When former “Mean Girls” actor Jonathan Bennett appeared on a Zoom screen, he had a freshly tanned tan, which he told the Observer was the result of his recent trip on a Carnival cruise ship — one of many trips he’s filmed and posted to his more than 1 million Instagram followers. Now, he’s back on the West Coast, listening in from his sunny home office in Palm Springs to talk about some of his favorite things.
A cheerful Hallmark poster is displayed in the background. Bennett, 45, has become the Holiday Channel’s go-to leading man in recent years, starring in everything from the reality show “Finding Mr. Christmas” to “The Christmas House,” which made history as the channel’s first TV movie to feature a same-sex storyline.
However, just because Bennett has become the network’s go-to for the holidays, doesn’t mean he’s necessarily always ready to celebrate. Instead, the only time he relaxes is at the end of a busy season. “I don’t want to talk about Christmas when the real Christmas comes!” he spilled. “I’ve been talking about Christmas for two months straight, and as much as I love it, I’ve spent my Christmas.” Instead, he and his husband, Jaymes Vaughan, would sit on the couch, order takeout, and “just rot and do nothing.”
Bennett and Vaughn are very much an “us,” whether they’re celebrating (or not celebrating) the holidays or moving from Hollywood to Palm Springs, where they moved after a few years in Los Angeles. They moved after they got married because, As Bennett said, “Twenty years later, nothing good is coming out of West Hollywood.”
Bennett finds quiet solace in everyday life, whether it’s going to the same restaurant every time she’s filming a Hallmark movie in Vancouver or falling asleep on a true-crime show with Vaughn. His career means he spends a lot of time away from home, so he values consistency and familiarity.
“I’m a creature of habit,” the former Flywheel coach admitted. “When I travel or go to Vancouver to shoot a movie for the 100th time, I still eat at the same four or five places every time, even though there are a million restaurants. I always go back to places I know.”
These comfortable escapist tendencies translated into his pursuit of pop culture. He avoids comedies because as an actor he can “hear the script” and “see the scenery.” Instead, he loves RuPaul’s Drag Race and watches true crime episodes on repeat.
“I only like the ones where you don’t know who did it in the first place,” he told the Observer. “Research shows — and by research I mean TikTok, so this must be true — that watching true crime is relaxing because you know eventually they’re going to catch the killer and you’re going to find out who the killer is.”
Here, the General Hospital actor talks to The Observer about a day in his life, from waking up early to his secret tips for memorizing scripts at the gym, and takes readers behind the scenes of his perfect day in Palm Springs.