Benedikt Gröndal (The Finnish Line)

[00:00:02] Hi, I'm Bran and I love Hallmark Movies I'm Dan and I despise Hallmark Movies And I'm Benedict and I was in the Hallmark Movie And this is the I want a spin-off He wants a spin-off and this is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast Deck The Hallmark, it's his podcast And Friends host his podcast We hope you like this jolly podcast

[00:00:36] Here we go Oh boy He's demanding a spin-off, Bran Of the The Finisher Line Beyond the Finish Line That's exactly right What a treat this is All the way from Iceland We have Which we knew, we didn't have to tell us that That he was Icelandic I could spot that finish accent a mile away I was like, that guy's Icelandic Way off

[00:01:05] We have Benedict Grondel Did I say that correctly, sir? Benedict Grondel? Yeah Yeah, it's perfect Great Wow Awesome How about that? Now, can I ask you this? How many interviews have you done with the American press? This is the first one? First one Look at us We did it We did it I love it Benedict, you're The most important one That's right The most important See, he gets it One day when you win your Oscar

[00:01:35] You're going to go up on that stage Yeah And you're going to You're going to be like, I'd like to thank the boys from Deck The Hallmark That's right For giving me this opportunity Yeah I'm going to thank you guys That's exactly right Now Benedict, I don't want to hold you to this But I believe that you did at some point When we were messaging on Instagram Invite us to Iceland for a party You did that You invited us Is that offer still good? Yeah Absolutely All right Great You're all invited

[00:02:04] I will cook you dinner And I will find the party for you And Wait, you'll find the party? Yeah, why are you not going to You're not going to throw the party? I am going to Two I'm going to throw a party And find another one The day after He's going to do both Yeah You're not going to go to Iceland for one party We got two Yeah But Benedict, I will say this This is a true story, guys Not only is he lobby in the finish line And he's so funny And so good in that movie

[00:02:33] But he also was kind enough to invite us to Iceland Which is unbelievable Like, I mean, come on You said you'd make us a meal What does that meal look like? What's the meal look like? What would you be making for us? Wow It has to be some kind of meat Some kind of Maybe Icelandic lamb Lamb? Okay An Icelandic lamb Lamb, yeah Icelandic lamb A whole leg of lamb Or Or beef Some kind of Yeah A big meal, I think

[00:03:02] Big meal I love it Benedict, have you ever been Have you been to the States? Have you been to the United States? Yes A couple of times I've been to Washington Okay And to Yeah And when I was young I went to Indianapolis Wow Those are the two biggies The two donuts That's what people think of They're like If you're going to come visit the States Indianapolis Not that there's anything wrong No, we love Indianapolis We love Indianapolis We love Indianapolis That's right

[00:03:32] No, well Well, my father Was in the The Lions Club Do you know that? I have The Lions Club? You mean like the Lions Club? Like the thing Yeah, it's like an international Pardon? All I remember the Lions Club from Is I was going to these restaurants And they would They would sell these mints From the Sponsored by the Lions Club I don't know if that's the same thing or not Yeah They're like It's like an organization that You know

[00:04:02] They raise money And buy stuff for hospitals And all kinds of that The Lions Club of the National? Yeah They had like Like an international convention At the In Indianapolis And I went with my parents And my father had to go there That was your first experience in the States? Yeah I love it I love it Your father had to go in? How old were you? Maybe 13 12, 13 or something Okay

[00:04:32] So old enough to be disappointed No Follow that TV What? I didn't hear the question Yeah Right Right What is something That you couldn't That you can't believe In the United States? Like is there anything like Usually like when I talk to people from Europe It's like Why do you need a 55 ounce Diet Coke Or like a giant steak? Was there anything in In the United States That you're like Wish they had in Iceland Or can't believe that we do

[00:05:01] Here? Yeah Yeah Why Why Why do you put chlorine In the water? Ooh Do we put it in the drinking water? Yeah I I went to a restaurant In Indianapolis Maybe it's different Yeah Between states And I got like Coke With some ice cubes in it And they were like chlorine There was chlorine In the water That sounds like an Indianapolis thing Oh

[00:05:30] Sounds like a mission Don't Listen We don't lump us in We got great water here In Greenville, South Carolina We have great water But yeah That's interesting That's an interesting That is That was kind of my first First experience With it And I was like I found it so weird But It's fair More than fair I can't really Because The states are so big Yeah Yeah It's a hard question You know Yeah

[00:06:00] Of course So Sorry No no you're fine So then you went to Washington D.C. You've been twice Are you Have you Had any opportunities Possibly Has Has the finish line Opened up any doors To do more with Hallmark Or possibly act over here In the states You think Is it Not yet But I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm And, you know, so hopefully there will be more.

[00:06:30] And I would love to work in the States. I have no doubts, Benedict. I have no doubts that it is going to happen for you. Let's go back to the beginning and kind of how you got involved with acting in the first place. What were you like as a kid? Was acting something that you were like, were you always like putting on little shows for your family? Or did acting come a little bit later on in life? Well, yeah, I was, I didn't know when I was a kid.

[00:06:58] I didn't know like acting was a possibility as a profession. And, but I was always in a role playing and putting up some shows and playing instruments. And, but I don't play any instruments now, but I was always kind of performing and trying to make my mom and dad laugh. And doing all kinds of things.

[00:07:28] And I was just remembering a few days ago. So I had like this cassette tape, which you could record on it. Yeah. And I used to, I used to, you know, get the TV program and read it. You know, the next you'll be watching, you know, Jack the Hall. So do, do, do, do, do. And I had like half an hour tape of that. Just me, nothing else. Just presenting the TV program.

[00:07:59] Yes. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That's really bizarre and weird. No, it's not. It's like Dan and I would both kind of do that. We play radio. Yeah. We would like introduce a song like next up on the radio. And then we would play or whatever. I mean, it could be anything. I just said, we would kick it to it. So it's like, we would all do it. I don't know if we would all do it, but all of us, all the weirdos would do it. So we're in good company. Yeah, it is for sure. I'm so glad to hear it.

[00:08:27] How much as a kid, how much like media did you get? Like, what kind of movies were you watching in Iceland as a kid? Like what, what, what kind of Hollywood movies? Like, what do you, do you remember like a specific movie that you saw that you were like, that movie is amazing when you were a child? Yeah. One of, one of my first, like earliest cinema memory is like Jurassic Park. Yeah. Yeah. Great one. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:08:55] Because we, I grew up in a place, like a small two, 3000 people and next to the blue lagoon, if you know. Yeah. Icelandic geology. And I, we had like an hour from the, the capital and where the cinemas are. So my parents took me to see Jersey. I'm sorry to interrupt. You had to travel one hour to go to the cinemas as a kid. Yeah. Wow. Man. What a special trip though. Oh my goodness. Yeah.

[00:09:25] But we're used to it. My grandparents lived there. But my, my father, because my grandmother and lived in the States in Boston. So, so we had all this, this connection to the States and like American culture.

[00:09:48] So my father was really, really good at showing me things like things that he found funny. Like the Marx Brothers. Yeah. Lauren Hardy. And this, yeah. And I found, I, I really early on, you know, come to think of it really early on.

[00:10:13] And I really connected to this silly, what do you, what do you say? Silly, stupid humor that maybe doesn't make any sense. That's the best. So yeah. That's what I think. Like the Marx Brothers, like Robin Hood, men in tights. Oh yeah. Mel Brooks. Yeah. Mel Brooks. Thank you. Thank you. And, and, and like a Conan O'Brien. Yep. I love Conan.

[00:10:44] Big Conan fan. Yeah, me too. He's my favorite. So, so there's, I was always, you know, like my, the kids in my class didn't really know the, the Marx Brothers or, or, or all this comedians. So I was really, you know, later on and now I'm really happy to introduce, introduced to that.

[00:11:12] That's a real influence on what I find funny and my humor and my acting. That's awesome. Awesome. Benedict, before we go any further, I have confirmed through our producer, Aaron, that Indianapolis does add chlorine to their water. So one, you know more about the States. You know more about the United States than we do. Two, I'm sorry on behalf of Indianapolis for that, for that experience of poison.

[00:11:41] Um, so. No, I mean, I mean, then I went to the Washington DC and that, you know, that was much better. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so you've got, you know, when you went to school, did you study to become an actor or did you study to do something else and then found that you could be an actor later on? No, it's like, uh, then what happened is like when I was 10 or 11, my grandparents took

[00:12:09] me to the theater for the first time. And, uh, on stage, there was a guy from my hometown. And then I realized what you can do this for a living. Awesome. And then, yeah, I think I was, yeah. About the lab. And then I knew what I wanted to do in life. And, uh, I just set the goal to become an actor.

[00:12:35] And, uh, when I was about 19 or 20, I applied for all kinds of different schools and, uh, and I got accepted to in a school in Denmark, which is like a. Theater school. Uh, that emphasis on comedy and like clowning and physical comedy. And so, so I did that. Clown. Did you learn how to clown?

[00:13:04] What kind of clown? Not this. Uh, there are, there are like two types of clown. There's like the circus clown, this lapstick clown that is really famous. Yes. But then there's this theater clown. Uh, that doesn't have to be physical. It doesn't have to do anything, but you, you, you learn these set of rules. You put, put on a nose and you follow the rules.

[00:13:30] Uh, that clown is, uh, what do you say? A truth teller. He always say the truth and the truth is going to be funny. It will be funny. And, uh, he, he, the, the clown can't lie. And what you do in that you, you, when you start the, that, uh, in the beginning, you give birth to your own clown, which is an exercise. Wow.

[00:14:00] You put on a nose, you put on a nose and, uh, um, again, really technical here. Uh, you put on a nose and, uh, you count to, let's say six or something. And then you pop up and, uh, then you, you, you're it. And you start talking to others and you have to follow like all, all those rules. You always have to wait three seconds before you answer.

[00:14:28] And if you make a mistake, you have to repeat it three times. And the mistakes always have to get larger and larger until it's something, you know, uh, and that's, and that set of rules and that clowning, uh, uh, gave me a lot.

[00:14:48] And, uh, for, for, for, for the, for the comedy, like, because of, you have to be really accurate and, uh, really in the now and in the present and you have to listen. And, uh, it opens up a lot of, uh, spontaneity, spontaneity. Spontaneity. Yeah, that's right. You got it. Yeah. And, uh, and it gives you a lot of freedom. Wow. Yes. Did you, did your clown have a name?

[00:15:18] Did you have a, did you have a clown name? Yeah. My clown, uh, is Peter. Peter, Peter, the clown. Of course. Peter, the Icelandic clown. I mean, I listen. Yeah. What a name. That's amazing. What a name. Outside of clowning, like what, like, were there other type of like workshops that you would have to go to or was it? Yeah.

[00:15:37] Uh, there's like, there was like, like, like normal acting and there was like mime, uh, acrobats, uh, mask, all kinds of mask workshops. Uh, uh, comedy of the last day. Have you heard of that? Comedy of the what? The comedy of the last day is like Italian mask. Oh, no. Comedy. Oh, that's a, that's a whole episode.

[00:16:06] That's a whole episode. Yeah. That sounds really. Oh, I'm coming to the last day. It sounds awesome though. Like getting to go to school and just learning all these different types of, of comedy. Like, I think for the most part we think of comedy and we just think of, oh, you're just, you're funny. But there seemed like there's, you got to learn the ins and outs of different types of comedy, which sounds really amazing.

[00:16:31] And I imagine it was really fascinating to learn that, especially as somebody who grew up kind of, uh, idolizing these different comedians. Yeah. It was like, uh, I didn't see it at the time when I was learning it, but you know, all these, all these different styles, like, uh, with time and when you grow up and, you know, become more, uh, more experienced in your craft.

[00:17:01] It's like, uh, it emerges and you, you use, without knowing you, you use something from all these techniques. And, uh, like in the finish line, you, I, my character was like this, uh, comic relief. And, uh, without knowing you're like, you're like, I'm taking parts from all of this, you know, and, uh, using the counter techniques without having an, without having a nose.

[00:17:30] But, you know, but that comes like naturally with, well, uh, thinking and yeah. So comedy. What? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought you were done. That's my fault. No, no, no, no. I've been in it. Uh, so, so you, the, the finish line was your first English speaking role. Yes. Yes. Yeah. You were, first of all, you're amazing in it and you're really funny and have a natural comedic timing that feels like something that it took a while to master.

[00:18:00] I'm looking, you know, your IMDB list of the shows that you've been on all are Icelandic productions. I've never seen any of them or are all is all of your experience and acting is all of it comedic? Like are all of these, these shows that you were on like ordinary people or happily never after. Were you always doing comedy or have you done drama as well? I've done the, the ordinary people. That's a, that's a, that's a comedy.

[00:18:29] The other ones are drama, dramatic. Okay. The finish line. It just seemed like you played so naturally off of that entire cast. Like it didn't feel like you were trying to do English speaking acting for the first time. It felt very natural.

[00:18:56] Like, like you were really like used to speaking English to tourists. Like it was your job. Uh, what was it like? How much, how much time did you get to prepare with the cast there in Finland? Cause I know you went to Finland to film the movie. How much time did you get to prepare with the cast? And then did they give you any leeway to do like ad-libbing or did you have to stick to the script pretty, pretty strongly? You know, uh, the, they had shot a movie here in Iceland a few years ago.

[00:19:26] So they had this, they had like connection with the Icelandic crew and, uh, and the friend of mine who is, was the casting, casting director. Uh, she just sent me a message and invite me to this audition. That was like three, four weeks prior to the shooting. And two weeks to the, prior to the shooting, I got the part and got the script, which I read.

[00:19:54] But there was like this one or two, uh, days that the, the whole of the cast got together and read together. But I couldn't because, uh, I had this theater performances that I was a part of. But, uh, I mean, Dustin, we talked together and he told me what he wanted out of it.

[00:20:17] And just, uh, it was basically just to have fun and, uh, play the, play the part. And, uh, I kind of was a bit, you know, lucky. And he, and, you know, uh, it was my, my audition was like, what do you want it?

[00:20:46] And, and, and, and he, he, he mentioned it. Yeah. What you did in audition. I really liked that. And I, and what I did was like, I just tried to, you know, focus on what I found funny, which is like, we talked earlier on, uh, about earlier. About this, um, uh, American comedy and, uh, what I found funny and I tried to challenge that.

[00:21:16] Uh, but, uh, yeah, it was, and when we, when we started shooting, I connected quite fast with, you know, Kim, Bo and, and Nicole. And, uh, they, they were, they are amazing. It's, it's so great to work with them. And me and Nicole were like doing a lot of scenes together and she's like, she's a genius. Uh, but the rest of the cast was like Icelandic. And then I, and I know the, I know them very well.

[00:21:47] So immediately I found that I trusted all of, all of the cast. And that's really important when you step into a project like this or TV or theater, when you trust, you can, and you feel that you are, they trust you. Then everything is like good. And, uh, I always gave Dustin more than he wanted.

[00:22:15] Uh, I totally went off the rails a lot of times and he's like, ah, thank you, Benny. It was really funny, but, uh, Hallmark is not going to prove of that. Uh, and, uh, that was kind of my mantra. Uh, if you know what I mean, uh, in this, in this film to do more than less and then so, so they can pick and choose.

[00:22:45] Or yeah. And, and, uh, I got, we all got like permission to, to ad-lib. Wow. Yeah. And we didn't have to, you know, sometimes of course, it's important to say the exact thing, exactly the thing that the script said. And what was written, but sometimes it was okay to go script. And as long as the meaning was the same. Yes. Yes. Yeah.

[00:23:13] I just, I have to make sure I have this correct. Benedict, you got the script two weeks before they started filming. And then the days that the cast all read the script together, you were not there. So the first time that you're acting with Kim and Bo and Nicole, it's for the actual movie. You had, you had no prep with them at all before then. No. Wow.

[00:23:40] I, I met them, uh, uh, we had dinner together the day before. And then just, uh, the morning after or something. Yeah. I think it's the morning after we, we, we met on vacation and we were like seven days here in Iceland, seven or 10 days in Iceland. Then we went to Finland. Yeah. Wow. That's unbelievable. That's like remarkable.

[00:24:07] Like we, we talk to homework actors all the time and we hear about how they usually have about a week together to build chemistry. The fact that you met them the night before and had this chemistry with them. That's a real credit to you as an actor, because that is very difficult to do. And it seems like you did it pretty easily. So kudos to you, man. That's really good job. Ah, thank you. Thank you. But I can't, of course I can't take all the credit.

[00:24:34] The, my, my, you know, the other actors and the crew was like that. I think also the, it's like, well, what, uh, the difference between, you know, the finish line and other, all my movies and all the movies. They're like, we had like 15, 16, 17 shooting days, which is, which is not, which is, uh, not much at all.

[00:25:04] And so we had to like, you know, work hard and quick a bit. And without losing, you know, the sincerity and the heart and, uh, losing the side of the story that we're trying to see. But the fact, uh, I think because of how fast we had to do it, we had to, you know, okay, this is the team.

[00:25:32] Uh, this is the team that, uh, that Dustin chose the actors and the crew. So we had like, you know, we, we didn't have time to, you know, oh, I should get to know them a bit. You know, we had to like, just jump in the pool, the deep end. And from the beginning, just have to, had to trust and, you know, all together work and, uh, work towards the same goal.

[00:25:59] And what I always try to do as an actor, um, it's not maybe a popular opinion, I don't know, but I really try, of course, what does the director want? And where is he going, you know, what, uh, on which road is he going? How is he telling the story?

[00:26:23] And I'm, as an actor, I'm just a puppet and his puppet, but, uh, and he has some strings, but I have a lot of strings and I do all kinds of things. And he just can, they can choose, uh, because it's always easier. I think for directors to get more and tell the actors to, uh, tone it down a bit. Uh, I think that's easier than, you know, trying to get more out of an actor. Right. Yeah.

[00:26:53] That makes sense to me. Do you know, I, like it was, we were silly to assume that the bulk of this movie was filmed in Finland. That was a silly assumption. I thought it was the finish line, the finish. Why, why would it be filmed there when you can film in Iceland? Why do you know why so much of it was filmed in Iceland with just a little bit in Finland for the movie that's, you know, supposed to take place entirely in Finland?

[00:27:22] Uh, I think, you know, more of it was shot in Finland though. There's like a few, a few, a few, a few locations, you know, inside houses or something that were shot in Iceland. But I honestly, I think it's the relationship that, you know, Hero Productions, Dustin's, uh, and Andrew's, you know, production company.

[00:27:47] I think the connection and relationship they have with, with, uh, no, no, the Hero Productions is the Icelandic company. Uh, the, uh, the relationship that they have from their last, uh, project they did in Iceland.

[00:28:06] Uh, because of that, they, they had a lot of trust and they knew and, uh, uh, and Dustin and the American crew, they knew that, uh, the Icelandic crew could work hard and fast. And, uh, I think that's the main reason. And, you know, cause I, I wondered myself. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:42] Benedict, if you could pitch everyone. And when I mean everyone, I mean Hallmark, if you could pitch Hallmark on why we need the finish line was my favorite movie of the holiday season for Hallmark, Hallmark movies. What can, can you pitch Hallmark on the finish line too? And maybe it's you and Nicole are the leads in the finish line. Yeah. Can we, can you pitch that right now? Can you sell that to me? Just hang on a second. Wait a minute. Here we go.

[00:29:12] Here we go. Uh, and, uh, Nicole's character. I'm, I'm thinking now just think of love. They get married. They get married. Okay. Yeah. And, uh, for their, you know, what do you call it in English? Uh, the honeymoon. Honeymoon. There it is. They go to Iceland. Ooh.

[00:29:44] And there's a, there's a volcano drama. Whoa. Volcano drama. Volcano drama. Are you with me, guys? I'm with you. I'm with you. Lavi is lost in the lava. Oh, he's lost in the lava. Got an, an audible gasp from producer Aaron Jay. I'm in. He's very excited about a lava movie. I love it. Oh yeah.

[00:30:12] Because I don't know if you know, because we, we, the last two years, I think we have, we've had some, we've had some around 10 to 15, uh, volcanic eruptions. Oh, wow. I did not know that. And the south part of, uh, Iceland. That seems like a lot. It seems like a lot. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot. Yeah. A country. That's about the size of Indiana. That's a lot. Yeah.

[00:30:42] But, uh, the volcano eruptions, all of them are really close to my hometown, which I mentioned earlier. It's called Grindavik. It's near the blue lagoon. Yep. So, so they had like, nobody lives there anymore. Wow. Two to 3000 people that had to move away because it's, and a lot of houses are like damaged and they're like volcano, you know, cracks in the, in, in the town, you know?

[00:31:12] Oh my gosh. Yeah. We had like one, you know, uh, worker fall, uh, all in a crack. Very sad. Oh my goodness. Very sad. So sad. He just threw a Trump impression at us. He just did a try. He just out of nowhere did a Trump impression. Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, no. We got to hear this in all its glory. Give me the whole thing. Go ahead again. Yes. They're pulled. Yeah. You hear that America, everybody in America listening.

[00:31:41] This is what people think of us right now. This is, this is it. People around the world. This is what they know. That's who did this. No, but you know, and, uh, what's, I'm so, so embarrassing. You can't remember Nicole's character. Oh, we can look that up. I'm sure. I'm not, don't worry. But none of us know it either. Don't worry. And I got ADHD. So I don't know what I'm doing right now.

[00:32:10] It's L, Elsie. Is that right? Or Elise. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds right. Yeah. Elise. That sounds right. Does Elise save you? Does she save you in this movie or do you die? That's a good question. Well, I mean, if we called it the Finnish lava with money and he could die. Yeah. I don't know if that works for, uh, for Hallmark, but I mean, I don't know if they got the budget for it, but I'm here for it.

[00:32:35] Um, we, we, we maybe trick the audience and, uh, they think, uh, Lavi, uh, died, but, uh, Elise saves him. Oh, that's beautiful. Or, or Lavi goes to, uh, South America for Christmas and it's called Felice Lavi died. That's pretty good. That's not bad either. Yeah. That's not bad. Yeah. You came with that just now? Just now. Man, you're good. Yeah. And you didn't even go to clown school. I didn't go to clown school or nothing.

[00:33:05] Not the three seconds in. He just came up with that right now. Felice Lavi died. I'm just saying, doesn't have any volcanoes. Lavi goes to South America to learn Spanish. Look at this guy. He's got all the voices. Dan, really quick before we do rabbit fire. Can you, um, can you do your clown birth real quick? My what? Your clown birth. Yeah. All right, here we go. Can I get it on two, please? Yeah. That's good. Oh, wow. You like that? That was good. Yeah. Felice Lavi died.

[00:33:32] How would you, uh, rate that, that clown birth? Was that a 10 of 10? Yeah. 10 of 10. Thank you. Thanks, Benny. Uh, we're getting it. Okay. Okay. I'm with you. Wait, we can't stop here. We, uh, it's all night. Felice Navidad. It's a Hallmark movie. It turns into like the South America soap opera. Oh, like a telenovela. Telenovela. So, so, so in the last half an hour, it's all in Spanish. Yes. I love it.

[00:34:02] Yeah. The lobbyist, uh, lobbyist learning Spanish. And it turns into like, for example, the Spanish, the Spanish, the Allmark. Dude, how many languages do you speak? I'm just curious. Like how many languages do you know? Is it just Icelandic and, and, uh, in English or is it more English, Danish? Everybody have to learn Danish in Iceland. Okay. And, and, and a little bit of French.

[00:34:31] And a little bit of French. Wow. Bonjour, oui, oui. I, you know what I did is I thought in Iceland their, their language was Icelandic. That's what I said. Do you speak Icelandic? Cause I'm stupid. Well, is that not it? Is it not Icelandic? No, Dutch, right? Did you say it was Dutch? No, no. It's, it's Icelandic. Okay, good. All right. He is Icelandic. I thought he basically was like, no, no, no. We learned Dutch. And I was just like, man, I'm. They have to learn it. So you, Icelandic, Dutch, and English, you speak all three fluently.

[00:35:00] And then you speak a little bit of French. No, Danish. Not Dutch. Danish. Danish. Sorry, Danish. Excuse me. What are you doing, Dan? I could have just, I could have said nothing. You didn't have to say anything. I could have said nothing. We would have been fine. Feliz Lavi, Todd. Do you remember that? Those were good times. All right. All right. As quickly as this clown was born, he's dead. It's tough. It's been tough. Oh, man. All his mistakes makes him the clown. That's right. Three mistakes. See?

[00:35:30] There you go. Brian, you're good at speaking English. There's my third one. Let's do rapid fire. I'd love to do rapid fire. We are each going to ask you three questions. They can be about anything, and you have to answer them at whatever speed you really want to. It's less about the speed and the fire. Yeah. Wow. I don't know if we've got time for that. Benny, your favorite American food that you've ever had?

[00:36:01] Hamburger. Like I just said, cheeseburger with everything on it? It has to have cheese, bacon, pickles. Yeah. And lettuce. Lettuce, yeah. Tomato. Yep. And some kind of mayonnaise. So like mayonnaise. So no ketchup or mustard, just mayo. Yeah, yeah. Also that. It can have ketchup. Load it up. Load it up. Put it all on there for Benny. Load it up for Benny. I love it. Load it up for Benny. No.

[00:36:30] You know, hamburger. I love food. My brother's a chef. Oh, wow. Hamburger can't. My hamburger can be my ultimate favorite food. That's your ultimate favorite food. Yeah. We have a top five or something. Wow. We love a good cheeseburger here. Yeah. We do like cheeseburgers. So I'm very picky on my burgers.

[00:36:56] Did you see the Will Ferrell Netflix Eurovision movie that took place in Iceland and what were your thoughts on it? Somebody listening? No. No. I found it some parts great, some parts in the whole. I liked it. In the whole you liked it? Yeah. In the whole you liked it.

[00:37:26] But you're always kind of everything you, at least for me, everything I see, I'm always like analyzing and, you know, okay, why did you do that? And this and this and this. But after the movie, I was like, I liked it. It's great. I just can't believe they made a comedy movie that takes place in Iceland without Benny. Without Benny. It could have been Will Ferrell and Benny tag team. That's what the world needs. Yeah.

[00:37:56] Benny, if you could work for, if you could act in a movie for one director, one director, who would it be? You broke Benny. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my God.

[00:38:24] Can I answer you like in six months? No. I think I would say, I think Mel Brooks. Mel Brooks. Wow. That's a great answer. Clearly big influence on his life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He is from the old school. But he has been working in comedy all his life.

[00:38:53] And his movies were like great influence on me. Wow. But when we finish this talk, I will probably, you know, loads of directors come in mind. Mel Brooks. Okay. Mel Brooks will be a hundred next year. Wow. I don't think you're going to get that movie with him, but you never say never, never say never. Clint Eastwood directed a movie at like 94. He did. He did. What was the last time Mel Brooks directed a movie? That's a good question. I don't know the answer. Let's get one more.

[00:39:23] One more and get Benny in there. He actually hasn't directed in probably 30 or 40 years, but he produces a lot of stuff. One more. One more. One more for Benny. One last time. One for Benny. One for Benny. That's all that we want. I love it. Benny, in an alternate universe, you are not an actor. Rather, you are a professional athlete. What athletic sport would you sport in? As opposed to the non-athletic sport. That's exactly right. What are you playing? What's your sport? What is a non-athletic sport?

[00:39:52] Don't worry about it, Benny. Just answer the question. Whoa. Okay. I love the voices. Okay. I don't know if you know this sport. It's really, it's, I think it's popular everywhere except for in the U.S. It's called handball. Team handball. We love team handball. We don't love it, but we do know it. We know it. Yes. Yes. We know handball.

[00:40:20] I would love to do that. And I also, I would also like to try, you know, American football. American football. Okay. I like that. All right, Benny. For, for, for 10 million U.S. dollars, the tallest mountain or hill or whatever in Iceland, you have a full dog sled team.

[00:40:49] Could you get those? Could you get the dogs down the mountain and live? Could you stay alive and get the dogs down the mountain? From the tallest mountain in Iceland? Yes. Yes. I think I could because it's not that tall. Well, there's volcanoes. There's got to be some mountains, right? Yeah. It's surprisingly small ones. Okay. Fair. He thinks he could.

[00:41:19] I think he could. Does that mean I could be fair or am I jumping on? The tallest mountain in Iceland, according to Google, is, I'm not going to try to say it, but it's 6,923 feet, which is not too terribly high. It's H-V-A-N-N-A. Let me try my hand. Vanna Dalshnukur. Vanna Dalshnukur. Vanna Dalshnukur?

[00:41:48] Vanna Dalshnukur. Vanna Dalshnukur. I think you've got it. What's the first name? First letter? H-V-A-N-N-A-Dalshnukur. Vanna Dalshnukur. Of course. You got it. I think I was the closest one out of the gate, but yeah. Yeah, I was pretty close. Bing, bing, bing. All right. Last question is this.

[00:42:15] If you could go anywhere in the world that you haven't been yet, where would you go? The first country that came to mind is Japan. Ooh. I really want to go to Boston. Boston?

[00:42:42] Because my grandmother grew up there, and my great-grandfather was a professor there. So I have this connection to that city. It's not good? No, it's a great city. Wait until you hear what they do to the water. It's nuts. There's tea all up in that joint. It's crazy. Yeah. It's crazy. No, that's a great answer. It's a great city. It's a great American city. I haven't been to Boston. You've never been to Boston?

[00:43:12] You grew up in Maine. When I was a youngster, but not in the deep thick of it. You got to go. Got to go. Yeah. How about this? We come and visit you in Iceland for a party. Then we meet you in Boston for a party. Keep the party going. I think that's fine. Okay. That sounds so perfect. Benedict Grundle, you have been an absolute champion. Oh, my bad. You were on a delay. I'm sorry. What were you going to say? You were talking about something earlier. What I find strange about America.

[00:43:42] For me, I'm in Iceland, so I've been to most of the places in Iceland. You said you haven't been to Boston. For us, not Americans, we think, yeah, Americans have been to all the places in America. Nah. We don't quite realize how big America is. Yeah. I looked up when you said how Indianapolis is in a big state. I saw that Iceland is like 39,000-something square miles.

[00:44:11] And Indiana is 36,000-some square miles. Yeah. Yeah, it's a little bit. I don't even think. Like, Indiana is not one of the bigger states. So, like, we – it is – it's pretty crazy to think about that, you know. And you try to go to all the big cities, but there's so many places in the United States. But all I know about Iceland is Reykjavik, clearly. I mean, so, like that – so, I would love to just go to Iceland in general, you know, just to go. We got a party. We got a party. I love it. You're going to throw us a party. This was so much fun. This was great.

[00:44:41] I don't think so. But Benedict Grundle, from the finish line, Hallmark, if you're listening, let's get this guy in a movie, whether it's Feliz Lavi-Dod or not. But maybe it's something else. Maybe it's just a – they film in Iceland all the time. Sure. Chris Palaha went out there for the Christmas quest. He did. A Christmas quest two, and the sidekick to Chris Palaha is Benedict Grundle talking. I mean, it sells itself. Fire. Fire. He's on fire. It sells itself. Sir, thank you so much for joining us.

[00:45:11] You've been an absolute blast. We really do appreciate it. Me too. It's such a pleasure. And anytime, guys. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. And until next time, I'm going to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas. The Bramble Jam podcast is produced by Aaron Shea. What? For more information on Deck the Hallmark, you can go to deckthehallmark.com. For more information on the Deck the Hallmark family, you can go to bramblejamplus.com. Deck the Hallmark is presented by Philo TV. For a free trial of Philo, go to philo.tv slash DTH.

[00:45:47] You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio. Thanks for listening or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. It's at the end of the show. I mean, you're listening to me. Hi. But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are. Happy day.