Actor Jonathan Bennett first became known as part of the Mean Girls cast, but in recent years he's become synonymous with working on Hallmark movies. That includes Christmas movies about LGBTQ+ characters, breaking ground for the network in the process. An out gay actor IRL, it turns out that Bennett's husband had to show him how to fix something that's hilariously wrong about many Hallmark titles. And some serious points were made.
Jonathan Bennett got married back in 2022 to his husband Jaymes Vaughan, and recently brought a trilogy of queer Hallmark movies to screens. It tuns out that Vaughan has issued some notes to his celebrity hubby, specifically the way that actors often have empty coffee cups on screen. He made a funny Instagram reel about this situation, check it out below:
Mic drop. This is something that's been pointed out in plenty of projects, both within and outside of the Hallmark network. Because when actors carry around empty coffee cups, the lack of weight ends up looking super obvious to any of us who have actually walked around with a cup of joe. This seemingly was a point of conversation in the Bennett-Vaughan house, enough that they made the above video about it.
Jaymes Vaughan shared this clip to his 268k followers on Instagram, and the comments were filled with people who agree with this particular pet peeve. Clearly Bennett has a good sense of humor about it, as he participated in the viral clip. One IG user posted their thoughts on this clip, reading:
It’s always bothered me when watching someone on film drinking coffee, but you can tell that the cups are empty.
This is comment inspired response from Vaughan himself, who gave himself credit for the way Jonathan Bennett's coffee cup work has improved in more recent Hallmark appearances. He wrote:
Clock every Jonathan Bennett movie before he met me and then after he met me 💁🏻.
Of course, this isn't a criticism that's exclusive to Hallmark channel projects. The empty coffee cup issue has plagued many movie and TV titles over the years. For instance, when Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life premiered for those with a Netflix subscription, fans took umbrage with the way Lauren Graham's Lorelai Gilmore carried around a disposable coffee cup from Luke's diner. Although for her part, the actress has maintained that there is always liquid in her cup as her signature character.
Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan seemingly have a great relationship, one where they aren't scared to poke fun at each other. And it looks like Bennett's coffee cup work will forever be changed by his husband.
Bennett is attached to a number of upcoming projects on the 2026 movie release list. And I'm definitely going to be paying attention to the way he holds coffee cups moving forward.