Jonathan Bennett, the actor who became a fan favorite during his time on "Dancing With The Stars" and for playing Aaron Samuels in "Mean Girls," is adamant that the title of this piece should be, "Is there anything Jonathan Bennett can't do?" He has a point.
The mailable actor went from "DWTS" to hosting MTV's "Copycat." Then Food Network came calling – something he says he never expected. Now he's going all-out Christmas! On Monday Nov. 9 Bennett will return to the network to host two new holiday shows, "Cake Wars: Christmas" and "Christmas Cookie Challenge."
As if eating all those sweets and hosting three shows isn't enough already, Bennett will appear on MTV's "Awkward" followed by a turn as a new wacky boss and on VH1's "Hit The Floor," airing some time next year.
His action-packed thriller "Submerged" hits theaters Thanksgiving weekend, and he is also the star of the adorable romantic comedy "A Dog Walker's Christmas Tale," airing on UPTV on Nov. 15.
The list goes on and on – seriously – so Headlines & Global News jumped in during a rare free moment to catch up with the actor – just in time for the holiday season and the premiere of "Cake Wars: Christmas."
HNGN: How does it feel to have so many amazing things going on at once?
BENNETT: It's an actor's dream come true. How many people can say in the same month they get to have an action film come out in theaters, host a Food Network competition show and then be on a regular TV comedy series all at the same time? It's not normal. I have the weirdest career of anyone I know.
Do you find it hard to do all of these things at once?
It's hard physically, because I'll be going from the set of 'Awkward' to 'Cake Wars' in the same day. It's more physically draining than anything. It's not so much a mind struggle as it is just like your body physically being able to do all this.
Did you ever think all of this would come out of your role in "Mean Girls?"
Never. Never in a million years. But never in a million years did I think I'd be standing there hosting a show about cake. That would be like, "Things I Never Thought I'd Do For $1,000 Please, Alex! Show Me 'Cake Wars!'' Never thought I would be doing that. And now I can't imagine what life would be like without it. I don't know what life was like before "Cake Wars."
How exactly did you land that gig?
Just auditions, just like everyone else.
The show's great; you really can't go wrong with that kind of baking competition.
It's fun. Out first season was like our warm-up. Second season, it's going to be ten times bigger and better and the challenges are going to be harder. It's just going to be even more exciting. And then my favorite thing that's coming up is "Cake Wars: Christmas." It's six episodes of holiday competition and it's awesome! Even bigger and better than original "Cake Wars." The Christmas one is my favorite. It's going to blow people away. The challenges are so massive...I can't believe we're actually doing them on the show. Some of them are so huge.
Is it as suspenseful as they make it seem on TV? I'm always so afraid they're going to drop the cake at the last minute or not finish in time.
It is! A lot of people say, "Do you do stuff for dramatic effect?" And we don't. Everything you see is absolutely real and happening. We don't add anything.
What's the other show, the "Christmas Cookie Challenge" for Food Network going to be like?
That's another thing. They're like, "Not just one, but let's have four shows with you on the Food Network." And I'm like 'OK, sure no big deal!" It's so crazy. The "Christmas Cookie Challenge" is exactly what you'd think it is. You bake cookies, and you compete.
Do you bake at all yourself?
Never baked a cake in my life. They love it. I told them I'm not a baker and that I don't bake, but that's not my job. My job is to go there and watch the professionals do what they do.
Do you get to taste everything?
Um, yeah absolutely! There's no limits.
I'm very much looking forward to "Cake Wars: Christmas."
Dude, you're gonna love it. "Cake Wars" and "Cake Wars: Christmas" will be awesome.
They must be such fun shows to be a part of.
I know. And this just in today: if you want to talk about another thing that literally just happened. "A Dogwalkers Christmas Tale" is scheduled for digital launch on November 1 and a broadcast premiere on UPTV on November 15. So I have a Christmas romantic comedy coming out as well. It's one of those Hallmark-y type things, it's adorable.
And then you have "Submerged" which comes out the Friday after Thanksgiving. What's that about?
That's my favorite thing. ou've got to watch the trailer, it's awesome. I play a private security guy for a really wealthy family, and what ends up happening is, I take the daughter and her friends to a party, and then people attempt to kidnap her, and we basically end up crashing our limo into the ocean and it sinks to the bottom. When we come to, we're in a limo stuck at the bottom of the ocean with like five people in the back while water is slowly filling it up.
So that's a more serious role than the one's you've played – right?
It's huge. It's really suspenseful. The theme of the movie is hold your breath. And when you watch the film, you will hold your breath for 90 minutes. It's the most suspenseful thing I've ever been in. I'm so proud of it, and I helped produce it as well. So I'm just really proud of this.
Do you enjoy doing serious stuff like that?
Yeah. The thing is that I get bored really easily, so o being able to do "Cake Wars" and an action film and a comedy is fun because you never get bored, there's always something new.
"Awkward" and "Hit The Floor" are much more laid back roles, so does going back and forth ever get difficult at times?
In "Awkward" I'm just over the top. I play Jenna's new boss at her new job, which I can't say what it is, but the boss at her new job and my character is completely over the top – wacky and completely different from the private security guard in "Submerged."
The projects must bring in such different demographics, too.
Well, that's the funny part. You should try walking through an airport with me. It's so fun because when people come up and want pictures and stuff you never know why they're coming up. Sometimes it'll be a sweet little old lady who watched you on "DWTS" or a young mom who watches you on "Cake Wars" or a teenage girl who loved you from "Mean Girls." And then you'll get a college kid who will be like "Van Wilder, bro! You're the best!" It's crazy. I don't know many actors who cover that big of a demographic. That should be the title of this article, "Is there anything Jonathan Bennett can't do?"
Is "Mean Girls" what people recognize you from the most?
One-hundred percent. I will be Aaron Samuels for life. "Mean Girls" is definitely what people recognize me the most from. I will be Aaron Samuels until the day I die. It's part of the gig, and I love it. October 3 was recently, and that was a really fun day because you realize how big of an impact that little movie we did has on pop culture and people's day-to-day speaking. What people use in the day-to-day language, there's a lot of quotes from "Mean Girls." You don't realize.
Well, yeah, October 3 has basically become a National Holiday.
Yeah, I was trending on everything! It's a thing, it's October 3. It's such a cool pop phenomenon and I never get tired of it because it's so exciting. It's fun to be a part of people's lives.
I've read that you're pretty much against doing a reunion. What's that all about?
That was taken completely out of context. It's not that I'm against doing a reunion, we just don't have one planned. And if you were an actor getting asked that same question every time you did an interview for 10 years...like I would know if there was a reunion happening. We're not keeping anything from you. Trust me, if there's a reunion, we'll let you know. I kind of – I mean I don't know what Tina Fey's thoughts are on it – but if it's so good, don't touch it. Just let it be. All of a sudden it came out and it was like, "Jonathan Bennett Hates Mean Girls," and I was just like, "Oh my god..."
