“The Groomsmen” is a trilogy of sweet (and yes, sometimes corny) interconnected romances set in Philadelphia and abroad. The films, co-written, co-produced, and co-starring the out gay Jonathan Bennett, each revolve around a wedding.
The second entry, “The Groomsmen Second Chances,” out Oct. 24 on Hallmark+, follows Danny (Bennett), a former pitcher — now coach — for the Philadelphia Phillies, who realizes he is in love with his best friend and business manager, Zach (Alexander Lincoln from “In from the Side”). The trouble is that Zach just got engaged to Nolan (Adam Rhys-Charles), and asks Danny not only to be his best man but also to help him plan his destination wedding in Greece. Can Danny suppress his feelings for Zach and be the best best man ever? Danny and Zach do make an appealing couple — as everyone in the film notes.
The actor chatted with PGN about making “The Groomsmen,” his marriage, his friendships and his career.
What I love about Danny, and what I connect to, is that he is a big kid. He is a goofball who always wants to have fun and, of course, is a perfect match for the uptight Zach. How did you come to create and play his character?
It was such a fun trilogy to create for so many reasons. For Danny, I wanted to play me, because when you play characters who are close to yourself, it connects the audience to the characters more. There was a lot that went into the creation of Danny. What does he do for a living? We’re not going to do every gay stereotype. He’s not going to be a fashion designer. It was important to give him a heteronormative job, so we gave him a baseball player job. I wanted him to have a little Peter Pan syndrome. I think a lot of people in the queer community, because of what happens to us in our childhood and development growing up, because our defense mechanisms go up, we are stopped in our progression of maturity.
And a lot of queer people also are overachievers…
Oh, honey, I just created a movie trilogy! I’m not going to make one movie — I’m going to make three! The Overachiever Syndrome is a real thing. As a gay actor in Hollywood, I felt I had to triple prove myself to move the needle forward. And a lot of queer people do that.
You co-wrote, co-produced, and co-starred in this trilogy of films. Can you discuss making opportunities for yourself?
It comes from being a gay man and having Overachiever Syndrome. I am not going to sit around and wait for opportunities. I am going to make the opportunities for me. The other side of it is I have so many stories I want to tell and a perspective on life with what I’ve gone through being a queer, closeted actor for 15 years and then coming out and seeing what coming out does to you not only as a person but to my career. For me, it was so powerful because I was so scared to do it. I was afraid people were going to hate me, and it couldn’t have been farther from the truth. When I came out, I was so embraced and supported and loved. It was a true testament with real experience of that age-old adage that when you live your truth, your whole life opens up. Because that happened, I want to tell these stories to inspire other people to live unapologetically. Sure, there are going to be messy parts of life, but if you live your truth, that’s where you hold your power.
What experiences have you had as a groomsman or a best man in real life?
I’ve been a groomsman to five of my friends — which shows I’m a good friend and they want me in their wedding — but that’s what sparked the idea of “The Groomsmen.” We have our squad of friends who are gay and straight and come from all different walks of life. And that’s what a group of guys looks like in 2024. The dynamic is that we make fun of each other and express love and support to each other, but we also call each other on our shit. You can’t get anything over on your squad. The moment you need them or have a low moment, they give you the shoulder to cry on. It’s a perfect trifecta of emotions. I thought, “Why are we not telling this story?” It’s so relatable. Also, it gives the female viewer insight into the guys’ weekend. What are they doing, and what conversations are they having? Women can see behind the curtain and guys can see their friendships represented on screen.
You mug for the camera with reaction shots and one-lines, which are amusing…
ME?! I’m the king of subtlety!
[Laughs] Can you talk about your performance and playing it up in these films? You have fun doing physical comedy, dancing and more.
The fun part of playing Danny and my schtick, is that when I was playing straight roles, I was so afraid to let any quirkiness or musical theater-ness come out of my body or face, because they would know I was gay, and I would lose jobs. That would be a huge fear for me. I would tape my hands when rehearsing auditions so I wouldn’t use them to talk and flail. I thought if I use my hands too much, they will think I’m gay. When I came out, and started playing gay characters, I drank up every single moment I could on camera because it felt so powerful to be unapologetically me. Now they want my schtick. Playing Danny, I am winking and nodding all the time to the camera. I love campiness. I am a camp queen. So, I unapologetically do it. The audience responds positively to it, if you don’t do it, they want me to do my “big eyes!”
Danny also seems to be a bit of a troublemaker. He does kind of try to sabotage his bestie’s wedding — not without reason, albeit a selfish one. What observations do you have about his conflicted emotions?
All gay men at one point or another have been in love with their best friend. They just didn’t know it. There is always a best friend crush that we’ve all had. So many times, people land in friendzone when they could be much more. With Danny and Zach, Danny thinks he has a type, and he says Zach’s not his type. I have friends who like bears, but they meet a twink, and they won’t go on a date because they say they like bears. We get stuck on labels. Danny wants a guy who is an adrenaline junkie, or a guy he thinks he should be with rather than Zach, who isn’t adventurous until he realizes Zach is exactly what Danny needs.
I appreciated that Danny says that it’s best to fall for someone who makes you laugh. I have seen your posts with your husband on Instagram, and you have a very cute vibe. What makes a relationship work? My spouse and I always say, “One is the gardener, and one is the rose.”
Every diamond needs a setting on a ring. I’ve been married for two years and made six romantic comedies. For me, what has been the superpower in my relationship, and I’m very proud of it, is that I married my best friend. That’s the setting for “The Groomsmen Second Chances.” Danny and Zach are best friends, and they should be married. My husband and I are best friends. My whole world is one person. When you marry your best friend, you are never bored, and you don’t want to hang out with anyone else.
I love that you set the films partly in Philly. I loved seeing all your Phillies gear.
Do you know how that happened? For the Phillies gear to be used, we wanted it to be authentic. Hallmark talked to the Phillies for clearance, and they had to send them the script, and asked if we could use their logo. The Phillies responded, “Yes. We love the character and what you are doing.” Let’s talk about how big a deal that is. A Major League Baseball team read the script of a Hallmark Channel film with a gay leading man who was a coach and former player, and they said, “We love this story and want to support it. We’d be happy if you used our team as his team.” They approved it and were happy to be a part of it. Shoutout to the Phillies to show that love and support for the queer community. That’s absolutely epic! I can’t take credit for choosing the Phillies. One of our executives is from Philly and we wanted to give a wink and nod and a thank you to her.
You’ve come a long way since “Mean Girls,” a film that means so much to so many. Can you reflect about finding your niche with projects like “The Groomsmen” and your other Hallmark series, “Finding Mr. Christmas.” Thoughts?
What is interesting is the “Mean Girls” audience is also the Hallmark audience. They want to be entertained and laugh and feel good. If you are exhausted by the world in 2024, I make projects that are safe for queer people to be seen and feel uplifted and laugh and hopefully walk away not only feeling proud to be a queer person, but excited and invigorated in love as a queer person.
I am proud I was the first gay kiss in a Christmas movie ever. My clothes are in the LGBTQ+ archives in the Smithsonian from that scene. I was [in] the first gay-led holiday movie with “The Holiday Sitter,” and I was in the first same-sex wedding on the Hallmark Channel. And then I launched “Finding Mr. Christmas,” which is the first unscripted reality series on the Hallmark Channel. I want to tell queer stories to a broad audience who don’t watch “Drag Race.” That’s how you change hearts and minds.