Brendan Penny is quickly becoming one of the most popular faces on the Hallmark Channel. The Canadian actor has been starring in festive feel-good films on Hallmark for years and he's easily one of our favorites to watch. From Christmas movies to the beloved Hallmark series Chesapeake Shores, we always love watching Penny onscreen.
Brendan James Penny grew up in Ottawa, Canada but didn't actually pursue a career in acting until after he obtained his degree in Accounting. Luckily, he realized he wasn't interested in a future of punching numbers and moved to Vancouver where he studied at Lyric School of Acting. Within a couple of years, Brendan started landing parts in TV shows like Jake 2.0, Supernatural, The L Word and Kyle XY before he made name for himself playing A.J. Varland in the teen TV series Whistler. Various supporting roles in Smallville, Stargate: Atlantis, I Love You, Beth Cooper, Poison Ivy: The Secret Society and the crime drama Motive followed before Brendan made his Hallmark debut in Along Came a Nanny. As we know, he's been regularly appearing on the network ever since.
While Brendan seems like an open book onscreen, he actually prefers to keep his family life private, which we can totally respect. He's been married since 2010 and has a couple of kids, but doesn't post photos of them on social media. Every now and then he'll post something sweet about them on Twitter but for the most part, he uses his platforms to connect with fans and talk about his latest acting projects. It's actually pretty refreshing! I have no doubt he's an amazing father and husband at home, giving his family the privacy they deserve. But he fully shows up for his fans online. He even regularly posts motivational comments to spread positivity, which makes me like him even more.
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One of my favorite of Brendan's projects on Hallmark is the In The Vineyard series with Rachel Leigh Cook (comprised of Autumn in the Vineyard, Summer in the Vineyard and Valentine in the Vineyard). The films are centered around the owners of two rival vineyards who end up finding love. As much as I love Christmas movies, I enjoy these because they add some much-needed Hallmark cheer to some of the other seasons of the year. Who doesn't love a good Valentine's Day romance?
"I'll do Hallmark movies for the rest of my life if they let me," Brendan explained in an interview with TV Goodness back in 2017.
"It's always some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Everybody is there to have a good time and do a good job and to make something that makes people feel good. I laughed so completely on every single one of those movies."
His filmography also includes Hallmark TV movies A Dash of Love, Magical Christmas Ornaments, Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe, Easter Under Wraps, The Secret Ingredient, Beverly Hills Wedding and Tis The Season for Love. He's even appeared in The Gourmet Detective series with Brooke Burns. Since 2016, Brendan has become a fan favorite playing Kevin O'Brien on Chesapeake Shores. In the show, Penny portrays a veteran who returns home to his family, which has been a storyline that has resonated easily with fans of the show. To prepare for his character, he even consulted a former veteran and one of the showrunners of the series, John Tinker.
"He had been [in Special Forces] and done multiple tours in Afghanistan. I [didn't want] to impose. He was super kind," Brendan recalled. "We had a conversation, and he answered my questions. He opened my eyes to the job that the character of Kevin did and I filled in the blanks on the kinds of experience he would have seen."
"There's some stuff on YouTube about Army surgeons, and it's intense. I play a character who's gone through so much, I wanted to be as accurate as possible and have as much information as possible, so that if it came up [on the show], I could tap into it. I got to show a lot of great things with Kevin and I hope to get to do [more]."
