Brendan Penny Talks Mr and Mrs Christmas and Reflects on The Assistants
In Mr and Mrs Christmas, a single dad and holiday display expert is partnered with a practical accountant to bring the town’s Christmas Market to life. While the unlikely duo brings fresh ideas to the community, he struggles with a daughter who seems to be outgrowing their cherished holiday traditions. In a conversation with Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado, Brendan Penny opens up about tackling a different type of Hallmark leading man, working alongside Pascale Hutton, and throws it back to his days on The Assistants.
While romance is always at the center of a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, Mr and Mrs Christmas adds another layer. “It's about a father who is trying to hang on to the way that things were and all the magic that was there and not really realizing that just because things are different, it doesn't mean that they're worse,” said Penny. “They're just a different way of having that kind of magic. It’s a real struggle that a lot of people go through. I have a teenage daughter as well so I could relate to you being their little hero then all of a sudden they have their own life and you're like, ‘But I'm still right here. Hold on. Come back.’”
“When you have kids and they're very little, compared to where they're teenagers, compared to when they're adults and they have their own kids. It's all these transitions that you go through and you can't not go through it. It's literally impossible because no one stays the same,” he continued.
“So I think it's just something that […] the audience is going to be able to relate to very strongly.”
While Penny and Hutton had never worked together before, they had a friend in common with Chesapeake Shores star Emilie Ullerup. “I knew she was a really good person, but I hadn't worked with her,” he explained. “You spend a lot of time in between takes just talking and getting to know each other. You can't really force chemistry. You just build it naturally. We just got along really well right away, had a lot of laughs. She's a professional. She can pretend to be in love with me, so it was easy, very easy to work with her.”
His favorite scenes to film? “I liked when we were shooting the exterior stuff at night. That whole sequence with the lights, like setting up the lights on the house and [then] getting her out of the room to come have a look and then it all falls apart,” Penny shared. “I like those moments where everything's set up and then crashes. It's always fun to play that kind of stuff.”
Fans who grew up on The N will remember Penny from his role as Danny Newell on The Assistants. “Oh my gosh, it's the best thing ever to happen. It was the best,” he enthused. “It was such a fun show. I mean, a little known actor Michael B. Jordan. He's done okay since then.”
“We were like brothers,” he said of working with Jordan. “We would block shoot scenes so you were always with everyone. We all got along incredibly well and just would crack each other up non-stop.”
Penny shared that the whole cast were “all so tight.” “Britt Irvin and I are still really close friends. I talk to Meagan Rath all the time. Zak Santiago is one of the nicest gentlemen ever. And I mean Michael, he's such a stud. Look at him. He's the biggest movie star right now,” he said, hyping up his former cast mates. “That was such a fun little show. It was great. I got to play the dumb jock idiot goofy guy in a comedy. I mean, dream come true. You can't get any better. I'm so happy that you brought that up. You made my day.”
Mr and Mrs Christmas airs October 18 on Hallmark Channel and streams the next day on Hallmark+.
