The Hallmark regular talks to ET about his new romance with Italia Ricci, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart.' Watch an exclusive clip!
Hallmark favorite Ryan Paevey is ready for spring romance.
In Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Paevey plays Ben, a journalist who agrees to attend a breakup bootcamp as moral support for his sister. But of course, things aren't that simple. Along the way he meets Miranda (Ricci), founder of said breakup bootcamp that aims to help the recently broken-hearted, after getting dumped in a flirty meet-cute. But to make things even more complicated, his boss catches wind of the breakup bootcamp and tasks him with an undercover exposé to suss out whether it's real or a fraud. When Ben’s secret surfaces, it threatens to derail their budding relationship.
"I play Ben, a bit of a skeptic and a denier of his own feelings, who's joining his sister at this breakup bootcamp for 'moral support' because obviously he doesn't need [relationship] help. Prior to going to this, I get dumped at dinner for being unable to commit, to go to the next level in a relationship. And while waiting for my car at the valet, I meet this cute girl and I have this charming exchange with her about my literal seconds-old breakup," Paevey tells ET as he tees up the beginning of the movie. "Come to find out that that girl is the teacher of this breakup bootcamp that my sister and I are going to, and all kinds of hilarity ensues as Ben kind of puts his foot in his mouth a couple of times."
ET exclusively premieres a clip from the upcoming "Spring Fling" movie, which features one of Ben and Miranda's early meetings before he discovers who she truly is.
Because the film takes place over the span of a six-week bootcamp, the General Hospital alum revealed why he considers Don't Go Breaking My Heart to be an evolution of the usual Hallmark romances.
"What I enjoyed about the story and what I thought was a little bit different about it, is that as far as Ben is concerned, there's a lot of good life lessons here when it comes to accepting that you have a situation that you might require some assistance with," he said. "To be honest with yourself about how you feel. That it's OK to address these issues publicly and it's OK to do that with other people who might also be going through some stuff. Ben undergoes a lot of growth in this one, I think, particularly when it comes to his own emotional well-being. It's a thing that guys don't often talk about, so it was nice for me to be able to see that."
Paevey also credited his screen partner, Ricci, for being a "consummate professional." "Once we got on set, man, it was like right away," he said of creating that seamless connection. "And I got to meet her husband [Robbie Amell], who's really cool, and I got to meet her kid, who's painfully adorable. We had a blast."
And while Ben embarrasses himself a lot throughout the movie, Paevey likened his character's mishaps to what happens in real life. "Most of the Hallmark films that I've done, we have our little meet-cute. They don't always start off on the right foot and that's what makes them cute, is that just like in real life, it's not a straight line above," he said, calling out an obstacle course scene as his most memorable time on set. "There are complications. We do foolish things sometimes. We put our foot in our mouth. We say embarrassing stuff, but it works out in the end."
While he's been a staple on Hallmark for several years now, the actor -- who makes jewelry during his time off through Fortunate Wanderer -- is leaving it up to the fans for any potential future pairings they'd like to see down the line.
"I'm going to leave that to the fans, honestly," he said. "If there's a pairing that they want to see, let's run it up the flagpole and then see what the powers-that-be think."
Don't Go Breaking My Heart premieres Saturday, March 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel. For more, watch below.
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