EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Trevor Donovan Opens Up About His Life & Plans for 2022

Trevor Donovan has been working on a lot of projects recently. He starred in two Christmas movies (one on Hallmark and one on GAC Family), he just wrapped a  new rom-com with Rachel Boston, and he filmed an emotional movie with Dennis Quaid. He’s also launching an anti-bullying campaign, while still finding time to go on a lot of adventures with his three dogs. Donovan took a moment from his busy life to sit down with Heavy and talk about the highlights of this past year, along with his future plans for 2022.

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Donovan Said He Had Just Been Shoveling Snow from a Blizzard Before Joining the Interview

In true Hallmark movie fashion, Donovan seemed to be living his own winter experience when he took a break to talk with Heavy. He said he had just been shoveling snow after a blizzard hit and was glad for the break.

“I’ve been in the middle of this blizzard, so I’ve been shoveling and stuff all morning,” Donovan told Heavy as he sat down for the interview. “Got like three feet of snow last night.”

Despite all the winter chores that awaited him, Donovan took a moment to catch Heavy up on his plans for the future, along with some fun stories about adventures with his dogs.

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He Wrapped a New Movie with Rachel Boston That He Hopes Ends Up at GAC

This past year, Donovan shot two rom-com movies back-to-back and recently wrapped a third. The schedule was intense.

“We shot ‘Nantucket Noel’ in British Columbia,” he said. “We wrapped it, I want to say almost midnight and then that morning at 6 a.m., I got on a seaplane to fly to the Vancouver Airport, Vancouver to Toronto, and then drive from Toronto to North Bay and start working the next day on the next film. So it was back-to-back.”

He recently finished filming a third rom-com called “The Engagement Plot,” in which he stars opposite Rachel Boston. This one, he explained, was an independent film that’s currently seeking a network. The movie was directed by Brandon Clarke and produced by Brian Bird, the creator of “When Calls the Heart” and “When Hope Calls.” He said they’ll be figuring out the movie’s network around the first of the year.

“I’d love for it to end up at GAC,” he said.

In the coming year, Donovan said he’ll be pitching more ideas to GAC Family and he’ll be making at least two movies for the network.

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He’s Open to an Appearance on ‘When Calls the Heart’ or ‘When Hope Calls’

Since Donovan just wrapped up a film with Bird, Heavy inquired about the chances that he might do a guest spot on either of Bird’s two “Hearties” series.

“Yeah, it might very well be happening. Like I said, I worked with Brian Bird on two movies this last year … We’ve become pretty good friends…” he said. “So that’s a definite possibility.”

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He Said a Scene in His New ‘Reagan’ Movie Really Touched Him

Donovan also spent two weeks this past year filming a role for the movie “Reagan” opposite Dennis Quaid. The movie is expected to premiere sometime in early 2022. He said the movie itself took about a year to shoot, but his part took about two weeks.

He filmed his part at Reagan’s ranch outside of Santa Barbara, California, where he portrayed the role of one of Reagan’s Secret Service agents, John Barletta. He said Barletta was Reagan’s equestrian detail, so he shot quite a few scenes riding horses with Dennis Quaid. It was a great opportunity, but one scene in particular really stuck with him.

“I got a real emotional scene with him where I have to tell him we can’t ride horses anymore because of his mental deterioration,” Donovan shared. “It was a real emotional moment where I had to tell Ronald Reagan that we can’t do the one thing he loves to do anymore. … Which is all part of a true story about how it happened.”

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He’ll Be Leading an Anti-Bullying Program in 2022

“I’m partnering with Bill Abbott and GAC and I’m gonna be visiting two to three schools in the coming year to host assemblies, do skits with the kids and promote sort of a social support network [that] inspires kids to stand up to other kids,” he said. “So that’s the general overall feel of it.”

He said they’re not sure exactly which schools he’ll be visiting in 2022, but they will probably return to Deer Lakes Middle School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He visited the school already in 2019.

“The foundation of [the program] is to inspire kids to stand up to other kids and rise together,” he said.

The name of the program, he said, is Upstanders because they’re encouraging kids to stand up and not be bystanders.

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Donovan Shared Some of His Favorite Moments with His Dogs

Donovan is very active on social media, which includes providing frequent updates about the adventures he’s having with his dogs: Tito the Bulldog, Shadow the Golden Retriever, and Chance the Lab. He said Tito’s the oldest of the bunch — a little over 10 years — and Shadow is three, while Chance is a year-and-a-half.

He shared that he came up with a skit called CK9 Cafe where his dogs gather at a cafe and are each fed one-by-one as their names are called. Tito, the oldest, always gets his food first.

“You can see this hierarchy (with them),” he said. “…They know exactly whose turn it is. First, it goes by age. So there’s this cool dynamic where Tito’s kind of the Godfather… I think it’s helping keep Tito young being around them.”

He said the dogs definitely have little routines and traditions.

“If Tito’s just standing there and Chance wants to play, he’ll just start pawing at the top of his head, just poking and poking him,” he said. “And finally, Tito will go ‘rawww’ and then they just run around and chase each other and play.”

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He Will Be Meeting Fans at RomaDrama Live in January

In January, Donovan will be meeting fans at RomaDrama Live in Palm Beach, Florida, January 7-9. He said participating in the RomaDrama Live events is a lot of fun because of the chances he gets to really interact closely with fans.

“You get to meet fans and you realize how many people are passionate about these movies,” he said. “It makes me happy.”

He participated in RomaDrama Live last year in Tennessee. There will likely be even more RomaDrama events after the January one. He said that for the Florida event, he’ll be sitting down with fans for one-on-one chats and will be hosting a game with prizes. Tickets range from one-day passes to full three-day passes, and they can be purchased here.

“I think anyone who’s even remotely close to there who thinks they might like to come, they should come on down and check it out,” he said. “It’s a very intimate kind of boutique event where you really get to spend time with the actors and writers.”

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