Jonathan Bennett Takes Us Behind the Scenes of Finding Mr. Christmas Season 2

Jonathan Bennett had a dream to assemble America’s most attractive up-and-coming actors to compete for the title of Hallmark’s next leading man. Thus, Finding Mr. Christmas was born!

When I recently spoke with Bennett, joined by Season 2 contestants Davey Fisher and Gabriel Thaxton, the host was happy to share his show’s recipe for success.

“I find hot guys and put them on TV,” Bennett joked.

“From Season 1, we learned what the fans wanted, and what they wanted are bigger challenges, even hunkier guys, and things that are unexpected. So that’s what we took into Season 2. The show’s just bigger and bolder, and we found these two for your viewing pleasure [points at Davey and Gabe], you’re welcome, America! I’m doing the Lord’s work over here.”

Another element to Finding Mr. Christmas’ success is its ability to present the contestants with holiday-themed challenges that push them outside their comfort zone.

Bennett said creating the challenges was a “really fun” process: “It’s literally me in my office going, ‘What can I make them do?’ and then I come up with a nugget of an idea. Then we snowball it into what the actual challenge is and six months later, I’m on set, and I see them actually building the thing that was in my head.”

“Like, ‘Oh, that’d be funny if I hung them from a cable 30 feet in the air,’ and all of a sudden, there they are, rigging up a harness, and I’m like, ‘Wow, they’re really gonna fly through the air. That’s crazy!'”

Watch the full interview with Jonathan Bennett and Contestants Davey & Gabe:

“It’s not about just putting them into crazy situations. It’s about seeing how they react if we throw anything at them. Because we’re looking for the next Hallmark leading man.” Bennett explained.

“You have to be able to adapt while still being in character and being good. So it’s literally a test of how they adapt to things that are thrown at them. And these guys did a really great job of that. On the first episode of Season 2, I put them on snow skis and made them go downhill while doing a scene skiing. A majority of the guys had never skied before.”

For the contestants, the skiing was a particularly stressful test of their skills right out of the gate.

“It was the closest version to a panic attack I’ve ever had, and I’m very composed normally, ” Davey confessed.

“I came in expecting the unexpected, but when I’m forced to ram this four-page script down my throat with only a short time to prepare, as I’m getting dressed and getting fitted for skis, I’m just worried that this is going to be a recipe for disaster.”

“It really set the tone for this show. That’s what was going to be happening every episode, yeah, and we were just not going to know it was coming,” Gabe agreed.

Bennett confirmed that many of the challenges reflect actual scenarios he has experienced on the set of films.

“In my new movie, A Keller Christmas Vacation, with Brandon Ralph — you know, Superman Brandon Ralph — we had to shoot a scene where we’re siblings, and we’re ice skating in Vienna. We literally had no time to rehearse, and they were like, ‘You have the ice for 30 minutes because we can’t afford to close down the Christmas market.'”

“So Brandon and I put on ice skates for the first time in years, and they were like, ‘You don’t have time to practice. We have literally 30 minutes to get this shot, you have to get on the ice.'”

“So here we are, Aaron Samuels and Superman, like two Bambi deer on ice just trying to skate. So, like, it’s not crazy to say, ‘Hey, throw on snow skis and do a scene. We’re losing light. We got to go.'”

“It’s the nature of the industry,” Davey added. “You have to be adaptive as a pro if this is something that you’re serious about. This is an environment where you have to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

For Bennett, that double-edged sword of competition and entertainment was the driving force behind the concept.

“There’s the entertainment value, because we are making a reality show, and there’s the actual beneficial factor of it. How does this actually benefit the actors? So when you merge those, that’s where you get Finding Mr. Christmas. 

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Finding Mr. Christmas Season 2 is streaming now on Hallmark+.

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