Pop Culture Planet Podcast: Ser'Darius Blain Talks Christmas On Call, Jumanji, and The Charmed Reboot
In a new episode of the Pop Culture Planet podcast, Ser’Darius Blain joins Kristen Maldonado to talk about her joining the Hallmark Channel world, the Charmed reboot, and how the Jumanji franchise impacted his life. His new film Christmas on Call debuts this Friday.
Episode Quotes
Ser’Darius Blain on life before acting: “I come from a Caribbean family who's very big on: be a doctor, be a lawyer, be an engineer, so I set my sights on doing that. I actually was a biology major for my first two years in college. I grew up in Florida so I don't get an opportunity to see a lot of actors or performers — maybe a lot of athletes and stuff like that — but never saw anyone that looked like me on camera.”
Blain on his acting inspiration: “When I was little, Hook had just come out with Robin Williams and I saw the Lost Boys. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I want to be a Lost Boy.’ Then Will Smith came onto the scene with Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and that rocked my world. I was like, ‘Oh my God, he looks like the kind of person I want to be when I grow up.’ He looked like my cousins. All the crazy scenarios and everything like that looked like some of the wacky things that were happening around my household.”
Blain talks Christmas On Call: “I got my chance to do something a little bit different at Hallmark with this really cool action scene where we literally went into a burning building and got an opportunity to show off a little Fast and Furious heroism. The people that work as First Responders are true heroes so it was really cool to be able to highlight that in this movie as well.”
Blain on working with Hallmark Channel: “Anytime I get an opportunity to work with Hallmark, it's a huge blessing. I always try to make sure on the creative side that I'm always looking for something that pushes the envelope a little bit. […] I've been lucky to be a part of this new era of Hallmark where they're getting opportunities to tell hard-hitting stories that still have that family element, that still have that all-inclusive element to it. I'm really proud to be a part of this a commitment to diversity that they've been on for the last couple of years as well. They've hired a lot of really diverse actors, whether it be sexual orientation, race. They're always going to empower women as they always have since their inception. This is a dawn of a new day at Hallmark and movies like Christmas on Call, shows like Holidazed, movies like Caribbean Summer and more are leading the charge for that. They've let me be a big piece of that. I'm really excited about it.”
Blain on his break out in Jumanji: “Jumanji is one of those life changers that you remember till you die and will live on much after I'm here on this Earth. That was just a blessing in itself. I thought I had zero shot at booking that project to be honest with you. I knew somebody that was on hold for the exact role that I went in for and he's a fantastic actor as well so I was like, I got no shot. […] Every project has its own specialness, but Jumanji stands out to me because it really really changed my life. The opportunities that came as a result of it… I mean we're sitting here talking about Christmas on Call because of Jumanji I’d like to think large in part. It's so much fun getting to be a kid again and to play make believe. Jumanji is the precipice of that.”
Blain on the Charmed reboot: “The writers and the producers on that project were fantastic and really wanted to know where we wanted our characters to go. They took into account my actual heritage, which is Haitian and Dominican, and they gave us an opportunity to add in some really great cultural element. […] Charmed was a very interesting chapter of my life and getting a chance to be playing with witches and warlocks and vanquishing demons and stuff like that, so it was a lot of fun.”
Blain on his favorite moments filming Christmas on Call: “My mom was going through a major health scare, so she got to be on set with me during that time and see me work. Also I mentor about 500 actors that I have in a group chat that I help move along in their careers. We work out scenes together and stuff like that. A good little group of them got to come and be on set with me that day. Production allowed them to be there with me to see it all happening live. Some of them are grad students, some of them are still in school, and some of them have been been working in the business for a while so it was really, really cool to put all of that into action and let them see it firsthand and be at the monitors and be a part of the project as well.”
Blain on mentorship: “I had some fantastic mentors growing up in the business and I always wanted to position myself to be one for other people and help them along. It's a really, really tough business. It's not something you can do by yourself so, getting an opportunity to send the elevator back down and help people along the way, it's just been a blessing.”
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Hosted by TV and film critic Kristen Maldonado, Pop Culture Planet is a video podcast featuring analytical pop culture discussions and interviews with diverse voices in the entertainment space. Watch episodes on youtube.com/kaymaldo or listen on your favorite podcast platforms, from Spotify to Apple Podcasts and beyond.
