Wacky ‘A Keller Christmas Vacation’ Is ‘Hallmark’s Version Of The Griswolds,’ Says Movie’s Creator

“People have always said that we look like brothers, so I thought, ‘why don’t we play brothers in a movie?’”

This was the underlying idea that led Jonathan Bennett to reach out to Brandon Routh about starring in the holiday movie A Keller Christmas Vacation.

In the film, Routh plays oldest brother Cal to Bennett’s Dylan, with Eden Sher as their younger sister, Emory, as the Keller kids find themselves taking a river cruise with their parents Anne and Ben, down the Danube River, touring beautiful European Christmas Markets and towns along the way.

The one problem? The very different siblings, who are each going through their own personal life challenges, have naturally gone in separate directions over the years and the idea of spending 10 days cooped up on a cruise together makes each Keller child cringe.

But, the trip turns out to be a glorious once-in-a-lifetime experience full of missed connections, new friendships, stunning vistas, relationship upheaval, budding romances, shipboard games, family bonding, and a secret that brings them all together in time for Christmas.

“Brandon and I have known each other since about 2000, and when we created this movie, I was like, ‘if I have an older brother, it has to be Brandon,’” says Bennett. “And then, it was so amazing because they brought us Eden. And I was like, ‘if we can get Sue from [the TV show] The Middle to be in this Christmas movie, it is going to take the comedy to the next level. And she said yes, and it was just instant perfection.”

Sher agrees, saying that Bennett has ‘an innate ability to make anyone feel like family immediately.’

“When I met Jonathan and Brandon, even though they knew each other, right away I felt at ease,” she says, adding, “Honestly, their prior connection was kind of perfect, because the dynamic in the movie was such that are these two older brothers, and then there’s the little sister, who is significantly younger, and so it felt just like my character was trying to insert herself into her brothers’ lives just as I was doing with Brandon and Jonathan, and really, I have no problem inserting myself in any situation. So that all worked out perfectly.”

In real life, Sher has two brothers, but she says her family dynamic is just a bit different than that of the Keller’s, with one notable similarity.

“I’m in the middle of my brothers, and there was some fighting between them when we were growing up and I had to mediate. But, I think in that instance, and in this one, there was a really strong love, so it felt like we all just thought, ‘can you just be better? Because, I love you and I want to care good for you,’ and I think that’s sort of a universal feeling within most families.”

Routh says that his character is ‘more of a butthead than I think I was as a sibling.’

He thinks this is because, “My character Cal is the oldest and I wasn’t the oldest in my family — my sister was the oldest — and she was kind of that way to me a little bit so we had a little bit of back and forth between us, and now I sort of get it. But, I also have a younger sister and I definitely carry on that kind of older brother protector aspect with her, and I felt like I got to bring that out with Eden’s character and that was nice.”

Bennett is quick to say that, “The thing about Brandon’s character being such a butthead in the movie is that this is so unlike Brandon. In real life, he is probably the most kind, gentle human being you’ll ever meet, so it was really fun for me when we started doing some scenes to see Brandon be the butthead version of Brandon, because that’s not who he is.”

With this Keller family adventure, Bennett says that, “The goal in creating this was for the Kellers to be like the Griswolds of Hallmark.”

While there’s no confirmation of addition Keller family films, Bennett admits that, “I would love to see them do a summer vacation, or maybe someone’s getting married. I mean, there’re just so many things that we could do. And I think what’s refreshing about the Keller family is that they’re not the perfect Hallmark family that you’re used to seeing. There’s this crunchiness and this sibling rivalry, which is so true to so many people that watch this. So I think a lot of people will actually be able to see their own family in it.”

This is when Bennett reveals that, “Ok so this is based on a real dysfunctional family. I based it on my own family and all of the quarrels that me and my siblings get into. So I think there’s a realism to it that lends itself to having this family together more, and hopefully taking more and more colorful trips.”

‘A Keller Christmas Vacation’ airs Sunday, November 9^th at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel, and is available for streaming on the Hallmark app.