James Denton talks working with his son in his new Hallmark movie 'Perfect Harmony'
James Denton discussed what it was like working with his son on his new Hallmark movie "Perfect Harmony" and how they pulled from real life experiences while on set.
James Denton is getting candid about family and fame as the actor details what it's like to work with his son on-screen, and whether he thinks there is a possibility of a "Desperate Housewives" reboot. Plus, he's spilling all on his co-star crushes.
In his new movie, "Perfect Harmony," Denton plays a retired pop star who loses his passion and motivation to pursue music after the death of his wife, played by Sherri Saum. Through the circumstances of the film, his character is forced to perform again, and is able to do so with the encouragement of his son.
His son in the movie is played by his real-life 19-year-old son, Sheppard Denton. This is the second time the father-son duo appeared on-screen together. However, Sheppard had a much bigger role this time around and was able to show off his musical talents as well.
"He's a really good actor who doesn't try to do it … I put him in the first movie I did called ‘For Love and Honor.’ It was about a military academy, but he didn't play my son, he was only 12," Denton explained to Fox News Digital. "When this one came about, he's a great musician, much better player than I am, so we wrote a role for him and it just kind of grew and grew because he was so good."
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James Denton is detailing what it's like to work with his son Sheppard on screen and whether he thinks there is a possibility of a "Desperate Housewives" reboot. (Hallmark Channel)
In Denton’s opinion, the movie has a lot of special father-son moments, noting that since they're real life father and son, some of what is seen on-screen is pulled from their experiences together.
"The son, the character's name is Teddy, has a pivotal role in his dad opening back up and enjoying life again after they've lost his mom and my character's wife," Denton said. "We actually incorporated some scenes from real life. There's a scene in the bedroom that actually happened here. It's got a lot of personal stuff, which was really obviously satisfying to do."
The movie is part of a three-movie deal Denton made with Hallmark after he starred on the network’s fantasy series "The Good Witch" for seven seasons.
Denton praised the network for continuing to come up with fresh ideas for movies.
"They do so many, you know, about 90 a year, original movies, so the trick is coming up with something original that hasn't been done 100 times," he said. "We came up with this idea to do one that was music-centered because they don't do a lot of that."
The movie features three original songs Denton had to sing, something he called a challenge, since he isn’t necessarily a singer by trade. He compared one song to "MMMBop" by Hanson, saying he found the song funny at first, but once he listened to the lyrics, he realized there is a "deeper meaning."
Denton was nervous about singing in the movie since he is not a professional singer, but he said the music director helped him out. (Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
He modeled his character after Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz, whom he referred to as "big stars and great musicians" because they are singer-songwriters just like his character.
"Not being a fantastic singer, it was a bit of a challenge, but we were able to get the studio and sweeten it up and that helped a lot," he said. "Jack Lance, the music director, wrote the songs, really helped Sherry and I, Sherry Saum … get through it as actors."
Regarding the possibility of a "Desperate Housewives" reunion, Denton spoke about a running joke he had with the other men on the cast about how many people had been killed off on the show, and how their only hope was to survive until the end. Denton’s character, Mike Delfino, famously died a few episodes before the end of the series.
"At first, I was like, ‘Oh, it's finally my turn,’ but then I realized it was great because I got a big send-off. I got to do all the talk shows, and so it ended up being great. Downside is probably no sequel for my character," Denton said. "There hasn't been much talk about it. I do agree with you that it seems like a no-brainer, but it would have to be my evil twin, which they're not above, I'm sure."
Denton also subtly admitted to having a crush on co-star Teri Hatcher, who played his wife on the show, encouraging fans of "Desperate Housewives" to watch the Hallmark Christmas movie they did together "because it's fun to see (them) in different roles." He also admitted to having a crush on a country music icon.
Former "Desperate Housewives" co-stars reunited for a Hallmark Christmas movie, and Denton admitting he had a crush on Hatcher while filming the show. (Raymond Hall/GC Images)
"I was on the ‘Reba’ show a couple of times, and I had a talent crush on her because she's so wildly talented. When I met her, she was just one of the nicest people in the world," he said. "I got to play her love interest in a couple of episodes recurring on that show, and so I have no problem confessing to having a little bit of a crush on Reba."
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After the end of "Desperate Housewives," Denton and his family moved to Minnesota to be closer to his wife’s family and so his kids could grow up with their family.
"I don't think he sees acting as a very practical way to make a living … So I think he's going to get that degree in his pocket."
"We moved up here when ‘Desperate Housewives’ ended because that's where his mom grew up. So he had grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles. And he and his sister were able to go to really good schools here that didn't cost an arm and a leg like they do in LA," he shared. "We moved up here, and he started doing theater in school, and I knew he was really talented."
Now that their children are almost both out of high school, he is planning on moving back to Los Angeles, and is supportive of his son pursing an acting career.
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"I don't think he sees acting as a very practical way to make a living … So I think he's going to get that degree in his pocket," Denton said. "But I told him I'd be hypocritical not to support him if he wanted to because he really is good, and I think people will love him in the movie. He sort of steals that in a role that wasn't that big."
Although Denton's three movie deal with Hallmark is complete after his current movie, Denton said he is more than willing to do more, revealing there is an idea floating around.
He admitted to finding it harder and harder to find roles as he gets older because Hallmark movies are usually centered around single people and "you have to come up with a plausible reason" why the older individual is single.
Denton said it is tricky to find roles as he gets older, both within Hallmark and elsewhere. (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
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"We have another idea, so we're going to do one more, it looks like in the spring, to keep that going about empty nesters, which should be a lot of fun," Denton said. "We get a little deeper, dove into the emotion of things that Hallmark normally does. So that's what's probably next. But the business is tricky when you get older."
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