Actor Brad Harder (“Aurora Teagarden Mysteries”) chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about starring as Jake in the new original holiday film “The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls” on the Hallmark Channel.
Harder stars alongside such actors as Robert Buckley (“One Tree Hill”), Jonathan Bennett (“Mean Girls”), Treat Williams (“Chesapeake Shores”), Ana Ayora, and Sharon Lawrence (“NYPD Blue”).
“The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls” is a new original movie that premieres on Saturday, December 18 on the Hallmark Channel as part of the network’s “Countdown to Christmas” programming event.
Walt Disney once said: “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Brad Harder is an actor and an individual that fits this wise quotation by the cartoon legend.
“It was great,” he said about his experience filming “The Christmas House 2.” “When we did the first film, none of us knew each other. Now, it really is a family. We have kept in touch in a group chat since we were filming it, and that hasn’t ended. It was so much fun to do.”
“The first movie was wonderful and this one was even more fun,” he added.
R.C. Newey directed the holiday movie from a script that was written by Erin Rodman, which is based on the characters created by Robert Buckley and Erin Rodman.
On playing Jake, he remarked, “This marked my first time playing a parent onscreen, and I am a parent in real life. The family dynamic of my own is very similar since I have two kids, and my son was in the first movie as our baby and that was super special.”
“Jake was a really fun character and it was great to play opposite Jonathan Bennett, he is so fun and he is a great scene partner. Jonathan is tremendous and generous. We hit it off right away. Jonathan brings so much life and character to this movie,” he added.
Synopsis of the film
For the last two years, Mike (Robert Buckley) and Andi (Ana Ayora) have been settling into their home. Phylis (Sharon Lawrence) and Bill (Treat Williams) have eased into retirement and rediscovered the joy in their marriage. “I love Sharon Lawrence, she is so sweet,” he said. “To have in-laws like Sharon Lawrence and Treat Williams was incredible.”
Mike’s brother Brandon (Jonathan Bennett) and his husband Jake (Brad Harder) are on the wild adventure that is being parents to two young children. The entire Mitchell family agrees to meet again for Christmas in the quaint town of Rhinebeck, New York.
All is going according to plan for a relaxing holiday until Mike is asked to participate in a celebrity home decorating reality TV show. After some convincing from everyone else, Mike is excited to share the famed Christmas House with the world. When Mike’s opponent in the competition drops out at the last minute, Brandon (Jonathan Bennett) is tasked with rivaling to make for an epic, brother versus brother Christmas
decorating showdown.
Will this competition bring lots of love and joy for the Mitchell family or will it only bring mayhem?
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Harder said, “Stepping Up.” “This is both in my personal life as a parent, and in the roles that I am playing, I am stepping up to do newer and bigger things, and that is really fun,” he said.
‘Aurora Teagarden Mysteries’
Harder is known for his portrayal of Sergeant Charlie Heard in “Aurora Teagarden Mysteries.” “I am actually finishing my 11th movie in that series this week,” he said. “It is fun to play different roles since Jake in ‘The Christmas House’ is an architect and a techie kind of guy and in ‘Aurora Teagarden Mysteries,’ it is fun to play a cop. In 2015, I started with this character, who is an officer, and last year, my character got promoted to a sergeant.”
On his definition of the word success, he said, “Getting to play characters to tell a wonderful story and that just connect as an audience. As a dad, success is just trying to be in every moment, whether it’s exciting or not. Try to live everything as true as I can.”
For his fans, he concluded about “The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls,” “The audience is going to get a lot of laughs. Also, if the fans liked the first movie, you will like this one even more. We just dive into deeper things that we encounter in life as a same-sex couple in this film. I hope that everyone will have a great time watching it.”
To learn more about actor Brad Harder, follow him on Instagram and check out his IMDb page.
For more information on “The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls,” visit the official Hallmark website.
