Devotees of Holiday TV movies on the Lifetime and Hallmark channels will likely have seen out gay actor Chad Connell, who has appeared in several films in the genre. Born and raised in Ottawa, Chad Connell’s charisma shines through in all of his onscreen roles. Chad has had a love for the performing arts since he was three years old.
His animated personality translated well into his dancing and singing lessons throughout his childhood. He played Hercules in his first recital and had a lead part in the Tin Soldier at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre in the same year. When Chad was fourteen years old, he snagged a role in THE PACT, starring Ryder Strong. He then decided to put film and television on pause, attending Ryerson Theatre School.
Connell is a graduate of Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University)'s theatre program in Toronto. He began acting in local productions in Ottawa at the age of 11. His first starring role was the role of Oliver in the musical of the same name.
Connell has also appeared in Degrassi: The Next Generation, Wild Roses, Prom Wars and Hallmark Channel's Taking a Chance on Love, as well as Lifetime's Double Wedding with Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry. Chad can also be seen in many notable films, including DOUBLE WEDDING, STEEL, ANXIETYVILLE, GONE TOMORROW, THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES, WHITE HOUSE DOWN, PROM WARS: LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD, ABANDON, and POSERS. Chad currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.
Last year, he had a supporting role as Aiden, the straight brother in “The Christmas Setup,” the first Lifetime movie that featured a gay male couple at the center of the holiday romance. In 2019, he played the male lead, an uptight Brit, in the charming entry, “A Cheerful Christmas,” and had a supporting role as a would-be love interest (aka “fancy suit guy”) in “Double Holiday,” which had a Christmas and Hanukkah theme.
Read also: The Life of Chad Everett Harris
Connell has also played in “Christmas at Grand Valley,” and “A Christmas for the Books,” among other holiday films, but don’t think that the actor is a one-trick pony.
Gingerbread house
Holiday movies are cozy, with predictable plots, but they have a huge fanbase, and give viewers the feels. I do get why people like them. I don’t look down on the material because I love the holiday season. I was married at Christmas time, and I look forward to Christmastime all year. Holiday films are part of the whole tradition of getting into the spirit.
I’ve heard that the ideal Christmas movie is something you have on in the background while baking - which is part of the appeal of the predictable plot; if you miss a few moments because your cookies are going to burn, you don’t have to rewind. The genre they created has its own archetypal story of the woman from a small town coming home from the big city to wrap up a family issue and discovers Christmas is magical after all through the local handsome guy.
The genre as a whole - but specifically Hallmark movies 10-15 years ago - were pretty disregarded. People I know now who watch them maybe started off watching them ironically, but they are no longer watching them ironically. And any network of consequence is now trying to emulate the genre. It’s a full industry.
It used to be really specific; you can predict what the actors would look like and all the storylines. And now, we are seeing levels of ethnic or sexual diversity year after year. The audience who still want super-traditional, old school Hallmark Christmas movies are still getting them, but I think other people are being brought into the fold.
Read also: "Married to Evil": Chad Graves
There was an amazing “Saturday Night Live” skit about Hallmark Christmas movies. Hallmark would be eating their heart out at my family at Christmastime. My family does gingerbread house decorating competitions. We still all get together and watch “A Christmas Story.” That’s our go-to holiday film. We have a full replica of the leg lamp.
Why would I not? That’s not a trivial thought. It is certainly something to consider. If it is a fun script or cast, I’d be happy to do it. What I like about “The Christmas Setup” is that it was a traditional Christmas movie. It was only that Ben happened to be male. It fit the format.
On Acting and Character Portrayal
I’m well aware of how I present. People don’t see me having much of an edge. That’s why appearances don’t always necessarily reflect [actors] accurately. I can walk into these characters pretty easily. I know how to smile big. Atmosphere around set can play a big part - who you are working with. “Cheerful Christmas” was a joy to make. Every smile [co-star] Erica Deutschman or I had was so genuine because we were having fun. We both really leaned into the material in a tongue-in-cheek way, and we thought that would read, and people would enjoy that.
Most of these films are shot in the summertime, and that can be a disconnect to get your cold wintery happy mojo going. But I always thought, so many of these are shot in Canada, why are we not making use of real snow? My parents have a great old home on the canal in Ottawa. So, it is a magical, fairy tale Christmas to begin with. Lots of fireplaces going, and classic Christmas tunes all the time.
A woman stopped me in Central Park South the other day and told me that some of the work I have done for the Hallmark channel has helped her get through the pandemic. Life is really tough, and sometimes people do want cake, and that’s what these projects are. They are dessert. There’s pride to be had in giving that to people and doing it well.
Read also: Vallow-Daybell Trial: Key Evidence
It’s like Christmas films have taken over the rom-coms of the 90s, which seemed to have gone away. They are almost always female driven, and things resolve neatly.
According to Lee, it was important to Miller that there were other queer folks were included in the production. On Saturday night, Lifetime debuted its first-ever holiday movie centered around an LGBTQ+ romance. The project was led by real-life husbands Blake Lee and Ben Lewis who played as two high school crushes that find themselves falling for one another -- this is an extremely truncated version of the plot as the film is beautifully done. Fran Drescher plays as the meddling mother who brought them together.
As Lewis and Lee -- a couple who have been married for a decade, but found themselves falling in love all over again on set -- explained to Out, the set was incredibly queer-inclusive."I don't think either of us in our careers have ever been on a set where a majority of the key creatives were queer or allies," Lewis told us in an interview. "It was a great sort of inversion of what you normally experience on set." That included not only them but also Pat Mills, who made his Lifetime (and rom-com) debut as director, and Michael J. Murray, the writer.
But there was another hunk on screen who is a part of the community.Chad Connell is a Lifetime regular, and in this project played the straight brother of Lewis's Hugo, Aiden Spencer. He finds himself falling for Hugo's best friend Madelyn, played by Ellen Wong. But in real life, Connell falls for the guys.
In case you were wondering, the Canadian actor graduated from the Ryer University Theatre School Drama Programme in 2006 and has played in projects like A Cheerful Christmas, Double Holiday, Shadowhunters, Reign, Good Witch, and even Suits. All that to say he's consistently booked! According to his IMDb, he has two films in post-production now. He also played in Steel, a film he led as a gay TV anchor.
Insights into "Crawford" and Other Roles
We had the amazing opportunity to speak with Chad. Hi, Chad! Thank you for granting the interview. It is a pleasure to speak with you about your career. Congratulations on your role in the highly-anticipated new comedy series “Crawford.” We are thrilled for you. Hey, happy to talk with you, too.
After I had the abs taken care of, I started thinking about Bryce’s relationships. The best way to describe a person is how they treat other people and how they react to the way they are treated. Bryce’s most important relationship in the show, aside from his dogs, is with Cynthia, whom other people in the show called ‘mom’ (mum if you’re reading this in Canada). It’s how he connects with the characters in the show and the things he’s willing to put up with, like being the side piece to a happily married, middle-aged couple with kids.
A peek into the brain of its creators, the two Mikes: Mike Clattenburg & Mike O’Neill. Mike Clattenburg is someone who takes comedy very seriously. This is the show for someone who is over the whole set-up/punchline format of ‘sitcoms’. We’re dealing with a family who loves and supports each other so deeply.
However, the mother has (ahem, an exceedingly attractive and charming) boyfriend, the dad is mute from his stroke and has to communicate through an automated voice on his phone, the eldest son, a failed musician, connects a little too deeply with raccoons, the daughter’s dating a dirtbag, and the youngest son is 18 and bald. Just settle into the insanity and enjoy how these intensely lovable people navigate their lives: i.e. I’d have to say Crawford is up there.
I’m an actor who tends to play dramatic parts. It was this experience as a dramatic actor that made working on Crawford so much fun because the characters all take themselves so seriously and aren’t ever playing for a joke. Mike (Clattenburg) also gives his actors so much agency. He allows us room to come up with stuff on the spot or explore different ways a scene might go, which my dogs on the show, Tulip, and Molly, took a little too far from time to time.
You also appeared on USA Network’s “Suits.” We can’t imagine your surprise to learn you appeared on a series with the Duchess of Sussex! Tell us about your role and character on the show. My character, Jason Black, was everything we love to hate. He’s privileged, cocky, and willing to do whatever it takes to look out for number one, including letting the wrong man go to jail to protect himself. Most of us spend a lot of our time ignoring the devil on our shoulders, hopefully aiming to be a better person.
That’s really the biggest treat as an actor: to be able to safely step into a role who is everything you try to avoid, see how that feels, and then step out of it at the end of the day.
You appeared as Quinn in “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments”. Vampires are sexy. I think that’s why they keep coming back to TV. Quinn really inhabited that world. He spent most of his time at a nightclub-type bleeder den, sucking blood from women’s necks, ankles, and wherever else he could. Nothing was ever enough for Quinn and the thing he wanted more than anything to become a ‘Daylighter’ - a vampire who could walk in sunlight. In the end, his desire for more is what did him in.
You also play Dr. For people who haven’t seen it, yet, I’ll stay away from spoilers. The show tackles a really tough subject: should people lose control over their own lives and how they end? We have all these life support machines designed to keep someone breathing but who are we doing this for, the person in the hospital bed or their loved ones? In season two, Dr. Dunn is the new head of the ER, which gives Mary something to contend with that is different from season one. To her, Dunn is an unknown variable and in her line of work, an unknown can be a scary thing. I think Dr. Dunn struggles with Mary.
I just shot a Christmas movie. Needless to say, it’ll be out next December. I’m kind of a Christmas freak and my family still has all our Christmas traditions we stick to every year, including making sure we see all the same movies we’ve been watching since we were kids. So getting to be in one myself was awesome. Maybe I’ll start making them watch this new one every year.
Film. Music. Art. Culture. Entertainment. Interviews. Reviews. Media. News. Journalism. Based in New York. Accessed Globally.
Future Aspirations
Open a wine bar. I am a big wine lover and I want to share that with as many people as I can. I’d love just a little hole in the wall where people can become regulars.
THE LOVE SUBSCRIPTION Trailer (2022) || Carolina Bartczak, Chad Connell, Romantic Movie
Popular articles:
tags: #Chad
