‘A Wesley Christmas’ A Holiday Movie Reveals What Happens When The Family Gets Together

Dorien Wilson, Jasmine Guy, and T.C. Carson star in a BET Plus original holiday movie, A Wesley Christmas. The story centers around adult siblings Chris (Kevin Savage), Todd (Terayle Hill), and Cydney Wesley (Loren Lott) who all travel back home to spend Christmas with their parents, Bryan (Wilson) and Sylvia (Guy). Family drama ensues, and conflicts with their neighbors arise, which will engage audiences on how to endure family holiday festivities against the backdrop of impactful life-changing events.

Yolanda Baruch: The holiday season is a joyful time for some families; however, others experience friction with their family members. How do you navigate those instances of family friction the way the Wesley family tries to in the movie?

Jasmine Guy: My Christmases aren't as big as the Wesley family's because I have one child, but I grew up with big Christmases we would go to my grandmother's every year. There was a division between the kids and the adults because we wanted to do stuff and they were always being grown. Big presents, lots of fun, lots of singing and bringing pods of different families all together, there was friction between siblings that are my cousins that lasted from one Christmas, to the summer, to the next Christmas. When I got older, I finally said, I cannot believe you all are still fighting about this stuff. It's about loving each other and stop wasting time on grudges and if there is some problem to share it because a lot of times adult kids, like in the movie, don't want us to know everything. They want to feel competent and confident, so a lot of stuff comes out over the holidays that we didn't know about or didn't have the full story. Communication is important because how can we help you if we don't know the problem or if there is [even] a problem?

Dorien Wilson: I don't know if you can navigate through somebody who has issues, things they're carrying and harboring. A lot of times, like Jasmine said so eloquently earlier, we have problems within the family, divisions and things that are going on in our lives, fights, and turmoil, and it may be the smallest things that are carried over for years. You can reach out, extend an olive branch, or sit down and try to talk things out. You even forget about what started, so extend an olive branch, reach out to somebody, try to sit down, communicate and show some love.

Terrence C. Carson: Like things that have already happened, things that can't be changed, and people live so far in the past that they don't live in what is now, and you miss out so much when you don't live in the now. That's the biggest thing when you come to family gatherings, and you see that kind of drama happening, you have to let them know that was then, this is now, can we do something else? Do we want to spend this Christmas in this place again? I've only got so many summers left.

Wilson: Life is too short.

Guy: Adults tend to keep you in whatever kind of kid you were. You can be 40 years old, and they still treat you like, 'oh, you were always spoiled' but that was 35 years ago.

Wilson: Just stuck

Guy: (laughs) Yeah, I might have grown up a little bit. Give me a moment.

Baruch: T.C. your character highlighted sensitive topics not generally addressed within the Black community like mental health. How did you prepare to play such a complex character like Marcus?

Carson: I pulled a lot from my journey with my own struggles. I've been seeing a therapist to deal with some things and just the struggle of feeling like you're by yourself and nobody understands what you're going through. That's what PTSD is, you are in this place, and nobody understands but you, nobody can see it but you, and it's frustrating. We've all been in places where we were frustrated and exhausted when we didn't know what to do, and that's what I drew from to make Marcus.

Baruch: Jasmine, why do you think it's important to show the everyday ups and downs within a Black family?

Guy: We must show authenticity. We have filmmakers, a husband and wife team with eight children. They came together, like in "The Brady Bunch," and the stories in the movie and the paths that are taken are based on truth. I can tell as an actor because I don't have to change anything; just do it the way it's written because this is real. People are loving, you can go from crying and laughing in the same conversation, and I love that about the life of the Wesley family; it rings true to me.

Baruch: Dorien, as the family's patriarch, why is it important to show your character as strong and loving because those qualities are not always displayed in mainstream media?

Wilson: I think it's a beautiful thing that Bree West writer and creator who wrote these characters to show that Black families do exist. They have their ups and downs. They go through trials and tribulations, but they can come together. I am so pleased to be able to play a proud African American male who has been married to my beautiful wife for 35 years; we're still together. We raised three amazing kids and laid the foundation for them. They will go out and make their own mistakes and bad decisions, but we showed that these adults went out there, are doing things, are coming back, and still are our family.

Baruch: Why should people watch this movie on BET Plus?

Carson: We need them to watch the movie so we can make another movie, and then we can make a third movie.

Wilson: We are doing three movies we need them to watch.

Baruch: Will all three be holiday movies?

Carson: Yes, the first one is A Wesley Christmas. The second is a wedding theme, and the third is a destination movie. Octet Productions is behind this production so much they want to push this and make it something that it's one of the things people will want to see on every holiday.

Now streaming on BET Plus.