If there’s one Hallmark actor who has matured limitlessly over the past few years, it is unquestionably Marcus Rosner. From the first time I chatted with him throughout his entire career thus far–no matter the network–I perceived there was something exceptional about him. As I have watched the steady surge of his career, including stellar leading roles on various networks, I have been cheering for him and promoting his work. As he has striven beyond what anyone may have dreamed possible, it’s thrilling to watch him truly come into his own. Recently, Marcus and I chatted about his upcoming movie premiere on the Hallmark Channel (and more), and it is my delight and honor to share our conversation in anticipation of Love On Harbor Island tonight (August 8th).
Marcus Rosner Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
RH: Hello, Marcus, so good to chat with you again. It’s been a while.
MR: Nice to chat with you again too, Ruth. Are you staying safe down there?
Oh yeah, totally. In Washington state, there are some bad areas, but where we are, things haven’t been that bad.
The rural areas are probably much less affected. I was going back home there for a bit to Alberta which is much more rural than Toronto, where I currently am. It was like normal life there.
Yeah, crazy time, I know.
Yeah, it’s been pretty wild.
Marcus Rosner Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
Actually, the hardest thing has to do with my daughter’s school. She’s going to be in twelfth grade in September, but they’re all online as of late last week.
Oh, my buddy teaches high school, and he was describing what it was going to be like. I think he changes rooms, and the whole class just stays where they are. And he stays back from them. Basically, that’s what they’re doing in Alberta. Yeah, crazy times.
Well, I do know you’ve got a movie coming out on Hallmark this weekend.
Yeah, Love On Harbor Island.
I just talked to Cindy Busby last week because she had one out last weekend. So despite things being difficult, you still know you have this movie coming up. And we get to see you back on Hallmark in a leading role. That’s doesn’t happen very often.
No, it doesn’t. I think the last time was Yes, I Do a couple of years ago. It’s kind of few and far between on Hallmark. But yeah, I’m back in the game.
Sweet Mountain Christmas
Exactly. So let’s see. Since we last chatted, you did a Lifetime Christmas movie, Sweet Mountain Christmas. I saw you in that. In fact, that movie kicked off the entire Lifetime Christmas movie season.
Yeah, me and Megan Hilty. I think they were basically riding the success of a shoot of a Patsy Cline biopic for Lifetime. It was nominated for an Emmy, and I think that they wanted to turn around and follow that with our Christmas movie. So it worked out well.
I’m sure a lot of Hallmark fans tuned in for that one because there were a lot of familiar faces in that movie. I know Teryl Rothery was in it.
Sweet Mountain Christmas
Yeah, and a couple of the kids. I mean it’s Vancouver. You know how it goes. They use a lot of the same actors. And I saw that a lot of the Hallmark fans were tuning in. And thank you for tuning in as well and crossing the aisle for a Lifetime movie for the evening.
Oh yeah, I mean I love Hallmark, but Lifetime’s really upped their Christmas game very much. And my understanding is it’s going to be the same way this year because Hallmark’s doing like forty Christmas movies, they said, and Lifetime’s doing thirty. And you just think, “How on earth does this even happen with the way things have been?”
I know it’s pretty insane. I just think there are going to be an incredible amount of movies made between now and like mid-December. Like they’ll probably just be pumping them out. A good time to be in the MOW {Movie Of the Week} game, that’s for sure.
That’s true. Now, I was looking through your credits, and I realized that oh my goodness, I have this Lifetime movie sitting on my DVR that I haven’t watched yet. The Killer In the Guest House. I know it’s the typical Lifetime movie, and I remember when it came out. But I haven’t watched it yet.
I know it originally aired during the lockdown. Back in April, I think.
It’s still sitting on my DVR, and I need to watch it. But it’s been a crazy time for me. So who is your co-star in that one?
Oh my goodness, I really need to watch it now!
Actually, she recently got married, so she’s known as Chelsea Hobbs Neate.
That’s right, she did get married. So you do play the bad guy, right?
Yes, I do.
That tends to be the Lifetime thing with you except for the Christmas movies. They love to cast you as the really bad guy. And then the Hallmark fans don’t want to go over and see you like that. My mom refuses to watch any movie where you play a bad guy. But I don’t mind. You always do it so well. Sometimes people don’t seem to realize that you’re playing a role and that’s not who you are.
The Killer In the Guest House
Yeah, and it’s certainly fun for me as an actor, and I don’t blame anybody who’s not jumping on to see these Lifetime movies especially since it’s so diametrically opposed to the stuff I do on Hallmark. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Now, Love On Harbor Island is coming up. When did you film this one?
We filmed that one late October/early November of last year.
This is really exciting. We’ve got you and Morgan Kohan. I’ve met and interviewed her too. She’s great.
Yeah, she’s fantastic.
Morgan Kohan, Marcus Rosner Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
And this is one that Lucie Guest directed and co-wrote.
Yeah, Lucie wrote it with me in mind. She’s directed at least one other movie to my knowledge before this one. But she’s a pretty new director, and she did an incredible job. This is one of my favorites I’ve been in. And it’s because they just let the performances breathe. It feels like sometimes we always have a tendency to go fast. So especially as an actor watching my own performance and the performance of my co-stars, you just wish it would slow down a little bit and let the performance do its job. And I really did feel that with this one. We’re not buried in music and stuff. I really liked it a lot, and that’s good.
Lucie is known to Hallmark audiences as an actor, and it’s great to see her move into doing more writing and directing because I know that’s a passion of hers. And she’s very talented.
Marcus Rosner, Morgan Kohan Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
Yes, incredibly talented. She’s a major self-starter and a major creative thinker. She’s done short films and music videos. I met her on Infidelity In Suburbia. She had just moved back to Vancouver, and she didn’t have a car and had to get out to Squamish, which is like an hour away, every day. I offered to just drive her out there when she needed to shoot, and so we would drive out there and sort of chat on the way. We got to know each other that way. We’ve stayed friends over the years. We have the same agent now. And now she has begun this second phase of her career as writer, director, superstar…I think we might be jumping back into another one in a few weeks here actually.
©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
Well, that’s cool! I hope that works out. Where did you guys film Love On Harbor Island?
Rowena’s Inn, it was called. Just outside of Vancouver. It seemed like a golf course/Air BnB situation. We shot basically the whole thing there, I believe.
That’s cool.
You know, there’s another movie I saw on TV the other day that was also set there. I Do, I Do, I Do. Shawn Roberts, Autumn Reeser, and my friend Ali Liebert were in that one. It came on, and I was like, “This is so familiar.”
That’s always interesting when those kinds of things happen. So your character’s name is actually Marcus.
Marcus Rosner Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
Yeah, I mean I assume that Lucie just wrote it with my name in there because I heard that a few months before we made it, like she was writing something that she had me in mind for. Then once I received the script, I just saw that my character’s name was Marcus, and I was like, “Uh, that’s me, I guess.” I don’t even remember if there was a conversation about changing my name. I thought it was funny and that it would be funny to keep it. And we just went with it. I think it sort of had this effect where I just felt like myself, so I think I actually come across as just myself more in this movie than just about any other movie I’ve done.
Marcus Rosner, Morgan Kohan Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
Well, I ‘m sure it’s got to be a bit unusual when you get to play a character that also has your name. That just does not typically happen. It had to be easier to be called Marcus whether you were filming or not.
Yeah, it definitely made it easy for my small mind. I just always forget all my character’s names. You meet all different kinds of people with the same name. If I could have it my way, I’d be Marcus in every movie from here on out.
Well, that would be interesting. But honestly, I forget the characters’ names too. I’m watching the movie and because I know so many of you, I’m calling you guys by your real name and then I have to remember the name of the character you play. And often, I just don’t remember and I have to look it up.
If you watch any movie with a big movie star, you’ll be like, “Oh, Will Smith is doing this,” and “Why is Will Smith’s daughter doing this?”
Morgan Kohan, Marcus Rosner Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
Yeah, so true. Now, did you know any of the cast members previously when you did this movie?
Um, let me think a minute. I didn’t know too many. This is one of the rare ones when I didn’t know everybody. Let me see. There’s Morgan, who if she’s not my favorite co-star, she’s at least one of them. She’s so talented and so natural, so it’s no wonder she has her own show with Hallmark. Whatever happens…if they can keep that show going, they’re gonna be lucky to have her. And if not then, she’ll go on to anything she wants, I think. She’s super talented.
And then Emma Cam, who is an Australian. I don’t know how long she’s been in Vancouver, but she was such a lovely actress and perfect for her character. She was great to meet. So I think the three of us mainly hung out because we were in the majority of the scenes. Brenda Matthews, who plays Aunt Maggie is a wonderful actress as well. It was nice because we were all on location, so it felt very isolated. You know what? Brendan Taylor! I’ve known Brendan for years. We played buddies. He played Angus, my co-worker at my Pilot for Pups adoption center. He’s endlessly talented as well and does these movies and other incredible TV shows. He’s just a great person.
Marcus Rosner, Morgan Kohan Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
So what can you tell us about your character and this movie?
Well, Love On Harbor Island, featuring the wonderful Morgan Kohan and the lovely Marcus Rosner…it’s about Lily Summers, who is an interior design person. She works in Seattle. She has a phone call from her Aunt Maggie that she’s taken a fall, and that sort of lures her home. When she gets there, she realizes that Aunt Maggie is going to sell the beloved inn and she needs help fixing it up. So given Lily’s expertise, she’s the perfect person.
Meanwhile, there’s a charming young man named Marcus who is living in the cottage on the property who she enlists to sort of help her fix it up. He’s got carpentry skills because he’s the man in the Hallmark movie, and that’s a requirement. And he also flies a plane, so he’s the one that flies the seaplane that brings her in. And he runs a puppy adoption center, so he’s got three jobs, I guess, which is also a requirement of Hallmark movies.
Well, hijinks ensure and love unfolds.
Marcus Rosner Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Reel One Entertainment
Oh my goodness, that sounds like the perfect Hallmark movie! I mean, it’s got everything, all the requirements that you’re supposed to have.
It checks all the boxes.
I mean, even down to having puppies! How could you not? It’s got everything. When I saw that your character was a pilot, I was actually remembering Christmas In Evergreen where your character flew a helicopter or something. He wasn’t a nice guy.
I can’t even remember if I flew the helicopter or if I hired the helicopter. It had to be one of the two. I bet there was no helicopter shown. It was kind of mentioned. They may not have been able to afford a helicopter for the movie, but I remember I showed up at her door and I’m like, “Yeah, I got the helicopter to bring me here.” I think they put some helicopter noises just off the camera or something like that.
That sounds about right. Thankfully, this time you’re playing a nice guy and you are a pilot. You’ve upgraded big time. You’re the lead. And even in the description of the film, it says you’re handsome. I mean, my goodness!
I’m moving up in the world.
Right! And I’m looking forward to seeing both you and Morgan together. Hasn’t Morgan done a Hallmark movie in addition to When Hope Calls?
I thought this one was her first Hallmark movie.
You know, you’re right. I’m actually confusing her with her co-star in When Hope Calls. I just think of Morgan as part of the Hallmark family. So that’s kind of cool that this is her first Hallmark movie. So Marcus, are you going to be live-tweeting?
Yeah, I think so. It sounds like it’s airing on the W Network up here in Canada at the same time as the U.S., so this will be one of the first times we’ll be able to watch it at the same time and I can participate and live-tweet along.
That is just so cool. Morgan’s Hallmark movie debut and Marcus back on Hallmark. We can’t miss it, right?
Double trouble.
I understand that you say you have more things in the works now that things are starting to open back up.
Yeah, we might be going out to Kelowna to shoot one with Lucie again. In the meantime, my fiance and I wrote a Christmas movie as well as some other TV projects that we have been developing during the pandemic because she works in television too. She’s been off for like four months alongside me, and so we’ve been developing our own projects this whole time.
Well, that is really cool to hear.
Marcus & his brother
From his Christmas movie
We’ve got a few projects that we have been working on over the years that we’re making scripts for and pitch packages. But I actually had the chance to produce a Christmas movie earlier this year right when the pandemic was hitting. Lisa Durupt starred alongside me. And I met my new friend. Michael Lazarovich because we had mutual friends. Then he called me up at the beginning of March and was like, “We’re making this Christmas movie out in Edmonton. Do you want to come on as producer and star in it?” I said, “I’m from Edmonton. I’ve always dreamed of working in my hometown.” Nobody ever shot any movies or anything there when I was growing up. The thought of starring and making my first producing effort was more or less a dream coming true for me. So we went there, and we were shooting it. All my friends and family were appearing as extras in it. And I was helping get locations for us because I know the town. Everyone was so generous with their locations and everything. Everyone was just so excited to be involved.
And then the unprecedented global pandemic fell in the middle of it. Everything went crazy for the last two weeks of shooting, and it was one of the most insane experiences of my life. Basically, all the precautions they’re taking onset now, we implemented overnight. We had to work around and figure out all of these procedures in live time as the world was shutting down. The entire world was changing daily. We were trying to make a Christmas movie, so that was absolutely an experience. I now feel equipped to do anything.
Well, yeah, oh my goodness. Were you guys able to finish the Christmas movie?
By literally the skin of our teeth. I mean, we got lucky every step of the way with the way things were shutting down. We would shoot out on location, and then the next day, they’d shut down all the public arenas, and we would have just shot our skating scene like the day before. And then our last day of shooting, they shut down everything. They shut down all non-essential stuff, and so would not have been able to film another day more. But it happened our very last day. So it was the most stressful time in my life. For Lisa Durupt, I think it was her first leading lady effort in one of these movies. She was so steady, and she really held it together in a great way. So we just figured it out and got it done.
With this movie, is the hope that a network would purchase it?
Yeah, it’s sitting in Hallmark’s lap right now. We’ll see if they want it.
That’s kind of what I was thinking. I can imagine that being stressful. But also I can say I think you definitely could do anything after doing that. I know how it goes. I’m sure there’s worse things you could go through, but you can’t really imagine things much worse than having to go through some of those issues. I really hope Hallmark picks it up. It sounds like it would be perfect.
It would. And it not, we’ll go knock on Lifetime’s door. We’ll go down the line and see what happens.
That’s so great that you made the move towards production, Marcus.
You know, I’ve made so many of these movies now that I just want to have more creative control. I want to bring film and hopefully television in the long run to Alberta, where I’m from, and show people where I come from that this is a career option. I actually went to my old high school right before we shot that film. That was part of the deal that I worked out to come into the movie. I got the director and the producer to come and talk at my high school. And then we hired a student from there to do a walk-on part because I really wanted to give one of the drama students from the high school a chance to be on an actual set. That is such a rare opportunity for someone from Sherwood Park, Alberta. She came on and she did an incredible job. Her name is Abby Ferguson. She’s in the movie.
Wow, that’s just so exciting! And to think you guys got finished where others had to stop mid-production. Of course, you said by the skin of your teeth, but I’m thinking of all the productions that just immediately shut down and they’re just now coming back.
It was wild. We were quarantined in our hotel. Oh, and Teryl was in that one too. Teryl plays my mother, the queen. I play a prince who goes to a town, and unbeknownst to the townsfolk, I have come from royal land. And then Lisa plays the local town girl who is trying to save the Christmas festival. Together, we accomplish that feat.
Well, that sounds like a Hallmark movie. And we’ll definitely look forward to Love On Harbor Island too. I really hope your movie gets picked up. And I also hope the movie with Lucie works out. Then, of course, anything you and your fiance are working on. So I’m curious. I know some engaged couples got their wedding plans messed up because of the pandemic. Did that happen to you?
No, we only sort of started to begin planning. We were trying to figure out when we might want to do it because we got engaged on New Year’s in our hometown. So we hadn’t made any concrete plans unlike so many of our friends and family who had to cancel their weddings, unfortunately. But we got lucky in that regard.
Well, that’s good. I remember your engagement. I saw the pictures and some video. That was a very romantic, Hallmark-esque proposal.
Yeah, definitely. It was really special.
engagement
It was neat that you guys were willing to share.
I actually have a seventeen-minute mini-documentary that I’m really proud of that tells the whole story. At some point, I may throw it up on YouTube or something.
So during the lockdown, after you finished the movie, where did you spend your time?
We were in Toronto for most of it in our apartment. So it wasn’t the most fun. When you live in a condo in a major city, the condos are for sleeping. I mean, you spend most of your time out in the evening, keeping yourself busy with your career or whatever keeps you busy. But just being locked in an apartment for that entire time is not the most fun. So once the opportunity came to go to Alberta, we spent a month in our hometown where things are much more relaxed and open because there’s less cases.
Dance With A Demon
You know, when the year started, I was like, “You know what? I’ve gotten to do so many great things. I just turned thirty.” I’d seen so much of the world. I’d done so many crazy things I never thought I could. So I thought, “I think I’m going to buckle down and really dive into my writing that I’ve been putting off all these years and really start developing some projects.” Then as soon as the world was like, “You can’t go do that stuff anyway if you wanted to,” I just went crazy. I need to get on a plane! I need to travel!
I hear ya! Even when you don’t have plans to go out but you’re told you can’t, you suddenly want to go out all the time. Now, Dance with a Demon has gone to some film festivals, hasn’t it?
Yeah, we did the Vancouver Horror Show. They gave me a cool award. Then we did the Dances With Films Festival on the Boulevard in LA. I don’t know what they’re doing with this movie now. I don’t know if it’s for public consumption yet or what the deal is at the moment.
Well, it is one I hope we definitely get to see at some point.
Wedding Planners
I think it would be a good one to see. If it becomes available, I’ll definitely let everyone know.
We’ll definitely keep our eyes open for it. Thank you so much, Marcus, I loved catching up with you. Oh, but before we go, let me ask you about the show Wedding Planners. I know it’s a Canadian show.
Oh, yes, I was in an episode of Wedding Planners. It airs here on a network called City TV. It’s basically about three siblings who recently lost their mother and they take over the wedding planning business. Each episode tackles a different wedding couple that’s getting married. They help them resolve any last-second jitters or problems that are happening with their wedding-to-be. And I play a guy like I played on Hallmark in my early days where he’s just like the rich guy from the rich family. Becky Dalton is married to James Hinchcliffe, the racecar driver, and she’s a TV star in her own right. She plays my wife, her flamboyant bestie.
Wedding Planners
So he kind of rolls into town–into our conservative Connecticut town–where the wedding’s being held and comes into the story with all these changes he wants to makes. It drives me crazy and throughout the course of the episode, we come to see eye-to-eye and get drunk together. It was a lot of fun to see Chris Candy. I mean obviously, John Candy is a major Canadian legend. I know he’s somewhat known in the States. But here in Canada, he’s a huge star. And Chris looks so much like his dad in some ways.
It’s good to hear about this show. I know lots of my friends have guest-starred on the show. Hopefully, it makes its way to the U.S. But at least Canadians can see it now. Anyway, Marcus, thank you again for your time, and I’m so glad you and yours are safe and healthy. Always lovely chatting with you.
Great to catch up with you too, Ruth. Glad you’re staying safe during this time too. Hope everyone enjoys Love On Harbor Island.
I must admit that Marcus is one of the gentlemen I’ve absolutely bonded with over the years. He is the only person with whom I’d ever discuss football (we didn’t this time, but that was the exception more than the rule), and his outlook has always been genuine, practical, and simple with an unpretentious dose of fun. When I think back to the first time we chatted, it is such a joy for me to witness where he is today along with the quiet confidence that emanates from him no matter the circumstances. While he probably could have buckled down and labored intensively to be an “A-lister,” that has never been his passion. He is one who aspires to take advantage of every opportunity to tell an entertaining story while stimulating those from his hometown to realize and pursue their dreams. Traditionally, small towns are not havens of world-class opportunities such as Marcus has had, but because of the global society we now enjoy and the continued expansion of the film/television universe, Marcus has demonstrated that success is not just possible but totally attainable if one applies oneself and doesn’t give up.
I am ecstatic to be able to watch Love On Harbor Island tonight (August 8th) on the Hallmark Channel (simulcast on the W Network in Canada), and I hope that many of my readers will make it a point to watch, while welcoming Marcus back to the network and exulting Morgan’s movie debut with the network. I am completely persuaded that this movie will be a pleasure to behold and devour, and I cannot think of a better way to spend a Saturday summer evening than luxuriating in the charms and chemistry of these two dynamic actors. While you are savoring all that this film has to offer, be sure that you visit Marcus’ links below (He’s not overly active on social media, but he does tend to post on Instagram when one of his movie or TV appearances is coming up, and he did say he would be live-tweeting!) and consider following him where applicable. Marcus has become a handsome, dashing, debonair staple in Hallmark movies, and since he now tends to get the girl more often than not, a multitude of the fans are squealing with glee over his roles. I greatly anticipate all that is in the future for this young, stalwart, gifted man, and I am merely honored to be able to call him friend.
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CHECK OUT MY OTHER INTERVIEWS WITH MARCUS
Picture Credit: Lane Dorsey
Interview With Actor Marcus Rosner, “Valentine In the Vineyard”
With Jen
Yes, I Do
Tegan Moss, Marcus Rosner Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ricardo Hubbs
Interview With Actor Marcus Rosner, “Autumn in the Vineyard”
Andrew Walker (Clay), Taylor Cole (Mina), Reed (Marcus Rosner) Credit: Copyright 2016 Crown Media United States, LLC/Photographer: Sergei Bachlakov
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1 Comment
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Wonderful interview. I’ve heard so many kind things about him over the years and it shines through.
