Though his striking good looks may have made Jonathan Bennett an object of affection for the “plastics” in Mean Girls, his talent and commitment are what have led them to his becoming one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Diversifying his talent, he released a best-selling Mean Girls parody Burn Cookbook, became a fan favorite on “Dancing with the Stars,” “Celebrity Big Brother,” and also demonstrated his hosting skills on MTV’s competition series “Copycat.” This helped pave the way to Bennett’s turn as host of Food Network’s assortment of “Cake Wars” specials including ratings powerhouse “Halloween Wars” and “Holiday Wars,” official host of Times Square’s New Year’s Eve Countdown, as well as his role with NBC for their Winter Olympics coverage. Additionally, he remained a part of the Viacom family with recurring arcs on VH1’s “Hit the Floor” and MTV’s “Awkward.” More recently, he enjoyed an arc on Shondaland’s “Station 19;” filmed the original telefilm “Harvest of the Heart” which was one of the first vehicles to film amidst the pandemic; starred in the indie feature, Potato Dreams of America, which premiered at SXSW; as well as in the Hallmark Channel original telefilm, “The Christmas House,” for which he reprised his role in the GLAAD MEDIA Award- nominated sequel, “The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls.” Bennett is also host of iHeart’s PrideCast podcast.
He’s parlayed the success of “The Christmas House” franchise into a two-picture deal with Hallmark Media for which most recently starred in and produced “Wedding of a Lifetime” as well as “The Holiday Sitter.”
Bennett’s first foray into a studio film was, in fact, Paramount’s smash hit Mean Girls from producer Lorne Michaels and writer Tina Fey in which he starred opposite Lindsay Lohan. In the romantic comedy Lovewrecked for Weinstein Co., Bennett transitioned into the love interest of Amanda Bynes. He has since starred as Bo Duke in Warner Bros. prequel to The Dukes of Hazzard; the comedy romp Bachelor Party Vegas; in the title role of National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: Freshman Year; in Cheaper by the Dozen 2, FOX’s sequel to the hit comedy, as Steve Martin’s antagonistic son-in-law; and reunited with Cheaper co-star Hilary Duff for The Haunting of Sharon Tate.
Bennett executive produced and starred in the film Authors Anonymous opposite Kaley Cuoco. Continued to wear his producing hat as well as carry a supporting role in feature Pawn with Ray Liotta and Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker, starred in IFC Films’ dramatic thriller Submerged, the comedy Do Over, the crime thriller Paid In Full, the Lifetime telefilm “Romantically Speaking” opposite “Glee” star Heather Morris, the indie drama Do You Take This Man opposite Anthony Rapp, and the Hallmark original telefilm “Love At First Glance” opposite Amy Smart and Adrian Grenier.
He previously reunited with Mean Girls co-star Lacey Chabert in the Hallmark telefilm “Elevator Girl,” starred in the indie comedy The Assistants, Slightly Single In L.A, the drama Memorial Day with James Cromwell, the thriller Cats Dancing on Jupiter, the romantic comedy Divorce Invitation opposite Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and lead role in Lifetime’s “Holiday High School Reunion.”
Outside of the occasional guest star role on the likes of “Supergirl,” “Deception,” “Cane,” Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order: SVU,” David E. Kelley’s “Boston Public,” “Smallville” and “Veronica Mars,” Bennett’s first and only foray into series television was on the Emmy Award-winning “All My Children” after less than a month of having moved from his native Ohio to New York City.
No stranger to winning awards, Bennett took Best Actor honors at the 2003 Palm Beach International Film Festival for his lead role in the independent feature Season of Youth.
Originally from Ohio, Bennett currently resides outside of Los Angeles with his husband, Jaymes Vaughan, and their beloved pup, Bradley. The two recently made history by being the first gay couple to grace the cover of The Knot and beyond will host an LBTGQ+ OUTbound travel adventure.
