Rachel Boston still can’t quite figure out the enigma that is Brendan Penny, despite spending three weeks together filming “The More the Merrier,” their new Hallmark holiday movie premiering on November 28, 2025. Penny, meanwhile, says he and Boston lead “very different lives” and are “extremely different people.” Could have fooled us!
Whatever sets Boston and Penny apart was far from evident when they sat down with EntertainmentNow to discuss their movie, the unique and funny friendship they’ve developed, and their great onscreen chemistry — something they had a hunch they’d have as soon as they first met a year ago.
Rachel Boston Says She & Brendan Penny ‘Cracked Each Other Up’ as Soon as They Met
Rachel BostonChatting ahead of their Thanksgiving movie premiere, Boston and Penny traded sarcastic barbs, noting that they “got” each other’s humor and hit it off as soon as they met aboard the Hallmark Christmas Cruise in 2024.
“We met one year ago on the cruise and just cracked each other up,” Boston said. “They paired us up in a lot of the different events they had on the boat, and then we got to make a Christmas movie.”
“Let’s be honest, we kind of forced them to put us together,” Penny quipped before sharing, “We just worked off of each other (in the onstage games) really, really well. We had a lot of laughs, and the audience really enjoyed it.”
He continued, “The head of casting that was there was like, ‘Have you two ever worked together?’ And we were like, ‘No, but we should!’ I didn’t know if it was really going to happen, and then lucky for me and super lucky for Rachel, it did.”
Laughing, Boston dished right back, “Super lucky, the most lucky I felt. I’ve never felt more lucky!”
Brendan Penny & Rachel Boston Are ‘Constantly Going at Each Other’ With Sarcastic Jabs Offscreen
HallmarkIn “The More the Merrier,” Penny and Boston play doctors at a small community hospital, snowbound at work on Christmas with multiple moms-to-be in labor all at once. It was practically impossible for the duo not to infuse some fun into the scenes, they said.
“We are constantly going at each other in a very loving, joking way,” Brendan told EntertainmentNow, noting that their off-camera antics easily carried over on-set. “I think she’ll agree we’re extremely different people in real life. But when you put us together on camera, it’s almost like the puzzle pieces just immediately fit.”
Penny, who also cameoed as the hilarious newscaster in Hallmark’s new “Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper,” said he didn’t see much comedy in this script initially, but working closely with director Peter Benson, whom he called “one of the funniest guys I know,” they found ways to “elevate” a line or make a scene funnier.
“Brendan Penny is so funny, and he keeps you on your toes,” Boston interjected, amusingly insisting on calling him by his full name every time she referenced him. “We were making a movie that had a lot of newborn babies. So Brendan Penny had the most challenging part of his career, where he was asked to be completely silent on set for large periods of time.”
In Between Adorably Skewering Each Other, Rachel Boston & Brendan Penny Sang Each Other’s Praises
The two laughed and adorably made fun of each other throughout their time with EntertainmentNow, but also couldn’t say enough kind things about each other.
Of Boston’s acting skills, Penny said, “I can honestly say that there was not one moment where if I delivered a line, I thought that Rachel could have done something a little better, a little different, or that (something) didn’t really work. There wasn’t one second of that. She’s extraordinarily talented, and I think that we just work extremely well together.”
Boston added, “I think we have a lot of respect for each other, because I knew he was always going to show up for me anytime the camera was rolling. Like if I tried something different on screen, he was going to meet me there. Working with an actor that was going to elevate everything that I was trying? That was really a blessing.”
With all that love and laughter on set between such “different” people, did things ever get tense between the two? Penny told EntertainmentNow, “Rachel has zero annoying habits on set because she’s so filled with love and joy and excitement that you can’t really get mad at her. That’d be like getting mad at a puppy. There’s just too much cute and sweet going on.”
“The More the Merrier” premieres on November 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern time and will be available to stream the next day on Hallmark+.
