Photos Courtesy of Stacae Caldwell
Last time we spoke to Bryson JonSteele, it was November 2020. We learned a little bit about him and his passion for acting and embracing new characters. Bryson’s passion for acting has only grown in the past year.
“I love acting so much that I just go for it. I really love it, and I’m really passionate for it,” he said. Ten-year-old Bryson puts a lot of work into prepping for new roles, highlighting his lines and actions in the script and reviewing his lines before going into self-taping. Since last November, Bryson has starred in four more feature films. Among them are two holiday films, The Christmas Thief and Rebuilding a Dream Christmas.
In The Christmas Thief, Lana Lawton (Michelle Borth, Hawaii Five-O), a fledgling private eye, is hired by her nephew (Bryson) to prove that Santa Claus is not a thief. With little evidence to prove Santa innocent and a detective with a different investigative style, the season is sure to get interesting. The Christmas Thief airs on Ion Television on Dec. 5.
In Rebuilding a Dream Christmas, real estate broker Abbey (Meggan Kaiser) returns to her hometown to repair an inherited Victorian house. Along the way, she meets single dad and handyman Josh (Zane Stephens) and his 8-year-old son, Noah (Bryson). As the relationship between the three of them grows, Abbey finds her true calling and makes a home for herself. Rebuilding a Dream Christmas airs on Dec. 23 on Lifetime.
For Bryson, one of the most intriguing things about filming holiday films was the different methods for making snow.
“In Rebuilding a Dream Christmas, they had the snow that you just pour water onto … and it would foam up. If you touch it, it felt like real snow. They also put up Christmas lights and stuff,” Bryson described. “For The Christmas Thief, they had cotton and stud that they used for the snow. They just sprayed it with water to make it look realistic. It was pretty cool to see how the different types of films did the different types of snow.”
Bryson’s favorite film to act in so far has been Rebuilding a Dream Christmas.
“We had the most positive directors. I love directors that are really positive. It makes me feel really, really good.” Bryson also had fun baking sugar cookies, his favorite type of cookie, on set. Bryson also enjoyed celebrating on a party bus with his castmates during their last day. The residents of Western Missouri, where the movie was filmed, all chimed in to do nice things for the cast and make the whole memory special.
Although Bryson’s favorite experiences happened during Rebuilding a Dream Christmas, that’s not to say he didn’t love being on the set of The Christmas Thief, too. Bryson gushes about the pancakes and strawberry syrup available on set.
“I had to get myself some of that syrup,” he told us. “I went to the store. And you know what happened? I bought the syrup. So now I have the syrup from set.” He also got to come home with a fedora. Both films also had dogs on set which, for a dog-lover like Bryson, was a huge plus.
“I am totally a dog person. I have three dogs myself. I have a mama, daddy, and a baby. I have Katie Chloe. She’s the oldest and then Phoenix Fire. And he’s a year old. And then, I have James, who is not even a year old yet.”
Although neither holiday film is out just yet, Bryson notices the excitement from potential viewers at having new movies to watch this holiday season. People are excited to be able to sit down with their families and watch films this year. While viewers will be tuning into Bryson’s films, Bryson is looking forward to watching his favorite holiday films, Elf and The Santa Clause.
For anyone who tunes in, Bryson said, “Thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have gotten this far. It means a lot to everyone who is part of the film. If people weren’t posting about it on social media or watching, we wouldn’t have a successful film.”
