Jonathan Bennett

Actor Jonathan Bennett joins us to break down all of his latest projects including his new iHeartRadio Pride Cast and more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
With Maria Lopez Mario Lopez joint on Zoom, the host
of the IR Radio Pridecast, actor Jonathan Bennett. Welcome to
the show man. Nice to talk to you on this show.
I know, I feel like I was just saying to you,
like I feel like we never met for years, and
then for some reason in the past year and a
half we see each other every other week. So I

(00:21):
think we're officially best friends. Mario Lopez is my best friend.
I think, so totally besties. Congrats on getting married, and
we had talked about it leading up to it, so
that so that's awesome. Um, I know you're busy. They'll
do you in time for a honeymoon yet or putting
it off. We we haven't had time for honeymoon. We're
actually going on our honeymoon next week. We're going on

(00:43):
We're doing a carnival cruise because we we we love
cruising and so we're gonna do a carnival cruise on
their ship, Marty Grass and we're gonna we're gonna go
to the Bahamas and it's gonna it's gonna be fantastic.
We're getting for a little bit of a arrest and relaxation.
That's fun. That's fun. Now, how are you about um
borrowing each other's wardrobe? No, okay, here's the thing. Before,

(01:07):
during the pandemic, we had different sizes, but host pandemic.
Now that we've both got our wedding bodies on point
and had to get our wedding bodies ready for the wedding,
we wear the exact same size everything. So it's fantastic.
Because we go on the cruiser, we go on vacation,
we don't have to pack that many clothes because we

(01:29):
just share them. Like we just throw like six pairs
of shorts, six pairs of six shirts in a bag
and we're good to go. Because I have a much
bigger waste than James, but he has a much bigger
butt than I do, so we both wear a thirty
four waste. It works out. That's funny. It's good you
allow each other. Nice. Um, So let's talk about the
new pod pridecast. Uh? What made you want to start
the show? By the way, I like that you've got

(01:49):
your hands in so many different things. Respect the hustle.
I mean, if there's anyone that has taught the respect
of the hustle in Hollywood Mario Lopez, it would be you,
because I can't turn on a TV in a hotel room,
I can't listen to a podcast. I can't go anywhere
without hearing your voice. So did so Pride. So I

(02:10):
Heart called us and said, hey, do you want to
do a podcast? And we said sure, what will we
talk about? And they're like, it's Pridecast And I go,
I see what you did there, Okay, I love it.
So we James and I teamed up together because I figured,
if you're gonna bring someone to work every day, why
not bring your husband. You know, he's already in the house.
No one else has to come in. We can just

(02:30):
do it from our living room. So the two of
us are teaming up to do this amazing podcast that's
just gonna celebrate the l g B t Q plus community.
It's gonna be a celebration of all things that are gay,
that are queer, that that are all the letters of
the l g B t Q plus alphabet. And what
we want to do on this on this on this
show is really uplift the community and empower them and

(02:52):
just celebrate how great it is to be gay. Do
you plan to have guests or are you just going
to keep it between No? Well, the first episode that
drops May fourth today is this May fourth were in
my time? Okay? Good? The first episode that drops today
May fourth is just about James and I and kind
of our journey to pride and what that felt like

(03:14):
for us because we both had different journeys, just like
every person that's gay has a different journey to finding
what pride means to them. So we kind of talk
a little bit about our journey, meaning, you know, me
being on all my children, playing Kelly Rippa's brother for
years back in two thousand and going to gay gay
club called Tiger Heat, which was a blast. They played

(03:35):
Britney Spears and n Sync and we would dance our
faces off, and then the next day getting called into
the office at ABC and then telling me, hey, uh no,
you can't be you can't be gay. You're you're not
going to that club, Like what are you doing? And
literally your whole world changes. So so just kind of
and other people have different experiences as well that are

(03:55):
same but different, and it's kind of like crushing that
idea of of being told no and turning that into
what pride means to you. So it's a journey, right,
you started as a closeted actor or you know, people
start closeted in their own lives and whatever it is,
and then they find this journey to pride. And we're
gonna share those journeys and that's gonna help people maybe

(04:16):
identify and maybe help them along their journey. And then
on top of that, we're gonna have amazing guests. All right,
We're gonna we have Leah Delaria comedians extraordinary actress who
is just absolutely hilarious, some other gay comedians like Matteo Lane.
We we we have so many great l G B
t Q plus uh celebrities that you might know and
celebrities that you might not know or people that you

(04:38):
might not know. So we're really gonna be shedding a spotlight.
We call it our big Gig Spotlight. We're gonna be
putting our big gay spotlight on all the people in
the community that are doing the most good and that
are really helping empower the community and uplift them. Good
for you, that is empowering. Nice man um In the
works right now a movie called The Plus One with

(04:58):
Cedric the Entertainer that sounds fun and and and a shanty.
Oh fun, what's it about? We we we we shot
it and we shot it a few weeks ago. And
what's so crazy about that is you're working with a
shanty and she's gorgeous and stunning and beautiful and just
so talented. But then you get to know where and
you're on set and you're like, you forget that she's

(05:21):
a shanty, right, because you're like, Okay, this is just
like my co star. This is cool. And you know,
we goes by and you're kind of in the pocket
grooving on set, and then there's a scene where she
has to get up on the stage and sing. And
in that moment when she's just riffing and like doing
her thing on a microphone, you remember, oh right, that's

(05:42):
a shanty all right. Like she is so talented, and
to just hear her like riff on the microphone during
some of the scenes, it was just like mind blowing
because she's so good. That's fun, man, that's fun. Good
for you. Um, reboots are big right now, we're coming
up on the twenty anniversary of Mean Girls. What do

(06:03):
you think it will take to get a reunion? I
don't know. All I know is that Lindsay Lohan is
doing better than ever and she is rocking it. She
just got a Netflix deal. She has all of her
stuff going on so and she just wants to launch
the podcast too. So if you're not, if you're gonna
listen to mine, also listen to Lindsay's. It's called Belowdown. Um. So,

(06:23):
we love supporting each other, and I think we can.
I think it's gonna be a reboot, but I think
it should be a TV show. In my opinion, it
should be all of us grown up and we're we
all now have kids of our own, and those girls
are going to high school, so it's a different high school,
and then the parents are having to manage those kids.

(06:45):
I think it's a comedy. I think it's a TV show,
and I think it should happen. Who do we have
to call? That's what I'm saying. Johnathan might have to
produce that, okay, okay, And then what we could do
is the plot twist is that Aaron Samuel's is gay.
Here you go to it. That's a that's a pilot
episode right there is uh. Meanwhile, you can listen to

(07:06):
the pridecast on I Heart Radio or wherever you get
your pods, Jonathan, I'm sure I'll be talking to you
next week the next. In the meanwhile, have yourself a
good day of My friend to care on with Mario
Lopez