Well, Hallmark has stepped up to the plate yet again. Not only do we have a brand new movie on tonight (April 18th) entitled Nature Of Love, but it features an actress with whom Hallmark fans are well-acquainted (even if you don’t know her name yet). Donna Benedicto has been making Hallmark films since 2016, and while that might seem like a relatively short time, she has managed to film nine Hallmark movies (and counting) in those four years! Moreover, the viewers absolutely adore her, and I believe she is well on her way to becoming a much-sought-after “star” in the true sense of the word. Earlier this year, Donna and I had the chance to chat about her extensive career thus far, and I am ecstatic to share it with my readers today.

Photo Credit: Studio Aviva

RH: Donna, I’m so glad we are getting the chance to speak today.

DB: Me too, Ruth. Thank you for reaching out for an interview.

I have been following and promoting Hallmark movies for several years now, but I only discovered you last year. And until I started researching you, I had no idea how many Hallmark movies you had made. And then I realized you were a Hallmark actress I hadn’t interviewed yet.

That’s great, thank you, Ruth.

Andrew Walker, Preston Vanderslice, Donna Benedicto, Clayton James Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ryan Plummer

I think you really came to my attention as a result of the Christmas movie last year, Christmas On My Mind. And that was probably because Preston Vanderslice was your love interest. Preston and I go way back to his first Hallmark movie a few years ago. Now I find out you’ve been in so many Hallmark movies, and I didn’t even realize it. I just love getting to highlight the supporting cast!

It’s really so nice that you do that. As an actress, it’s wonderful that people enjoy a character so much that you’ve created as a supporting cast member that they acknowledge you. Even on Twitter when I get tweeted at, it’s so sweet! I applaud you for doing what you do, Ruth.

Well, thank you so much. I just love getting to put the information out there and follow your career as well as the careers of so many supporting cast members. And it’s always neat to see the fans come on board and support these artists too. So, Donna, how did you get started in acting?

Well, I started out as a singer. I was just a cover band singer. I didn’t write music or anything like that. Singing was more of a hobby for me. There was a part of my life when I was managing a really busy bar and making all this money. I didn’t really have any kind of goal or passion about anything. I had a boyfriend at the time tell me that I was a pretty decent singer, and he encouraged me to take some lessons. I took lessons for about a year. I had been working at this bar for about six years, and my boss found out that I was taking lessons. He made me sing at a staff party. I was all right back then; I really wasn’t a very good singer back then. But because I had been working at the bar for six years,  they knew that if they gave me a show,  everyone would come. {laughs}

So they gave me a show every month. I got better and better and really liked the performing aspect of it. Then I auditioned to be in a cover band. Once I got in, I didn’t have any creative control, so I didn’t get to pick any of the songs we sang. We had to do a lot of songs that I didn’t really like and weren’t really my taste. I remember telling a friend, “I want to be a good performer. People are gonna know that I don’t like these songs.” He suggested, “You could act like you do. You may want to take some acting lessons.” So I started in an acting class, and I was hooked. It’s not the writing part that I’m passionate about. I love singing and all that, but for me, it’s the performance aspect of acting and singing that I really enjoy. So that’s how I got started. And like anything, you get better and better.

Copyright 2013 J Chan Photography All Rights Reserved

That’s cool. I was a music teacher. I was a voice major in college, and music is my first love. I always think it makes a lot of sense for actors to begin as musicians. 

It helped with my career a lot. Getting used to being in front of a lot of people. Getting used to screwing up in front of a lot of people. If you screw up a song at a bar, it’s might feel like a big deal when you first start doing it, but you get yourself over it. And that helped me so much in acting. Once you get over feeling bad about making mistakes, you realize you’re on a timeline, and time costs money. There’s a lot of pressure on you. There’s fifty people watching you do your thing. It helps a lot to have had that kind of  background where you’re around a lot of people and you’ve got a lot of pressure on you. And performing in front of a lot of people sure helped me a lot in those areas.

I think I actually saw you in something that was one of your earlier works. In fact, I remember your character. It was from the show Heartbeat. 

Oh yes! How did you remember that? My character was right at the beginning.

I really loved the show Heartbeat. I was so sad when it got canceled. I think it was ahead of its time because now there are all these medical shows out there. But I remember that I interviewed Luke Roessler, the little boy who was in that opening scene too. And for whatever reason, that scene has just stuck in my head. Now, your first Hallmark movie was A Wish For Christmas, right? 

A Wish For Christmas

Yes, with Lacey Chabert! She’s oh so sweet! So yes, A Wish For Christmas was my very first back in 2016.  It was a nice little role. I remember being very nervous. Christie Will was the director. I had such a great time on that movie. It was a nice way to break into Hallmark.

A Wish For Christmas had so many Hallmark favorites. Paul Greene, who is a good friend of mine. Mark Brandon, Andrea Brooks…the list goes on. And I remember Lacey was pregnant during that one. 

A Wish For Christmas

Yes, it was so funny how they would hide her pregnancy. She would hold presents and things like that to cover it.

That movie happens to be one of my favorites. And also that year, I see that you were in Operation Christmas. 

Operation Christmas

I was! That was my first supporting role. I had more to say in that role. David Weaver was the director on that one. Tricia Helfer was so sweet! Same with Marc Blucas. He was so funny. It was so fun to be on that set. I also met Chelan Simmons, who doesn’t do a lot of acting now. I’m pretty sure she’s taking a little break and enjoying her children.

I think that movie is very memorable because of so many things, but I love the military theme. It’s always special when movies celebrate the military, especially at Christmas. Now, I’m familiar with the shows Shut Eye and Ice, but I have not seen them. I have interviewed many people who worked on them. 

Shut Eye

Shut Eye was really fun. Working with Jeffrey Donovan…his role in Fargo…I was totally obsessed with his character. When I found out I got the role in Shut Eye and I didn’t know who the lead was, and I figured out it was him and I was gonna be working with him, I had a little mini-freak-out ’cause I was so excited! It was such a great experience, and he’s such a fantastic actor and a great person.  It was really, really cool working with him.

I had such a small role in Ice. It was just one day. I played a bartender.

Supernatural –“Stuck in the Middle (With You)”– SN1212b_0178.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester, Donna Benedicto as Mandy and Misha Collins as Castiel — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved

I have seen episodes of Supernatural from various seasons, but I have not sat down and watched the whole series as of yet. However, you happened to be in one of the episodes I have seen since David Haydn-Jones was in it. He played Mr. Ketch, one of the British Men of Letters. I just can’t believe that Supernatural is actually ending. 

I know what you mean. It used to be that we’d say you aren’t a real Vancouver working actor if you haven’t been on Supernatural. {laughs} And now there has to be a different show since Supernatural is ending. So now we can say that you’re not a real Vancouver working actor if you haven’t been on a Hallmark yet.

Yeah, I think you might be right there. 

Supernatural first, and now it’s Hallmark. Hallmark is so good to us. We’re so lucky. But Supernatural was just fantastic. That was so much fun. And I think I got an interview out of that role too. Their fandom is just as big as the Hallmark ones.

Supernatural

Oh, the Supernatural fans are amazing. I’ve been to a Supernatural convention, and those fans are just incredible. So I’m glad you were on that show and had such a great experience. I’ve also seen you on the Lifetime Christmas movie Four Christmases and a Wedding. My friend, Madison Smith, was in that movie, so I made sure to watch it. 

Four Christmases and a Wedding

Oh, Maddo is such a fantastic dude! He’s such an intelligent actor and such a sweetheart.

Agreed! So I saw you in that movie. You also had a role in an Aurora Teagarden movie. 

Yes, did you happen to see that one?

With Brenda Critchlow
Aurora Teagarden

Yes, I did!

That one was so much fun! I played a mean girl, and that was a first for Hallmark. Usually for Hallmark, they have me in as a bubbly, happy, encouraging friend, so this was a nice change to get to be the mean girl. It was a lot of fun.

I always watch the mysteries on Hallmark. I mean, I watch all the Hallmark movies and shows, but the mysteries are my favorite. I grew up watching mysteries, but so many of the mysteries out there today are full of violence and lots of action. Not that I won’t watch them, but I love the Hallmark ones. It’s more about the story and trying to figure out “whodunit” and picking up on all the clues. That’s what I love. 

I had so much fun working with such great people on that movie.

Well, it’s funny. I see you were on season four of UnREAL. I have only recently gotten around to watching season four. I watched all the other seasons because my friend, Brennan Elliott, is on the show. I kept telling him I was going to watch season four, and now I finally am! I haven’t gotten to your episodes yet. 

I understand. There are a lot of shows to watch. I think you’re doing pretty well, Ruth.

I know you also had a recurring role on Supergirl, another show I need to catch up on. 

Supergirl

That one was super fun. They’ve been so good to me. I’m in the DEO department. Whenever there’s information that needs to be passed in that department, I show up and pass on the information while looking cool and tough. It’s really fun. I’ve been very lucky in my career so far to get to play so many different people. Someone who hasn’t seen my network shows might think, “I can’t see you as a tough girl.” And then if they’ve only watched Supernatural, they might watch Hallmark and say, “Oh, you’re really bubbly.” It’s nice to be able to stretch my range a little bit.

You have done so many Hallmark things, of course. Love Unleashed, Mystery 101, Christmas On My Mind…I will say I’ve seen you on A Million Little Things. That’s actually one of my favorite shows. I am so emotionally invested in that show.

A Million Little Things

They just pull on your heartstrings, don’t they? That’s why everybody loves it.

Oh, they do! And they’re dealing with so many issues that not every show deals with. You’ve been on The Good Doctor too. Another favorite of mine! I loved seeing you!

Aw, thank you. You’re so sweet.

That’s what I mean! I’ve seen you in so many shows!! I’ve seen so much of your work, it’s amazing!

The Good Doctor

That is honestly amazing! The Good Doctor was another really fun role. I got to play an astronaut. I’ve actually talked about this before. You don’t really see too many Filipinos on TV very often. We show up here and there. There’s a lot of factors to that. There’s not very many Filipinos pursuing this career. At least, not that many I know of up here in Vancouver. I’m sure it’s different in LA. To play a strong female role where I’m in a career like an astronaut was HUGE! Really huge for me! Maybe it wasn’t huge for anybody else, but it was for me. I haven’t grown up seeing people like me on TV, so that was a very big milestone for me. Things are really changing. And these people didn’t even think about my nationality when casting me for this role. I got the role because I’m a good actor. A lot of times, we’ll get auditions for roles where the writer has a certain person in their mind who relates to a person they have known in their real life. I get a lot of Chinese and Japanese names on my auditions who are scientists and whatnot. But to be considered and then cast in something like this as a Filipino female was amazing! {laughs} So that one was a big one. I think it really shows that the industry is changing.

Christmas On My Mind

That’s great! And coming back to Christmas On My Mind…we all know that Hallmark has come a long way with diversity, and I thought it was great to have you as Preston’s love interest. And it worked so well!

Oh, yes, an interracial love interest! You know, a lot of the times, the best friend is neglected when it comes to the love interest. So that was really sweet.  Hallmark is doing such great things, and they are so good to me when casting me in all these supporting roles over the past few years. Honestly, maybe I don’t watch enough TV, but I don’t see full Filipinos cast very often on TV in general. Those that look a little Caucasian, they’re out there, and quite a few of them are doing well. But full Filipinos in the roles I’ve gotten to do, I just don’t see much of that. I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful my career’s been going the way it has been. If I started acting ten or fifteen years ago, I might have given up!

Matching Hearts

Exactly! We recently saw you in Matching Hearts. Again, that was such a lovely film. 

Okay, everyone I’ve worked with is gorgeous, but Taylor {Cole} is STUNNING! And not only is she stunning to look at, but her personality is just so sweet, and she just glows! She’s such a beautiful person. I work with a lot of beautiful people, and really, they’re all beautiful. But Taylor is just jaw-droppingly gorgeous! Honestly, I was like, “How are you real?” {laughs}

Donna Benedicto , Emilie Ullerup Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Johnson Production Group/Luba Popovic

And she and Ryan {Paevey} were perfect together. I think that Taylor appears to be a very strong force on-screen. She always has fantastic leading men opposite her, but Ryan Paevey was the perfect leading man for her. Sometimes there is just that on-screen chemistry and connection that comes across in such a special way, and I think Taylor and Ryan have that. It’s a pairing I hope Hallmark brings back. I would not mind seeing them together again. And of course, you were a part of that film as well, so it was nice to see you. Do you have anything else you can mention that is coming up?

Donna Benedicto, Emilie Ullerup Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Johnson Production Group/Luba Popovic

I have a movie coming out called Nature Of Love. That’s the movie that’s on Hallmark tonight with Christopher Russell and Emilie Ullerup. This one will be a lot of fun to watch because I get to play a kind of a dork. That’s all I’ll say, so be sure to watch tonight!

The Killer Downstairs

I also recently wrapped on a movie directed by Christie Will. I’m working with one of my absolute favorite people, Cindy Busby. This is supposed to be out on Hallmark this summer, When It Rains It Pours. And in that one, I am not playing the usual role. That one is gonna be a lot of fun.

Donna, that is just great! We are looking forward to seeing you tonight and then hopefully this summer as well. Glad to know we have movies to look forward to during this difficult time.

Ruth, thank you so much for the interview. I just love Hallmark and the fans, and it is an honor to get to chat with you today. I hope everyone can tune in tonight!

Donna Benedicto Credit: ©2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy Johnson Production Group/Luba Popovic

How thrilling it was for me to chat with Donna while realizing just how much of her incredible work I have been able to watch and enjoy. Her natural effervescence combined with her obvious talent and undeniable beauty have made her a highly desirable addition to an extensive variety of genres on TV and beyond. {And to be honest, until she mentioned she was Filipino, I had no idea!} Her infectious enthusiasm and commitment to every role she is given have made her into a stalwart force in the business, and I can hardly wait to see tonight’s movie as well as everything else coming up for her (because I know that once the industry opens up again, it will be actors like Donna who will be immediately snatched up for innumerable roles). 

I hope that everyone in the U.S. watches Nature of Love on the Hallmark Channel tonight (April 18th), while Canadian fans expectantly await the announcement of a premiere date for this movie as well. While you are enjoying the antics of Donna, Christopher, and Emilie, be sure that you visit Donna’s links below and consider following her on your preferred social media platform. There can be no actress of whom I am aware more buoyant, charming, exhilarating, gifted and just plain sweet than Donna in this glittering universe of film and TV, and I urge all of us Hallmark fans (and more) to rally around artists like her and remind them all that we are in their corner, no matter how crazy the world around us becomes. 

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