‘The Christmas House’: The Scene in the Hallmark Movie That Made the ‘Entire Crew’ Cry On the Set
The Hallmark Channel recently premiered its movie The Christmas House, starring Jonathan Bennett and Brad Harder. They play the first-ever gay couple to be featured one of Hallmark’s holiday movies. While being part of the history-making project was emotional enough for Bennett, he described one scene in particular from the Hallmark movie that made everyone working on the film set cry.
‘The Christmas House’ cast member Jonathan Bennett on the Hallmark Channel’s first-ever movie featuring a gay couple
In The Christmas House, Bennett and Harder play a married couple named Brandon and Jake who are waiting to hear back on an adoption they applied for.
As the Mean Girls alum told Good Morning America about Hallmark’s history-making movie: “It’s the first time you see 2 men in love starting their own family. And that’s such a groundbreaking thing because representation is important.”
Jonathan Bennett describes the scene from the 2020 Hallmark movie that made everyone onset cry
Seeing that representation onscreen is important for Hallmark Channel viewers and fans. But it was also deeply meaningful for the people who worked on The Christmas House themselves.
Bennett told GMA about one scene in particular. After they filmed it, “there wasn’t a dry eye on the set,” the actor explained.
The scene in question: Brandon and Jake have a “tiff” while visiting Brandon’s parents. The anxiety surrounding the adoption has reached a boiling point for the couple.
“And you see my husband comfort me and come together and we kiss,” Bennett said about the scene. “Because that’s what two men who are adopting a baby and are in a loving relationship do — they kiss, that’s what couples do.” That moment in The Christmas House was very moving for everyone working on the movie.
“The entire crew was crying,” the actor told Good Morning America.
‘The Christmas House’ star on why that moment was so emotional for the cast and crew
Bennett went on to explain what was so magical about that moment onset:
We had a few few gay men come up to us and say, ‘Hey, we work on a lot of these movies, we work on a lot of Hallmark films, and we do the set decoration and we put our blood sweat and tears into it, and for the first time, we feel like we’re part of the family too.’
The Christmas House star started to get choked up, admitting he was “getting emotional talking about it.”
The crew members, many of whom were alums of The Hallmark Channel, had been waiting for that kind of representation onscreen.
“They put their energy and their everything into making these movies perfect,” Bennett said in the GMA interview. “And for them to feel like they’re part of the family and that they belong at the table. …That’s when we knew we had done something really special.”
The Mean Girls actor also promised there was more to come from Hallmark, in terms of diversity and inclusion.
“Everyone belongs at the Hallmark Channel table,” he shared. “… And it’s not gonna stop there.” Bennett explained that viewers have more to look forward to in 2021, referencing “projects green-lit, in development that will make the holiday table grow even next year.”
“This isn’t the end,” The Christmas House star said. “This is only the beginning for the Hallmark Channel.”
