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EXCLUSIVE: As nearly every local store has shown you recently, the holiday season is in full swing. With that comes a healthy amount of themed programming like Tubi‘s Jingle Bell Love, starring Joey McIntyre, premiering November 18.
Deadline has your first look at the film’s trailer above.
McIntyre stars in the romantic comedy as Jack Cooper, who viewers will meet when he visits his late wife’s hometown for Christmas. He gets more than he bargained for when his determined daughter hooks him up with a charming local shop owner (Michelle Morgan), even though he is already dating someone else that nobody really likes. Things get complicated when past-due business dealings bubble to the surface. Jack is full of creative ideas that could help smooth things out just in time for Christmas, but will it all work out?
Yanna McIntosh, Delia Chambers and Al Goulem also star.
McIntyre, who has been a member of one of the biggest boy bands of all time, New Kids on the Block, since the mid-80s, has a special gift for viewers. The Roku Original will feature a new original song he will perform titled, “A Brand New Christmas.”
The Boston native is no stranger to holiday-themed music. NKOTB released Merry, Merry Christmas in 1989, and McIntyre dropped Come Home For Christmas in 2011, could a new one be on the way? More on that and Jingle Bell Love in our Q&A with McIntyre below.
DEADLINE: With such a busy schedule, what attracted you to Jingle Bell Love and playing Jack Cooper?
JOEY MCINTYRE: It started with one of the writers, a good friend of mine, Stephanie Black. She’s from LA, and we’ve done some theater work together. She’s part of the [IAMA] theater group there and I’ve mostly helped with parties to raise funds for their great theater community. She reached out with this idea [and asked] if I’d be interested. I liked it but was unsure of what my schedule would be like [when production begins]. I loved the script. Sure enough, they found great producers and a great channel, and it all worked out. Suddenly it’s March and we’re in Montreal, shooting this really special story. It’s a little outside the box of your average Christmas story, there is a little drama.
DEADLINE: To be clear, it’s not drama like what the Housewives bring to their respective shows. [Laughs] Right?
MCINTYRE: No, It’s not. [Laughs] It’s fun for the whole family. But of course, there’s a little bit of friction here and there. There’s a story there that we ride through together.
In the movie, my wife passed away, and my daughter is without her mom which brings up a lot of feelings. As a parent, you want to navigate and pick and choose, what to dive into and what to leave alone. That’s an extreme situation, but as a parent, you’re always picking and choosing your moments because your kids can roll their eyes at you at any minute. You have to be tactical at times. It’s not a perfect world, parenting, and a lot of that plays out in the movie.
DEADLINE: The layers of the overall story make it unique. And, viewers will be treated to a new musical track from you, yes?
MCINTYRE: Going into this we wanted to have a little more respect for the audience and we had a lot of fun making it. And yes, we got to write a Christmas song, me and my writing partner, Sean Thomas. It was very cool to write a song for this. Technically, this song could be nominated for an Oscar because we wrote it for the movie. Who knows, stranger things have happened? We were kind of kidding about it, but it’s nice to have a piece of work; to have been a part of that process, and to figure out what song would work. The idea we pitched we felt strongly about; the producers loved it and Roku signed off on it. So part of this movie is also about releasing the single.
DEADLINE: Your character in Jingle Bell Love is a musician like you. Was that always the case or was that something they changed when you were cast?
MCINTYRE: Yes, he was, there was always the music shop. I think originally he played guitar, but I said, I play more piano than I do guitar. So we made him a piano player. The cool thing is this character kind of backed away from music because he had to raise a daughter and pay the bills, as so many musicians have to do. But you know, there’s that storyline of how his love interest, played by Michelle Morgan, reignites a lot inside of him and she pushes him to finish the song and he does.
DEADLINE: We don’t want to give away too much but there’s this adorably meta moment when Jack’s daughter is helping someone find a date on a Tinder-like app. When they show you one of the guys, you say, “No musicians, trust me.” Was that ad-libbed?
MCINTYRE: Well, he is playing a musician and it is kind of a cliche, I guess, a little bit of fun cliche. But, you know what? Honestly, I think I never really, in that moment, didn’t play the meta of it but it was fun to experience. But yeah, that makes a lot of sense, actually. Yeah.
DEADLINE: Is that advice you’d give your children?
MCINTYRE: No, I think, listen, musicians are people who mostly wear their hearts on their sleeves and aren’t very good liars. They are passionate and do it because they love it. So, I’m not so sure I push back on that.
DEADLINE: Any chance this new single could inspire a Joey McIntyre solo holiday album?
MCINTYRE: Well, it’s been a while. It could be a bonus on… I did a Christmas album, like, geez, it was 10 years ago, or more. On another note, I have a complete solo album coming out in January which I’m thrilled about. I’m excited about this movie. I do have a lot going on. I have a new single off [the solo album] coming out on November 15, with the pre-sale for the album starting that day. The Christmas single is coming out on November 8th and the movie on November 18. I don’t know if it’s been signed off on yet, but other things are happening, too. It’s a very exciting, fun time.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
