Jonathan Bennett (actor)

Last updated
Jonathan Bennett
Born
Jonathan David Bennett

(1981-06-10) June 10, 1981 (age 42)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • television host
Years active2001–present
Spouse
Jaymes Vaughan
(m. 2022)

Jonathan David Bennett (born June 10, 1981) [1] is an American actor and television host. He is known for his roles as Aaron Samuels in the 2004 comedy film Mean Girls , [2] Bud McNulty in 2005's Cheaper by the Dozen 2 , the title character in the 2009 direct-to-DVD comedy Van Wilder: Freshman Year , and his recurring role as Casey Gant in the mystery drama Veronica Mars . He was the host of the Food Network series Halloween Wars , and he previously hosted Cake Wars .

Contents

Bennett made his Broadway debut in Spamalot on January 23, 2024, playing Sir Robin, Guard 1 and Brother Maynard. [3]

Early life

Bennett was born in Ohio, [1] to David Bennett, a physician from Toledo, and Ruthanne Bennett (née Mason). He has two half-brothers, Brian and Brent, and one half-sister, Lisa. [4] [5]

Bennett attended Eagle Point Elementary School in Rossford, Ohio, and graduated from Rossford High School in 1999. [6] Bennett attended Otterbein University. [7] [8]

Career

After moving to New York, he was cast on the ABC soap opera All My Children as JR Chandler from 2001 to 2002. Since then, he has appeared in various television dramas, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , Smallville , and Veronica Mars .

Bennett co-starred in the 2004 comedy movie Mean Girls as Aaron Samuels, the love interest of star Lindsay Lohan's character. [9] In 2005, he co-starred in the family comedy movie Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and the romantic comedy movie Lovewrecked . In 2007, Bennett appeared in the direct-to-video prequel TV series The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning , in which he played Bo Duke. In 2009, he starred as the title character in Van Wilder: Freshman Year , [9] and appeared as Nick in the Hallmark original movie Elevator Girl.

On September 4, 2014, Bennett was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars . He was paired with professional dancer Allison Holker. [9] [10] Bennett and Holker were eliminated on Week 6 of the competition and finished in 9th place. [11]

From 2015 to 2017, Bennett hosted the Food Network cooking competition show Cake Wars . [12]

In 2016, Bennett played gay sports agent Lucas in two episodes of Hit the Floor . [13]

In 2018, with celebrity chef Nikki Martin, he released a pop culture cookbook titled The Burn CookBook. [14]

On January 13, 2019, it was announced that Bennett would be a houseguest on the second season of the reality competition show Celebrity Big Brother . [15] [16]

In 2022, Bennett starred in the first LGBTQ-led Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, The Holiday Sitter. [17]

Personal life

Bennett is openly gay. On November 30, 2020, representatives for Bennett confirmed he was engaged to Amazing Race contestant and current Celebrity Page host Jaymes Vaughan, who proposed on the set for The Christmas House with an original song. [18] [19] In 2021, Bennett and Vaughan became the first gay couple to appear on the cover of the magazine The Knot. [20] In March 2022, the couple got married at the Unico Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico. [21]

Bennett's mother Ruthanne died November 30, 2012, aged 67. [4] His father, David, died on April 28, 2014, aged 73. [5]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2003Season of YouthTaylor Palm Beach International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2004 Mean Girls Aaron SamuelsNominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Chemistry (shared with Lindsay Lohan)
Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Movie Star - Male
2005 Love Wrecked Ryan Howell
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 Bud McNulty
2006 Bachelor Party Vegas Nathan
2009The AssistantsZack Cooper
Van Wilder: Freshman Year Van Wilder
2012 Memorial Day SSgt Kyle Vogel
Music HighJasper "Jazz" Poland
Divorce Invitation MichaelRemake of 1997 Indian Telugu movie Aahwaanam
Slightly Single in L.A. Seven
Christmas CrushBen
2013 Pawn AaronAlso executive producer
Anything Is Possible George
The Secret Village Greg
MisogynistHarrisonNominated — Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival LAIUFF Award for Best Actor
also co-producer
2014 Authors Anonymous William BruceAlso executive producer
Mining for Ruby Andrew
A Christmas Kiss II Sebastian
2015Paid in FullJack
Cats Dancing on JupiterBen Cross
A Dogwalker's Christmas TaleDean Stanton
2016 Submerged Matt
Do OverAnthony Campana
Romantically SpeakingNathan
Deadly RetreatMike
Do You Take This Man ChristopherAlso co-producer
2017Bride to BeDanny
2019 The Haunting of Sharon Tate Jay Sebring
Love on RepeatKevin
2021Potato Dreams of AmericaJesus Christ
2023Fire IslandRafael
2023Christmas on Cherry LaneMike

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001–2002 All My Children JR Chandler Main role
2002 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Kyle FullerEpisode: "Deception" & “Vulnerable”
2003 Boston Public Ethan GuestEpisode: "Chapter Sixty-Three"
2004–2005 Veronica Mars Casey Gant2 episodes
2005 Smallville Kevin GradyEpisode: "Blank"
2007 The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning Bo Duke Television film
Cane BradEpisode: "Time Away"
2010Elevator GirlNick SweeneyTelevision film
2012 Fred: The Show Lash LandridgeEpisode: "Freddy and the Figglettes, Part 2"
Christmas CrushBen OliverTelevision film
2013The Wrong WomanBenTelevision film
Police GuysHimselfTelevision film
The Glades Drew GreenEpisode: "Killer Barbecue"
2014Sweet SurrenderJerryTelevision film
Dancing with the Stars Contestant Season 19
Copycat MTV [22] Host
A Christmas Kiss IISebastianTelevision film
2015Romantically SpeakingNathanTelevision film
Christmas Cookie ChallengeHost
2015–2017 Cake Wars Host
2016 Hit the Floor LucasEpisodes: "Blocked" and "Good D"
Awkward EthanRecurring role (Season 5)
Cupcake Wars Host
2016–2020 Halloween Wars Host
2017Love At First GlanceVictorTelevision film
2018 The Last Sharknado: It's About Time Billy the Kid Television film
Christmas Made to OrderStevenTelevision film
2018–2019 Entertainment Tonight Reporter
2019 Celebrity Big Brother Contestant Season 2
Supergirl QuentinEpisode: "Stand and Deliver"
Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club HimselfEpisode: "After the Show"
2019–present Times Square Ball Host
2020 Station 19 MichaelEpisodes: "Ice Ice Baby" and "No One Is Alone"
RuPaul's Drag Race Guest judgeEpisode: "Snatch Game"
The Christmas House Brandon NockTelevision film
2021 The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls Television film
2022Wedding of a LifetimeJakeTelevision film
The Holiday SitterSamTelevision film
2023 Fantasy Island OliverEpisode: "Forever and a Day"
2023–presentFood Network's Battle of the DecadesHost

Music videos

YearTitleArtistRef.
2018"Thank U, Next" Ariana Grande [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Jonathan Bennett". TVGuide.com . Archived from the original on July 9, 2015.
  2. Maltin, Leonard (2008-08-05). Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide . Penguin. pp.  893. ISBN   978-0-452-28978-9 . Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  3. Spamalot Announcement
  4. 1 2 "Ruthanne Bennett Obituary". The Blade . Toledo, Ohio. December 2, 2012. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2015 via Legacy.com. She is survived by her loving son, Jonathan Bennett [with no other children listed]...
  5. 1 2 "David Bennett Obituary". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. April 30, 2014. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2015 via Legacy.com. Survived by his children, Brian Bennett, Lisa Horner, Brent Bennett and Jonathan Bennett.
  6. "Rossford drama club holds rally for grad on TV show". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. September 15, 2014. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  7. Otterbein University Theatre Department [@otterbeintheatr] (October 3, 2017). "October 3rd is known as "Mean Girls Day," but did you know that @JonathanBennett aka Aaron Samuels was a former Otterbein student? Grool!" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  8. "Jonathan Bennett, who attended Otterbein (pictured on the far left) and played Aaron Samuels in "Mean Girls," was announced as one of 13 celebrity dancers on Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars". Otterbein University Alumni Facebook page. September 4, 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 "Toledo Native Dances in Parents' Memory". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  10. "'Dancing With The Stars' 2014: Season 19 Couples Ready to Tango". Good Morning America/Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  11. Reiher, Andrea (20 October 2014). "'Dancing With the Stars' Season 19 week 6 scores and elimination results". Zap2It.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  12. "Cake Wars on Food Network Canada".
  13. Hinzmann, Dennis (January 13, 2016). "First Look at Adam Senn and Brent Antonello in Hit the Floor Season 3". Out . Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  14. Fecteau, Jessica (3 October 2018). "Mean Girls' Jonathan Bennett Wants to 'Make Fetch-uccine Alfredo Happen' with the Burn Cookbook". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  15. Porreca, Brian (13 January 2019). "'Celebrity Big Brother' Cast Includes Anthony Scaramucci, Dina Lohan and Ryan Lochte". www.hollywoodreporter.com/. The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  16. Ross, Dalton (13 January 2019). "Anthony Scaramucci among 12 new Celebrity Big Brother houseguests". www.ew.com/. Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  17. Sim, Bernardo (8 December 2022). "Jonathan Bennett Talks Starring in Hallmark's 1st Gay-Led Holiday Film". Out Magazine.
  18. Schnurr, Samantha (November 30, 2020). "Mean Girls' Jonathan Bennett Is Engaged to Boyfriend Jaymes Vaughan". E! Online . Archived from the original on November 30, 2020.
  19. VanHoose, Benjamin (November 30, 2020). "Mean Girls Star Jonathan Bennett Is Engaged to Boyfriend Jaymes Vaughan: 'Can't Wait to Get Married!'". People . Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  20. "Jonathan Bennett, Fiance Jaymes Vaughan Become First Gay Couple To Cover 'The Knot'". www.ontopmag.com.
  21. Brody, Lanae; Knapp, JD (March 21, 2022). "Mean Girls' Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan Wed in Inclusive Ceremony: 'We're So Blessed'". People. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  22. Goldberg, Lesley (15 October 2013). "'Mean Girls' Alum Set to Host MTV's 'Copycat' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  23. Aiello, McKenna (30 November 2018). "All the Celebrity Cameos in Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next Music Video". E! News . Retrieved November 30, 2018.