As many of you know, I was dealt quite a blow at the end of August this year when my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer, but thanks to wonderful doctors, endless prayers, an amazing church support system, and most of all, my Lord and Savior, our family got through it with flying colors. Interestingly enough, around the same time, Cameron Mathison announced that he too had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing surgery (within days of when my mom was scheduled for surgery!). Now, I have been relentlessly supporting Cameron for the past few years, and I even had the opportunity to meet him this summer. Yet I have to say that this situation not only seemed rather serendipitous, but I knew it was a definite “Godwink.” Recently, in spite of all of the hustle and bustle of Cameron’s life the past few months, he agreed to take some time and chat with me about his upcoming Christmas film and, rather graciously, even a bit more!
Cameron Mathison Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman
RH: Cameron, thank you so much for taking some time to chat with me today. I know you’ve had a very busy summer and fall.
Debbie Matenopoulos, Cameron Mathison Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: David Starbuck/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC.
CM: Yes, Ruth, you’re right, it has been quite eventful. But thank you for reaching out and being willing to chat with me.
I know I’ve told you repeatedly, as have many others I’m sure, how glad we are that everything has worked out for you healthwise.
Thank you so very much.
Home & Family family
So going back to your cancer diagnosis and surgery, I thought it was pretty brave that you shared so much about your experience with the Hallmark family. Not everybody wants to be public about their struggles. So what was your reasoning for sharing as much as you did about your health journey?
Cameron Mathison Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Sven Boecker
Well, my number one goal was to hopefully help others who might be going through their own health issues themselves, especially if they were experiencing confusion or maybe even fear. But also, I thought it would be strange for me to be the co-host of Home & Family–we really do share a big piece of ourselves day in and day out on that show–and keep it so private. I wanted to share with the viewers of Home & Family and my social media family. And as I hoped, the response was such that I think people appreciated it and welcomed it, and I was just glad to bring them along for the journey.
I know it was wonderful to get the response you did. But personally speaking, I know it meant a lot to me because my mom was going through a similar experience. I really couldn’t believe it when you made the announcement about having cancer and that you were going to have surgery because my mom had just received the news that she had colon cancer and was facing surgery as well. Thankfully, she went through the surgery and is cancer-free now. But I found myself following your journey much more closely because of all this, and your journey became an encouragement both to me and to my mother. She knows you are this healthy person, and here you were going through cancer, and it was an incredible encouragement to her.
Well, first of all, I’m grateful she’s okay. And I’m very happy to hear that on any level that I was helpful. That’s great news.
Cameron and his family
What’s been the most difficult thing about the recovery process for you?
My energy and my strength. I’m feeling weak, but my energy is coming back. I feel like my strength is slowly coming back. I know I’m getting there. I’m determined. So I would say that’s the toughest part. But I’m trying to be patient and realizing that in the grand scheme of things, I’m so lucky.
Cameron Mathison, Elizabeth Mitchell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman
Of course, we’re all very happy about your upcoming Christmas movie, which premieres tonight {November 27th}. I know when it was announced that you were making another Hallmark movie–and not just a Hallmark movie, but a Hallmark Christmas movie–I was thrilled! I’ve talked to several people involved with this movie from the director to the author to the screenwriter, and they have just raved about the movie. I’ve honestly heard nothing but positive things about the entire experience. So what can you tell us about your character and how he fits into the overall story?
Adam Hurtig, Jenny Pudavick, Kate Trotter, Zoe Fish, Elizabeth Mitchell, Cameron Mathison Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman
I’m glad you’ve heard so many good things about it. I loved making this movie. I thought it was such a sweet story. I know it’s such a buzzkill when what’s on the page is so lovely and we don’t do justice to that on the screen. So hopefully, that doesn’t happen. But from what I hear, we have done justice to the story and the script, and I really hope that the viewers agree.
I play a corporate advisor who doesn’t have the best memories of Christmas because of certain family issues from back in the day. My character, Edward, is single and in this town during Christmastime helping a client with some things. Through a series of seemingly random acts of kindness, little signs and indications, it brings myself and Elizabeth Mitchell’s character, Olivia, together a few times. We start to really pay attention to what’s going on and realize that maybe this is meant to be. We hang out, and we go through a few ups and downs together. But throughout the story, there’s this really sweet through-line of these random acts of kindness that keep on appearing and ultimately inspire others to do the same.
Elizabeth Mitchell, Cameron Mathison Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman
Cameron, that sounds like such a great message. I believe from what I have been reading that you were really excited to get to work with Elizabeth Mitchell. You had not worked with her previously, right?
That’s right, I had not worked with her before. I had watched her on different projects through the years, and I was thrilled that I was going to be able to work with her. And once I got to meet her and see her on set, I was grateful. She’s incredibly open and fearless in her acting. She is willing to try very fun things and is very spontaneous. I was super lucky to be able to work with her.
Elizabeth Mitchell, Cameron Mathison Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman
Well, that probably answers my next question. I was going to say that you always have such incredible chemistry with all of your leading ladies. That is something I have noticed about you. So it sounds like the fact that she is the way you describe her probably made establishing that chemistry a much easier process.
Candid Shot
The Christmas Club
Yeah, absolutely. You jump into these movies and oftentimes you don’t get a lot of time to know each other before you’re diving in and doing some romantic scene or something. And just her openness made the process of getting to know her so much easier. She is really comfortable with herself and has really intimate knowledge and acceptance of herself, and that really made it easy to get close to her and to believe what we need to believe…that our characters have fallen in love.
Cameron Mathison, Elizabeth Mitchell Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman
That is just fantastic, Cameron. And as I said, it’s so great to see you in another Hallmark Christmas movie since it’s been quite some time since that’s happened.
Yeah, it was very good to be back.
So we have The Christmas Club tonight on the Hallmark Channel, and Monday through Friday, we can see you co-hosting on Home & Family also on the Hallmark Channel. But I wanted to say that it’s been great to see these special episodes of Home & Family on Hallmark Drama called A Very Merry Christmas on Wednesday nights. We’ve been enjoying Christmas Cookie Matchup, but having this special hour of Home & Family afterward has been really such a treat. Whose idea was it to have these shows?
I would love to take credit for it for sure, but the network on some level must have thought it would be a great idea, and I really think it was. We had a good time doing them for sure.
They’ve been the perfect follow-up to the cookie competition, and I hope that they will do this again in future years. I’ve really enjoyed them.
Oh, good, I hope so too.
Now, something that I wanted to say is that when I visited the Home & Family set this past summer, what I really appreciated about you is that you have this way of reaching out to everybody and trying to involve everyone in what’s happening on set. Here I was just coming in as an observer for a short time, but it meant a lot that you were trying to make me feel like a part of everything that was going on. I really appreciate that.
Credit: © 2019 Crown Media United States, LLC | Photo: Kim Nunneley / Alexx Henry Studios, LLC.
Oh, I’m glad. I appreciate you saying that. I don’t think it’s something I do consciously necessarily, but it just feels right. On our set, we are so much like a family behind the camera and in front of the camera that it really does feel important to include people however we can. So I’m glad that you point that out. That’s really nice of you to say.
Credit: © 2019 Crown Media United States, LLC | Photo: Keith Castillo/ Alexx Henry Studios, LLC.
It’s truly a wonderful memory for me. And when I watch you on set with the guests that come in, I notice you do that same kind of thing with them. You always try to make them feel as comfortable as possible. You make them feel like they are a part of the family. That definitely comes across on the show.
Thank you so much for saying that. It is always my hope to make every guest feel as comfortable as possible, and I’m glad to know that comes across as well as it does.
With Vanessa at the Hero Dog Awards
Going back to your cancer diagnosis and journey, that must have been a difficult thing for your family to deal with. You have a wife and two kids, so how has it affected them to walk through this journey with you?
Well, it definitely affected our family. I’ll start with my wife, Vanessa. She’s taken a lot of the load. She has obviously been very good about helping out with everything. She’s just always there emotionally, and then she’s been physically doing everything that needs to be done. And actually, when I started coming back to my normal self and helping out more and feeling more like me again, she came down with pneumonia. I think she was so stressed and so worn down. Her body was doing whatever the heck it had to do just to get through this ordeal. And then as soon as she was able to relax a little bit, her body just kind of collapsed. For all that time, both emotionally and physically, she was really putting herself out there.
His kids visit him in the hospital
As far as the kids, I really didn’t think they were affected that much. I really tried to put on a brave face as much as I possibly could, and I tried not to make it a big deal. When I was in the hospital, they were definitely surprised at how beat up I looked, but at home, I tried to put on a brave face and they seemed like they kept it together. But then I read an essay that my daughter had written…one that I didn’t even know she was writing. It was all about her struggles and the whole experience of when I told her about my cancer. I think this essay piece was partly therapeutic for her to write.
Cameron Mathison Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman
I mean, obviously, I got emotional reading it because here I am trying to deliver this as a parent in the best way possible, to give her the information and make a realistic assessment, but at the same time, not freak my kids out. And yet how she saw it and how it was received by her was so different and so powerful. And quite honestly, eye-opening for me. I was putting on a brave face for them, but I now understood after she wrote this and I heard the inner turmoil she was going through…really, they were the ones putting on the brave face for me. It was a beautiful essay, and it really opened my eyes. My kids showed me that they could handle more than I thought, and they were the ones trying to make me not stress about them. I was able to learn that my daughter had a much harder time than I ever realized with the whole process.
Credit: © 2019 Crown Media United States, LLC | Photo: Kim Nunneley / Alexx Henry Studios, LLC.
I have a daughter who’s sixteen, and I hear exactly what you’re saying, Cameron. As parents, we try to be the strong ones, and then you find out they are so much stronger than what we give them credit for.
Oh, yeah, you and I have daughters around the same age. My daughter is thirteen. But I want to say that I’m super grateful that they’ve listened to me and dealt with me. I think they’re super grateful just like Vanessa and I are. This season of Thanksgiving is definitely taking on a new meaning this year for all of us.
I hear what you’re saying about Thanksgiving. Just this past Sunday, my mom was the first one to get up in church and say that she was just grateful to be standing there, so that was wonderful to see. I was in full agreement with her on that. So with the holidays coming up, how will your family be celebrating the season?
Well, we’re gonna have lots of family for Thanksgiving to start things off. We will enjoy that time for sure. And then for Christmas, we’re going to be going to Colorado where my parents are. We spend every other year in California, alternating families. This is a Colorado year, so we’ll be up there. We’ll be skiing, ice skating, taking sleigh rides in the snow…we’ve got all sorts of plans.
At the screening in New York of Christmas At the Plaza
As your kids are getting older now, do you think there is a chance they will follow in your footsteps and pursue a career in film and TV?
I’m not sure, but if I had a guess, I would say probably not. But my daughter is a singer and a dancer, so who knows? She may end up going down that road professionally. If my son does any of it, he probably would be behind the camera. But I have to say, it just doesn’t seem like the path that their life will probably go down.
© 2019 Crown Media United States, LLC | Photo: Keith Castillo/ Alexx Henry Studios, LLC.
I so appreciate your time, Cameron, so here’s one last question. Do you have some kind of saying or motto that you try to live your life by every day?
Well, my big motto that I try to live my life by all the time is “Just be kind.” It’s the number one thing for me. It sounds so simple, and it seems like it really should be easy for everyone to do. But it is the thing I try to do day in and day out. Be kind. Respect others. Try to put others before myself all the time.
Credit: © 2019 Crown Media United States, LLC | Photo: Keith Castillo/ Alexx Henry Studios, LLC.
Cameron, I seriously think you do a pretty good job of living by that. At least from everything I know about you and have seen from you. You know, when I look at the way you respond to so many people on your Instagram account, it just blows my mind sometimes. I don’t know how you keep up with all that.
You know, it’s something that feels good to me. I just do little chunks at a time, and I try to make as much of a personal connection as I can. I don’t say much typically. I just try to let people know that I’ve read it and thank them for it. That’s my goal.
Well, I’m impressed by what I’ve seen from you, Cameron, in all areas of your life. In the way you live your life, with your family, with your fans…it’s truly impressive.
Thank you, Ruth, that’s very sweet.
You’re very welcome, Cameron, and thank you for carving out some time to chat with me today. I am excited to see you in The Christmas Club, and all the Home & Family shows coming up.
And thank you, Ruth, it was great chatting with you. And I’ll look forward to speaking with you next time as well. I hope everyone joins in and enjoys The Christmas Club tonight!
Even in the brief time that Cameron and I spoke, it was such a grand conversation, and I gleaned so much from this amazing man. Cameron is perpetually warm, candid, charming, benevolent, and engaging every time I have had the honor of chatting with him. One would think that a “celebrity” like Cameron would potentially permit fame and notoriety to go to his head, but nothing could be further from the truth. Cameron continues to live a life that exemplifies the very phrase he mentioned: BE KIND. I have never witnessed anything negative nor demeaning from him (and remember, I saw him filming on the set of Home & Family when I was the ONLY visitor there!), and he consistently puts everyone’s comfort ahead of his own. Moreover, he invariably seeks self-betterment and is never content with the status quo (no wonder I like this guy so well!). His authenticity is practically legendary, and this is embodied in the way his entire health journey this fall has been observed so publicly. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to just hibernate and then maybe talk about it later, but in truth, that is not Cameron. And my mom and I regularly discuss how much he has influenced our family through positivity and encouragement on a variety of levels.
I hope that everyone will tune in today (November 27th) to the Hallmark Channel for the premiere of The Christmas Club (premieres December 8th on the W Network). And while you are luxuriating in a movie that is destined to be a new holiday classic, be sure to visit all of Cameron’s links below and consider giving him a follow on your preferred social media platform. (As mentioned, he is very responsive on Instagram.) I cannot think of another actor/co-host/husband/father/friend better than Cameron (and that’s NOT an exhaustive list by any means), and just the fact that he has been so genuinely kind to me over the past few years (I mean, you SHOULD have heard him introducing me to the other members of the Home & Family team this summer! A girl could get a big head!! 🙂 that I will forever be in his corner to extensively promote any and all of his endeavors with Hallmark and beyond! And somehow, Hallmarkies, I don’t think I’m alone in that persuasion!
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Credit: © 2019 Crown Media United States, LLC | Photo: Kim Nunneley / Alexx Henry Studios, LLC.
