Again, I cannot recall when I first spied Daniel Bacon upon my television screen, but I tend to think I was watching something on Hallmark. Moreover, I interviewed him some time ago, and I kept meaning to reach out to him again for another interview. Because Daniel was in two Hallmark movies this past holiday season, I figured it was the ideal time to chat about these two movies. My initial plan was to post the interview prior to one of those Christmas movies, but in the end, I was swamped and I am only now able to post our chat (with a few notable additions). I hope that everyone enjoys all the tidbits this fantastic actor shared with us in this informative conversation we had a while back.
RH: Daniel, it is so nice to chat with you today. I know it gets really busy sometimes, and it can be hard to schedule these things.
DB: Ruth, thank you for your flexibility and support. So good to catch up with you.
We were blessed to see you in two Hallmark Christmas movies this past season.
That’s right. I was in Welcome To Christmas and Small Town Christmas.
Small Town Christmas
Yeah, Small Town Christmas was actually one of the last Christmas movies they made for 2018, if I remember right.
Yes, that is correct.
I actually got to interview several people involved with that movie. Debs Howard, Kristoffer Polaha, and Preston Vanderslice. Such great people involved with that film. And, of course, Bailey Skodje, and I just recently spoke with Michelle Choi-Lee.
Such a great cast in that film.
And then Welcome To Christmas was with one of my all-time favorite actors, Eric Mabius.
Oh, Eric is such a great guy. I had sort of known Eric through Geoff Gustafson. He and I are quite close. But it was my first time working with Eric. We had such a great time working together. I was really happy to have the opportunity.
Small Town Christmas
I’m a huge fan of Eric’s. I only found him through Hallmark’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered series. And getting to interview was one of the most unique experiences I have had in interviewing. Really a wonderful experience as I learned more about who he is and his perspective and persona.
It was an honor to work with him.
I was trying to see what else we had seen you in. You were in Christmas Homecoming in 2017. And with this year being the tenth anniversary of Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas, they are actually showing Christmas movies every week all year long.
That’s wonderful. I think I’ve been hearing about that. I was also in A Heavenly Christmas which I know gets replayed a lot during Christmas and even Christmas in July, if I remember right.
Yes, that’s a personal favorite of mine with it being a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.
Such a great cast for that movie. Eric McCormack, Kristin Davis, Shirley MacClaine. It was just incredible.
Behind-the-scenes
A Heavenly Christmas
I’ve actually met the screenwriter, Gregg McBride. Such a great guy, very talented. It’s a very special one to me. Speaking of the ones that came out in 2018, you play the mayor in both Christmas films, right?
Yes, that is true. In Welcome To Christmas, which was originally called The Trouble With Christmas, in that one, even though I am the small-town mayor, there is a bit of a backstory for my character. I actually own the hardware store in town. I’m not necessarily a high-falutin’ mayor, but I’m more the small-town, down-to-earth mayor. In Small Town Christmas, I’m a little more savvy. I’m more in line with the developer who’s come to town who wants to make changes to the town. So even though I play a mayor in both movies, there are definite differences between both characters.
Jennifer Finnigan, Eric Mabius, Daniel Bacon Credit: ©2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Allister Foster
Back to Welcome To Christmas, according to what Eric has tweeted, he said it is based on a series of books or something like that.
Something like that. Eric was the executive producer on that movie, so he definitely had some more insight into this movie. I know he had mentioned the possibility of there being another movie or sequel at some point. I’m not sure how that will all work out, but I have heard that it’s possible. Whether this is the case and will move forward, I’m not sure about that.
I know how those things go. I guess we’ll see what happens this year. I was glad that he tweeted out that you were in the movie because that’s what tipped me off to you being a part of the cast.
And another movie I made before the end of 2018, but it was shown in January of this year, was a movie called Snowcoming. I was only on set one day, but it was a fun day. That was the movie with Trevor Donovan and Lindy Booth.
Oh yeah, I saw that one earlier this year! Great Winterfest film.
The location was wonderful. We filmed it in Squamish. I actually was there for their first day of filming. Lindy’s character is a writer, and I played her editor at the publishing company.
Yes, I recognized you and remember your role very well.
Peter DeLuise was the director of that movie. So great to get to be back with all the excellent Hallmark cast and crew.
I think very highly of Peter, and even more so now that I’ve met both him and his wife in person.
It was a great day on set all around.
So we got to see you twice during Christmas 2018, and then once during Winterfest. So cool for us Hallmark fans. And now that we’re past all that, Hallmark does pretty well playing your other movies from years past. Cooking With Love was one that is quite memorable.
Yes, that was Ali Liebert’s first time to executive produce a film. And she recently directed her first film, though not for Hallmark.
With Benjamin Ayres
That’s right! I saw that she was doing that. Then we also got to see you on a recent Lifetime movie. It was originally called The Wrong Patient, but it was renamed Killer Body.
Yes, that was a great movie with Sunny Mabrey.
I know Lifetime has replayed it a few times so far. I really enjoyed the film. It wasn’t too scary or too far out. I think most Hallmark people would be able to handle it and watch it if they haven’t already.
I’m so glad you got to see it.
So is there anything else coming up that we can look forward to seeing you in?
Yes, there is as a matter of fact. I did get to work on an episode of Garage Sale Mysteries, but unfortunately, as most of you know, that will not be shown on Hallmark, which is a shame. The local cast and crew for that series were all so great to work with, but as we all know, these things do happen in the business.
I also got to work on a movie called Tempting Fate. I have a small role as Jessica Harmon’s husband, which was so much fun because we are friends in real life! It was directed by Kim Raver and her husband; Kim plays Dr. Teddy on Grey’s Anatomy. They were a wonderful couple to work with!
The other project I worked on is called Limetown and stars Jessica Biel and Stanley Tucci. It’s being produced by Facebook Live and is due out in the fall. It’s on a very popular mystery drama podcast of the same name. I show up in three episodes of that. It’s been an interesting last four years for me and I’m very excited to see what the rest of 2019 has in store for me!
As am I, Daniel! Thanks for filling me in! I try so hard to keep up with all of you and champion your works, so I’ll do my best to do the same for you with these.
Ruth, your presence on Twitter is so supportive of our community up here in Vancouver. It’s just so wonderful to have such an active supporter in you. It’s great that you really work hard to follow our careers.
Daniel, it is such an honor and a privilege to support all of you. I get so excited when I see you guys getting to do such wonderful roles and to see things working out for all of you. Which reminds me. Maybe I never told you, but your character on Somewhere Between was just incredible, and I was so sad when your character met his untimely death.
I know what you mean! It was funny. Most of my stuff was with Devon {Sawa}. We had a lot of late nights together talking about our lives and our kids. When we were filming the series, we only received the script one episode ahead. If we were shooting episode five, we would get episode six, and so forth. We were on set late one night, and Devon went, “Dude!” And I was like, “What?” And he was like, “Dude! Have you seen the next episode?” I said, “No.” And he was like, “Woh, dude!” That was all he said, and so as soon as I was done filming for the day, I grabbed the script and flipped through it to see what he was talking about. And then I was like, “Oh, okay. So THAT happens.” {laughs}
{laughs} Yeah!
And as an actor, you love having meaty scenes like that. It’s a pretty good challenge. I’d never had to end a scene that way before. I wanted to make sure I could do it the right way and do what I needed to do. If I was truthful, I wanted to die well..well, I don’t know if I’d say “well,” but I wanted it to be real.
And trust me, it looked very real. Very authentic. That particular scene has really stuck with me. I don’t know if it’s just because I interviewed you, but I still think it is a very vivid scene in my mind. And maybe it was just such a shock. I wasn’t really expecting it to happen.
Exactly. My character was a little bit goofy, and the scene almost seemed to come out of nowhere in that regard. Actually, two months prior to that shoot, I had a personal situation that was very emotional and hard to deal with. It was something that happened out of the blue, and the producers and everyone were aware of this situation I was dealing with. But I think I was able to use some of that emotion from that situation and channel it into my character a bit.
Oh, I’m so sorry that happened, but I’m glad you were able to use some of those feelings to help you with that scene and that everyone helped you through it. Now, I notice you were also in Heartland.
Yes, I was in an episode of season eleven. That was one of those roles I got out of the blue. I think I had sent in a taped audition, and it ended up being such a great experience. The director of my episode ended up having some kind of illness, so the original director was unable to show up for my episode. When I arrived in Calgary from Vancouver, the showrunner/creator actually ended up directing my scenes in that episode. We had great conversations with him about the journey that show has taken and the popularity of that show. It’s great when you get work, but it’s even better when you get work that ends up being a really great experience.
Daniel’s Kids
That show has had such an incredible run, and most of the seasons are available not only on Netflix, but the Hallmark Movies Now service here in the U.S.
That’s great, Ruth.
Now, I love the fact that you as an actor seem to have your priorities straight in terms of your family. I think your family always needs to come first. Which is why I’m glad that even tonight you tended to your kids first. I knew when you didn’t show up for our originally scheduled time that your family had to be the reason.
And indeed it was, Ruth, thank you for understanding.
Absolutely, Daniel. I am so glad we got to get caught up with each other, and I look forward to seeing the other works that you will be in.
I am so grateful to you and the fans for all the support. It means so much. I hope that everyone is able to tune in and see everything I’m in and that everyone enjoys it.
In regards to the supporting cast of Hallmark and elsewhere, it is people like Daniel who make these characters compelling and memorable. But I am grateful that Daniel is not only a fine artist, but he is one of those outstanding, compassionate humans that fits so easily into the cast of any production in which he is cast. He never takes anything for granted, and he realizes just how blessed he is to make a living producing content that inspires the viewers, encourages the general population and provokes contemplative thought. Even when he plays a complex character that has obvious and not-so-obvious flaws, he consistently ensures that those characters are authentic and relatable. I have repeatedly heard from his fellow workers in the industry how impressed they are with Daniel’s talents and his willingness to be a team player. While superstardom may not be in the cards for Daniel, he isn’t bothered as long as he has the privilege of being a part of diverse casts and works where he can share his gifts with others.
I hope that everyone has an opportunity to see all of Daniel’s past, present and future endeavors (Hallmark fans should definitely look up the works we mentioned), and one of the best ways to ensure that this happens is by visiting all of Daniel’s links below and following him on your preferred social network. I greatly anticipate everything coming up for him, but I also hope to see him on another Hallmark production very soon. No matter the trajectory of his career nor the roles that he portrays, the things that impress me the most about Daniel are his benevolent persona and his devotion to his family. I don’t believe anyone could find a more pleasant gentleman in the business, and I am honored to be able to share him, his works, and his perspective with my readers today!
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