Michael Seater – The Wedding Planners

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been busy working on?

A) I have a podcast coming out that we were just about to start to record, but that has been a bit delayed. But what hasn’t? It’s called “Child Star.” It will be me in conversation with people whose lives were affected and changed forever by a claim and/or fame. So, it will be people who were child actors, musicians and also a child genius, an Olympic athlete or young culinary star and just talking about those young endeavors at such a tender age that you had no idea what you were getting into and how it changed your life. We’ll sort of laugh and commiserate and discuss and peel back the curtain a little bit.

Q) What made you want to be a part of the series “The Wedding Planners.”

A) Beth Stevenson, who runs the company and runs the show (Brain Power Studio), and I didn’t know each other very well. When I was thirteen years old my first series was “The Zack Files” and she worked at the production company on that, but I was too young to pay attention to who I was working with. Her and I had a meeting earlier last year just to talk about possibilities whether it be directing or acting and a little bit of a get-to-know-you. A little while later “The Wedding Planners” popped up, which seemed like a great opportunity and a great fit for the times. Times are never darker than right now. They’ve been pretty dark for a while and it felt like a nice opportunity to tell a story that had some real heart and had family and also to have in sort of this genre of show a central queer character in James. I thought it was really wonderful and exciting. You don’t get to see that all the time and it seemed like a great opportunity.

Q) How was your character James originally described to you?

A) He was sort of a bold self-confident guy who had run off to New York and kind of quickly found great success, but that maybe that success isn’t all that it looks like and maybe it’s not as great as it looks like. That he was actually having some real struggles. So, when his mom beckons him home, he kind of comes back under false pretenses but there is a lot more going on. Then, of course when she passes, he feels the need to stay. While he runs around and is quite sarcastic and acts as if he is above a lot of it, I think that often is quite deflective of him because he’s going through a lot having lost his mother. This opportunity to come home and spend real time with his sisters is sort of invaluable.

Q) Is that also what you found challenging about the role – someone coming home in need of reconnecting with their family after this loss?

A) No, I don’t think it was particularly challenging. It was part of the role. I think it was a very honest thing to play. I think it’s something that is sort of relatable – loss. And that comes in so many different forms. One thing that I was sort of shocked by and wasn’t really prepared for in the script but was completely coincidental was this whole storyline of his father not coming back for the funeral because he lives in California. James hasn’t forgiven him for how distant he’s been ever since he moved away when they were younger. And they have such a difficult relationship and aren’t really able to meet eye-to-eye. In so many ways that completely reflected my own relationship with my father. From the running away to California to random girlfriends and so many pieces to it was like, “Wow! This is my life.” While that makes it something so easy to hook into, it was challenging because it made me have to think about hard stuff regularly throughout the days of the scenes where you don’t always want to have to think about that stuff every day.

Q) Were you familiar with any of your costars before working with them on this show?

A) Very little. Kimberly-Sue Murray’s longtime boyfriend, Ian Macmillan, is a director of photography and he and I have worked together on a number of projects that I have directed. So, I had met her briefly through him. I then decided she was great because they’ve been together and I think he’s so great. Madeline [Leon] I hadn’t ever met before and was lucky to find costar number two also an absolute delight and so easy to spend all day with. The three of us just get along so well. Then, Michelle [Nolden] (who plays our mother) one of the first days she said, “You look so familiar.” I was like, “We’ll get on our IMDB’s and figure it out.” I said, “Oh! You did an episode of ‘The Zack Files’ way back when!” She was like, “Oh my gosh! You were one of those little boys, weren’t you?” I was like, “Yes, I was.” So, we had worked together almost twenty years ago, but briefly. And everybody in the Brain Power family, so many of these people do the Brain Power Harlequin movies whether it be the crew working together constantly or a lot of the actors pop up in a bunch of different projects. I was sort of the new guy on the block. Everyone was just so welcoming and warm and it was really nice to step into what is an already established family. It makes it so easy to bond with everyone when there is that base for everyone already.

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes or episodes to film?

A) Well, I will say that there is a roller rink wedding and that was super fun. It was a very different style of wedding and a very different kind of style of shooting, which I think all of us had a really good time with. I think the first episode was really great to film because the first is always so fun to figure out how are we doing this and how are we making this and how are we all gelling and getting to know each other – those sorts of first day of school vibes. That was really exciting and fun.

Q) The show premieres March 27^th. How plan to celebrate?

A) We just wrapped production on Monday (March 16^th). We were supposed to wrap production at the end of the day Tuesday. Given everything that is going on with COVID-19, our producers were taking very seriously. We had a meeting in the morning on Monday and we had to figure out a way to condense these days and get the key story points in the simplest way possible because health and safety trumps all in this situation. We would have typically wrapped and hugged each other and had a big celebration and party. Given what is going on in the world right now we all have to be really responsible and respect social distancing. So, we weren’t able to do any of that. And we can’t have a big party for the premiere because we’re all pretty confident social distancing will still be the recommended thing to do. But we will all be in our living rooms, just like everybody at home, watching the premiere. Hopefully, by the time we get to the season finale we will be allowed to be social together and we can all have a big party to watch the season finale together. While we are all social distancing, I hope everybody has a great time snuggling in and watching some episodes of “The Wedding Planners.”

Q) Since you are a part of social media, are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you’ll receive to the episodes?

A) Yeah! Of course! I have been spending the majority of my time the last few years (aside from a friend who is running a series and calls me up and says, “Do you want to come and do an episode of this?”) I’ve mostly been behind the camera. Most of the people who know me out in the world know me as an actor and I’m really excited for them to get to see me do a character that is very different than characters I’ve played in the past. I’m just excited to be back in peoples’ living rooms. It’s a nice place to be. It’s a cozy spot to be.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure we share with our readers about “The Wedding Planners?”

A) I think everyone is going to have a really good time. There is laughs, there is cries and there are weddings. What more could you want?

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of you and the work you do?

A) A big thank you! There are a lot of people out there…I make a lot of small independent projects myself and there is some great people out there who just devour anything that I do and help share it out into the world. I thank everybody whose ever been a fan and anybody who has kept watching all of these years. I’m excited that I can make a new show for them.