Interview with Brennan Elliott, Our King of Feel Good Movies

Last month we held the first-ever NGTV Battle for the Crown, a bracket tournament (a la college basketball’s March Madness, RIP) to determine the King & Queen of Feel Good Movies.

And yes, we know there should have been a hyphen between “Feel” and “Good”. But we put the first post + graphics out there without it, so we went for continuity over grammar.

Anyway.

After a month of various fanbases rallying for their faves and casting thousands of votes, we announced the winners last week: Brennan Elliott & Lacey Chabert.

Brennan caught wind of the tournament on Twitter, thanking his fans and retweeting links to voting. After the final votes were tallied, we reached out to him for an interview to celebrate his new status as King of Feel Good Movies. 

(Lacey has been very quiet on social media during this time. We hope to interview her eventually.)

NGTV: How did you find out about our Battle of the Crown?

Brennan Elliott: I was trying to go a little dark on social media during this time because I wanted to kind of just stay focused on, you know, being healthy and just kind of doing other things and taking care of the kids and the family. And my wife obviously, has a pre-existing condition too. [Cami Elliott is a stomach cancer survivor.] So I wanted to make sure she was safe. But I try to keep in contact with fans and just kind of reach out when I can. I saw [the tournament] on Twitter and Instagram, and I thought, Oh, this is a lot of fun.

I’m just honored and humbled – I don’t mean that to sound cliche, but to be even a part of that list of actors and actresses was just great. A lot of those actors and actresses I’ve worked or hopefully get a chance to work with and it was just a really fun thing to do.

NGTV: I was really tickled to see that you and Lacey ended up being the King and Queen, given how much you’ve worked together.

Brennan: Yeah! She’s a very close friend of mine. Obviously, we’ve done several movies together, and we have many, many more that we’re supposed to be doing when the world comes back.

NGTV: Were you surprised that your fans were out there kind of rallying the troops and getting people out there to vote?

Brennan: No! [laughs] You know, I’ve been with Hallmark and proud to be a part of that family probably since 2013, when I started on Cedar Cove. I have a fan base and — I’m not gonna lie — they’re very, very passionate and diligent in their fervor and what they like and don’t like. If they like something you know, and if they don’t feel it, you know. They’re just wonderful and I’m just so thankful to have this army of fans that really support our channel and what I do, it’s been great.

But I was surprised to win! There were so many talented actors and actresses [in the competition] and like I said, I mean, to compete with all those great actors and actresses was a real honor. And it was nice to see that, you know, one of the great things about that kind of poll was to engage the fans, right? And that means that the work you’ve done, the films you’ve been a part of and the performances, or the roles and the characters essentially struck a chord and then the fans voted accordingly. And that’s why we do this, to touch people’s lives. During this time, it’s just nice to know fans out there appreciate not only your work but the person you are so I’m really, really humbled and honored to be a part of this for sure.

NGTV: Who would you vote for, if you were voting?

Brennan: Oh, man, putting me on the spot! [laughs] I mean, I know all of them, practically. I haven’t worked with a few of them, but I mean, how do you choose?

NGTV: What’s your fave feel-good movie?

Brennan: Wow. I mean… Just to talk personally, for me there’s always gonna be a soft spot for All of My Heart. I just thought that was a movie that struck a chord with the fans. But even from the first moment we started working on it… 

When I read the [All of My Heart] script and we started working with Peter Galloway, we realized, okay, there’s something special about this movie and about this type of content. Every day it just seemed effortless and fun and alive and it just felt good to film it. It felt good to do ADR [additional dialogue recording]. It felt good to work with Lacey. It felt good. And then, in the end, I think a lot of the fans feel good watching it and it’s been kind of a staple I think in regards to Hallmark. I think that movie is a really is definitely on the top of the list as a really good feel good movie. 

NGTV: It’s definitely one of my favorites. I know that sets are shut down right now but have you already filmed anything we can be looking forward to seeing?

Brennan: I was in Vienna, Austria in December and I was in Bucharest, Romania in January filming a Christmas movie for Hallmark that’ll air in December, I believe, when we all get back to some semblance of normalcy. It’s called Christmas in Vienna, although obviously, these things do change. It’s with the wonderful Sarah Drew from Grey’s Anatomy, directed by Maclain Nelson, who’s done four or five Hallmark movies. It’s a really sweet fun wonderful story about family and about rebirth and opening up your heart and a lot of these kinds of things that Hallmark does so well. It was a real joy to be a part of that movie and I think the fans will enjoy it. 

And then I have a couple of scripts that I’m reading. We are going to be doing some more Crossword Mysteries with Lacey as well, so there’s lots to do!

NGTV: How are you coping during this pandemic? What are you doing to stay occupied?

Brennan: You know, I told a friend of mine, when this all started, I said, I’m being forced to relax and forced to do nothing. I haven’t had a month off, let alone two months off to not really do anything in about 17 or 18 years. I’ve always been blessed enough to be busy working. And so I think now I’m not traveling anywhere I am able to be around my children a lot more. I’m just trying to spend as much quality time as I can with my wife and my children because I know that when this all comes back — and we will recover — I will be busy doing, you know, the same as I was before which is providing and working and filming. So I’m just trying to find the silver lining in this experience and, for me, that’s being home relaxing and spending time with my family.

My wife and I have been watching Hallmark movies, too. I think people can go to Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and kind of get a taste of something positive, maybe something a little lighter, maybe something familiar, something from the heart. It can be a nice remedy during this time, you know? That’s one reason I enjoyed this poll to find the feel good King and Queen. It’s a real honor because I think, you know, not only nowadays, but just in the world period, who doesn’t want to feel good? I think Hallmark has monopolized that marketplace brilliantly. And to be a part of that and to be one of their men that they go to, to kind of try to share that with fans in the audience is a real honor.

NGTV: Are there any causes near to your heart that we can promote?

Brennan: My wife battled cancer and is now cancer-free, thank God, so I’m happy to support anything that has to do with any kind of cancer victims or cancer research, especially involving stomach cancer, which in itself is extremely rare. I’ve been on the frontlines [of battling cancer], it’s terrible. And it takes a lot of strength. I believe I’m a fairly strong person but my wife is way stronger than I am.

I’ve also been thinking about the front-liners — the nurses, the doctors, the people that are the caregivers. My mom was a nurse for most of my life until she retired so I grew up in nursing homes and hospitals. I had a lot of respect for what people do but I didn’t really realize everything they were doing cuz I was young. So I have to give appreciation and thanks to the nurses and the doctors and cops and firefighters, everybody out there on the front lines. They inspire me to work harder and be a better human being and be more selfless.

NGTV: Do you have any words to share with fans who may be feeling afraid or discouraged during this time?

Brennan: I believe we will get through this, and then you know the recovery is going to be tough too. There’s all these different elements that we have to think about. And it’s consuming, it’s causing a lot of fear. We don’t know what the future holds. What needs to be at the forefront of our minds right now is just making sure that we take care of ourselves and get tested if we need to, and stay home, stay protected, hunker down. Wait this out and listen to your medical experts and pray and have faith and be positive and try not to panic and we can get through this. It’s an invisible war we’re fighting. You want to go out and do stuff, but what we really need to do is stay home and take care of what’s here, which is your kids and your family or whoever’s in your little circle.

NGTV: Brennan, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. And congratulations on being crowned King of Feel Good Movies!

Brennan: I appreciate everything you guys do and keep doing what you’re doing. It’s been wonderful and a lot of fun. And like I said, it’s a blessing and an honor to be chosen by the fans. So thank you very much.

Update: Brennan sent us a video thanking NGTV and the fans for the experience. Take a look!

And now a personal message from our King of Feel Good Movies, @brennan_elliott ❤️ #WeAreAllInThisTogether pic.twitter.com/otQZLL17vT

— Nice Girls TV (@nicegirlstv) April 8, 2020

Keep up with Brennan on Twitter.