Brennan Elliott on Facing One of His Biggest Insecurities: ‘Scared Out of My Mind’

Hallmark/Heavy Brennan Elliott

Brennan Elliott opened up in a September interview about what scared him the most when he first started acting, and how he faced that insecurity. The interview took place just before the premiere of his and Lacey Chabert’s September movie, “His & Hers,” on the Hallmark Channel.

“I was scared out of my mind,” he said in an interview with Love & Lattes in September. He told the podcast Suspenders Unbuttoned that his fears were similar to what Chabert’s character dealt with in their movie.

Brennan Elliott Said He Was Scared of Being a Father & Not Being Around Enough for His Children

In an interview with the podcast Suspenders Unbuttoned, at about six minutes in, Elliott talked about the struggles that his and Chabert’s characters faced and how they contrasted with insecurities he had in his own career.

“When I started in this business as a married person, as somebody who wanted a family, I was very, very scared of having a child,” Elliott revealed. “…I didn’t know my own father. So I was raised by a single mother and I wanted to make sure, ‘Do I know how to be a father?’ If I’m always filming, you’re not really there as much. So I had my own insecurities and fears.”

“So I understood Lacey’s character a lot,” he continued. “…It’s not that she doesn’t want a child, it’s ‘How do you manage both?'”

In an interview with Love & Lattes, at about 25 minutes in, he shared the same sentiments.

“I was raised by a single mother and didn’t know my biological father,” Elliott told Love & Lattes. “My mom remarried and my stepdad, he’s a great guy and very cool… But when I was pressuring myself to say, ‘now I think we’re gonna have a child,’ I was scared out of my mind. I didn’t know if I could do it, because I’m away sometimes eight, nine months a year filming, and I don’t want to be one of those people. So you go through those insecurities.”

Today, Elliott has two children with his wife Camilla Row: Luna, 10, and Liam, 12. He often posts proudly about his family on social media. In recent years, Elliott’s been by his wife’s side as she’s fought cancer.

She was diagnosed with gastric cancer in 2018 at the age of 39. In 2022, they opened up about their experiences in an interview with “Hope for Cancer.” Row said her first symptom before her 2018 diagnosis was persistent heartburn, but it took two-and-a-half years before she could get an endoscopy, which revealed she had stomach cancer.

Elliott Builds Authenticity in His Characters By Drawing from Real Life

In his interview with Suspenders Unbuttoned, Elliott shared that he uses these real-life experiences to bring authenticity to his characters.

“For me as an actor, I try to make everything as human and real as possible, so I was drawing a lot from stuff personally for me that, even in Lacey’s character, I went through as a man,” he shared. “…A lot of people that are watching it who have kids or are married will understand.”

Elliott’s Not in a Christmas Movie This Year Because a Script Sent to Him Wasn’t Quite Right

Elliott isn’t in a Christmas movie this year, but it’s not because he didn’t have the opportunity.

On an episode of the “Swing My Heart” podcast from September 9, Elliott said a script did come to him, but it wasn’t quite right.

“Sadly this year, I don’t think I’ll be doing a Christmas movie,” he said. “It’s sad, but there was a script that came across my desk that I just … I don’t know, I never say no, and I probably feel a little guilty about it … but I said no to that one thinking there might be something else, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything else.”

Elliott would be interested in turning “His & Hers” into a series.

He told the podcast Suspenders Unbuttoned that there was already talk about it before the movie even premiered.

“Ayse Francis, who I love dearly, one of our major major execs at Hallmark… She actually was the one that thought this [movie] could be a TV series…” Elliott told Suspenders Unbuttoned. “…So that’s floating around.”