Canadian Ben Lewis stars in Lifetime's first LGBTQ holiday film, 'Christmas Setup' - Medicine Hat NewsMedicine Hat News medicinehatnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medicinehatnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Hank Stuever Washington Post
In olden times, the people behind the so-called gay agenda wanted nothing more than what everyone else already had: marriage, kids, suburban bliss, job security and equal access to all the benignly merry things in life. Some in the LGBTQ+ sphere fretted that this wish list, once granted, strips away some of the qualities that set us uniquely apart. What happens to the innovation, the rebelliousness, the tawdry fun that can only come from living on society’s fringe? Does getting all the basic things make us too … basic?
To look at queer life now in American culture, the question has all but answered itself: With the incremental attaining of equal rights, it’s as if the magic key was at last inserted into the glowing treasure chest, unleashing a superfluid starburst that enhanced the full spectrum of gender and sexuality – for everyone. In what was originally thought to be a victory for the vanilla, we gained a thousand new flavors
‘The Christmas Setup’ Lifetime Movie Premiere: Trailer, Synopsis, Cast
12/12/20 AT 8:00 AM
“It’s A Wonderful Lifetime” continues to ring in the holidays with its most ambitious premiere yet, “The Christmas Setup.” The film, the network’s first to feature two men in the leading roles, stars real-life husbands, Ben Lewis and Blake Lee.
The film is not only a treat for fans because they will be seeing two spouses in the lead roles, but because this will be the first time either has been in a Lifetime Christmas movie either. Lewis is best known for his roles as William Clayton on “Arrow,” Chad in “The High note” and Josh in “Chasing Life,” while Lee is best recognized as Ben on “Fam,” Josh Novak on “The Wisdom of the Crowd” and Derek on “Parks and Recreation.”
Why the Stars of Lifetime s First Gay Holiday Movie Hope It s a Conversation Starter (Exclusive) Author: Philiana Ng Updated: 12:29 PM EST December 9, 2020
Arrow) and Blake Lee (
Parks and Recreation), the romantic comedy filmed during the pandemic is history-making for the network, a step forward as Lifetime continues to charge ahead in its goal of expanding the breadth of its inclusive storytelling. We re really hopeful that if the traditional Lifetime audience tunes in and embraces this movie, that s just going to embolden and further deepen the representation in years to come for queer people of color and trans people and gender nonbinary people, Lewis, who plays Hugo, tells ET, because everybody deserves this kind of escapism and this type of representation.
‘Christmas Setup’ Writer on ‘Huge Responsibility’ of Bringing Gay Experience to Lifetime’s Holiday Slate
“It’s my story, all the characters are a piece of me,” Michael Murray told TheWrapJennifer Maas | December 12, 2020 @ 2:14 PM
Lifetime
As the writer of “The Christmas Setup,” Lifetime’s first-ever holiday movie centered on a gay romance, Michael Murray has felt a sense of responsibility to the LGBTQ+ community since he first began scripting the project back in March.
But it wasn’t until Lifetime announced in August that it had given the movie the green light that Murray had a “freakout” and “major meltdown” over just how big a deal his little movie was going to be.