Lindsay Lohan has been in tons of movies over the course of her career, but her most famous one might be the iconic teen movie, Mean Girls. It’s been 17 years since it was released and people still quote it. And one of the movie’s most memorable characters (besides Regina George) is Aaron Samuels. Fans probably love him because his hair looks sexy pushed back, but it might also be because he’s played by a talented actor. Jonathan Bennett is the one who brought Aaron Samuels to life and he’s still Jonathan’s most famous character.
Since then, Jonathan has hosted TV shows, wrote a cookbook, starred in reality shows, and even started his own clothing line. He stars in movies sometimes, but none of them are as big as Mean Girls and he’s been concentrating on other things in his life besides acting. Let’s take a look at why the famous actor hasn’t been in that many movies lately.
10 He Got Into Fitness After His Mom Died
Mean Girls was Jonathon’s huge breakout role and landed him a lot of other acting gigs for a few years after that. But in 2012, his mom passed away and he went through a tough time, so he focused on fitness to help him get through it. He even taught spin classes in L.A. He told AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On, "After my mom died, I got into fitness really, really, really heavily, because group fitness was the only thing that made me able to deal with it… I wanted to, you know, kind of give it back to try and inspire people. I felt like it was what I needed to do at the time."
9 He Hosted A Singing Competition Show For A Little While
In 2014, he took the role of a TV show host instead of acting in another movie. “He narrated Copycat, a television competition where singing superfans do their best to mimic their musical idols. Contestants battled it out against others for a $5,000 prize,” according to The List. His time as a TV show host didn’t last long though. Copycat only lasted for one season, so Jonathon returned to acting, but he mostly starred in movies that appeared on Lifetime.
8 He Competed On 'Dancing With The Stars'
The same year he hosted his first TV show he competed on a different one. His dad passed away soon after his mom did and his dad loved Dancing With The Stars, so Jonathon wanted to compete on the show in honor of him. He never imagined himself as a dancer though. He told The Blade, "I never considered myself a dancer. In fact, if you watch my plays in high school you can tell I would never consider myself a dancer." He was eliminated in the sixth week of season 19, so maybe he is more of an actor than a dancer, but he tried his best and did great while he was on the show.
7 He’s Now A Food Network Host
Jonathon Bennett is no longer just known as Aaron Samuels—now he’s known as the cake guy on Food Network. In 2015, he started hosting Cake Wars, which has become a popular baking competition the past few years. He also started hosting spin-off shows such as Cupcake Wars, Halloween Wars, and Holiday Wars. He still stars in movies sometimes on top of being a Food Network host, so his life has gotten really busy. He told KTLA 5, "The first hour, they don't need me. They're mixing batter. They're doing things like that. Truth be told, the first hour, I usually take a nap.”
6 He Wrote His Own 'Mean Girls' Themed Cookbook
A few years after Jonathon became a Food Network host, he got into cooking in his free time and wrote a cookbook. Of course the book had to have a Mean Girls theme. According to The List, “It all started while the Food Network host was enjoying guacamole with a friend, who decided to add apples and pomegranate seeds in to create a new concoction. According to Jonathan Bennett, his friend told him, ‘Try this. It's not regular guac. It's cool guac.’" His friend’s reference to Mean Girls inspired him to turn his new love of cooking into a tribute to the movie that changed his life. The cookbook is a tribute to his mom too since she wrote a lot of recipes before she passed away.
5 He Competed In Another Reality Show (With Lindsay Lohan’s Mom)
Jonathan seems to like being in reality shows more than movies. In 2019, he competed in another reality show, Big Brother, and ironically, he competed against one of his Mean Girls co-stars’ moms. He didn’t last long on the show since he didn’t want to go against her. He told TV Insider, "It's Lindsay [Lohan]'s mom, I grew up with her. You don't throw your childhood friend's mom under the boss on Celebrity Big Brother. I would love to do another reality show. Anyone reading this, send the offers my way because I love entertaining America."
Related: You Can't Sit With Them: The Cast Of Mean Girls, Ranked By Net Worth
4 He Changed His Hair For A Paid Partnership With Chi (But It’s Back To Its Original Aaron Samuels Hairstyle Now)
During quarantine last year, Jonathan got into a paid partnership with Chi, a popular hair care brand, and dyed his hair platinum blonde for it. He posted a video of his new look on Instagram. “Bennett went on to explain in the post that fans quote the classic movie to him every day when he's out and about, but the one reference he gets the most is the iconic sexy hair line. ‘Thanks! It's Chi,’ is his response. Of course, the promotional video would not be complete without him getting hit by a bus at the end,” according to The List. The blonde hair didn’t last long though. He dyed his hair back to its original brown shortly after that.
3 He Created A 'Mean Girls' Themed Clothing Line To Raise Money For The LGBTQ+ Community
Not only did Jonathan write his own Mean Girls themed cookbook, he created a clothing line inspired by the movie too. He came out in 2017 and wanted to create a clothing line that inspires people to be themselves. The clothing line was released two years later in 2019. He told TooFab, "I think if there's any clothing company that encapsulates me as who I am as a person, it's this brand because all their clothes are funny, a little obnoxious and really loud and bright.” He also told TooFab his tank tops have iconic lines from Mean Girls, such as "On Wednesdays we wear rainbows" and "Too gay to function."
2 He Got Engaged
Besides his busy schedule, there’s another even more important reason why Jonathan hasn’t been in that many big movies lately. He got engaged to his boyfriend last year and they’re now planning their wedding. According to People, “The actor, 39, who famously played Aaron Samuels in the 2004 comedy classic Mean Girls, said ‘Yes!’ after boyfriend Jaymes Vaughan got down on one knee—and wrote him a song for the sweet proposal!”
1 Mean Girls Might Have Been His Biggest Hit But Now He’s Breaking Barriers With New Movies
He’s always going to be known as Aaron Samuels, but he’s using his fame to change the way the LGBTQ+ community is represented on TV. The same year he got engaged he played the first gay lead character in a Hallmark Christmas movie, which about was a married man bringing his husband home to his family for the holidays. “Bennett stars in the groundbreaking new holiday movie The Christmas House on the Hallmark Channel, the first of the network's holiday films to star a gay lead,” according to People. Aaron Samuels is definitely an iconic character, but Jonathan’s new character in The Christmas House is paving the way for future gay actors.
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