Bennett felt he would “offer aspiration and hope” to followers by making Danny a Main League Baseball participant.

“We want to make sure when we’re telling stories ― whether it’s a holiday story or a wedding story ― that there’s always a seat at the table for everyone,” he mentioned.

With 4 years of Hallmark expertise below his belt, Bennett can also be thrilled to be mentoring would-be heartthrobs because the host of “Finding Mr. Christmas.” Airing Thursdays, the competitors collection finds 10 actors vying to be the main man in an upcoming Hallmark Christmas film, “Happy Howlidays,” starring Jessica Lowndes and due out Dec. 21.

“My dream for the show is for it to be like the early days of ‘American Idol,’ where everyone gathers around the TV together at the holidays, and everybody has their favorites that they’re rooting for,” Bennett mentioned. As to what makes the best Hallmark vacation heartthrob, he famous: “They have a wit and a kindness to them. They have a whole lot of heart and charisma coming out of their ears. And, of course, they look good in a Christmas sweater.”

Watch a teaser for “Finding Mr. Christmas” under.

Together with his tv profession as soon as once more in excessive gear, Bennett additionally obtained to satisfy a lifelong dream this 12 months when he made his Broadway debut within the musical “Spamalot” as Sir Robin. Looking forward to 2025, he’s looking forward to a chance to return to the stage or flip his consideration behind the digital camera by directing his first function movie.

In the meantime, he and Vaughan have emerged as queer function fashions in their very own proper, providing quirky and colourful glimpses of their journey as a married couple to over 1 million followers on social media.

Bennett has been pleasantly stunned by simply how warmly his marriage has been embraced by legions of kids ― and their dad and mom ― who could also be coming to phrases with their very own sexuality or gender identification.

“Sharing my love for my husband unapologetically with the world has been one of the biggest honors of my life,” he mentioned. “We don’t post pictures of us kissing because we want pictures of us kissing ― I’m not even a good kisser. We do it because we didn’t have a love that looked like ours to look up to. This way, our love can be seen by the people who need to see it.”